Airing Time of 'Planet of the Dead'

As we probably all know by now, 'Planet of the Dead' will be aired on Saturday April 11th. However, I have noticed a lot of people fretting and moaning that the Beeb have not released the time it will be aired yet as there is only a week and a few days left. Well, I have an answer...

I decided to go onto the RadioTimes website to look at their listings for April 11th around the time Doctor Who is ususally on our screens. Surely enough, there were two programmes listed as "To be announced" on BBC One, taking up 1 hour 30 minutes. So which is Doctor Who?

Well, the first "To be announced" programme on BBC One starts at 5:55pm and ends at 6:25pm and therefore cannot be Doctor Who, as 'Planet of the Dead' is an hour long and the second programme not yet announced starts at 6:25pm and ends at 7:25pm! This is surely Doctor Who!

Also, it has even more evidence of another "To be announced" show on BBC Three, 5 minutes after the BBC One slot ends, for 1 hour. This has to be Doctor Who Confidential!

So there you go! Unless the BBC change the date of 'Planet of the Dead' then those are the times it will be aired! 'Planet of the Dead' on at 6:25pm - 7:25pm, with Doctor Who Confidential following on BBC Three for an hour starting at 7:30pm.

See the RadioTimes online listing >>>

Please comment.

Doctor Who Magazine #407 - Cover & Details

The cover for Doctor Who Magazine issue #407 has been released (see below) and I have assembled information from the cover and last issue's "Next Issue" page to give you an idea of what to expect!

Here are #407's contents:

• Cast Your Votes! - Vote for your all-time favourite Doctor Who stories and rate all 200 TV adventures!
• 'Mortal Beloved' - The Doctor and Majenta's latest comic strip adventure continues...
• Exclusive interview with Michelle Ryan!
• Sheridan Smith is quizzed in Out of the TARDIS!
• Time Team - The team watch and review 1988's 'The Happiness Patrol'.
• The Fact of Fiction - Castrovalva is this issue's story under the microscope.
• Brand new on-set and on-screen pictures!
• WIN Doctor Who DVD box sets worth £500!!!
• All the regulars such as: Production Notes, Gallifrey Guardian, Public Image, You Are Not Alone, Galaxy Forum, The DWM Reviews, and much more!

Click image to enlarge

Doctor Who Magazine #407 is released into WHSmith's and other good newsagent's on Thursday April 2nd for £3.99.

Will you be getting this issue? What do you think of the cover and contents?

Please comment.

'Planet of the Dead' Trailer

BBC News correspondant Lizo Mzimba has revealed on his Twitter page that the first 'Planet of the Dead' trailer to be shown on television will be aired on Wednesday around 9pm in the BBC One ad-break between Waterloo Road and The Apprentice.

These are Lizo's exact words:

"Psst. Didn't hear this from me.. I can't wait for 1st Dr Who Easter ep trailer. I'll be watching BBC One Wed 9pm just before The Apprentice!"

The trailer is a brand new one. It is NOT the one shown at the Wales V Ireland Rugby or anywhere else, and is extremely likely to be uploaded onto YouTube by the Beeb as soon as it aires, so I'll be posting that as well.

Will you be watching this trailer when it aires on BBC One?

Please comment.

'Planet of the Dead' Synopsis & Airdate

Firstly, the BBC Press Office have confirmed that the airdate for 'Planet of the Dead' is not Easter Sunday, as rumoured and previously reported on DWF, it is in fact being aired on the day before, Saturday.

The 'Planet of the Dead' synopsis has been released by the BBC Press Office. It reads as follows:

"When a London bus takes a detour to an alien world, the Doctor must join forces with the extraordinary Lady Christina, in this one-off seasonal special. But the mysterious planet holds terrifying secrets, hidden in the sand. And time is running out, as the deadly Swarm gets closer.

Planet Of The Dead features David Tennant as the Doctor, Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina and Lee Evans as Malcolm. It is written by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts."

What do you think of the airdate and synopsis?

Please comment.

'The Deadly Assassin' DVD Cover & Details

The cover and information for the upcoming release of 'The Deadly Assassin' DVD have been revealed by 2|entertain. For people who are not familiar with this story, it was first broadcast in 1976 in 4 parts (30th October - 20th November) and was the first episode of Doctor Who at that time to feature no companion.
This is the story's synopsis:
"Gallifrey. Planet of the Time Lords. The Doctor has finally come home, but not by choice.

Summoned by a vision from The Matrix, he is drawn into a web of political intrigue and assassination. Nothing is quite what it seems, and in the shadows lurks his oldest and deadliest enemy..."

The DVD special features are as follows:

• Commentary - Featuring Tom Baker, Bernard Horsfall and Philip Hinchcliffe.
• The Matric Revisited - Cast, crew and critics look back at the making of this story, featuring director David Maloney, designer Roger Murray-Leach and the founder of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, Mary Whitehouse.
• The Gallifreyan Candidate - A look at Richard Condon's novel The Manchurian Candidate, a major influence on the plot of The Deadly Assassin.
• The Frighten Factor - What exactly is Doctor Who's 'Frighten Factor'? A diverse panel of experts try to answer the question.
• RadioTimes Billings - Listings for this story in a PDF format.
• Photo Gallery
• Digitally remastered picture and sound quality.
  
• Coming Soon to DVD
• Production Information Subtitles
• Easter Egg

Image courtesy of Drwho-online.co.uk

'The Deadly Assassin' is released on DVD on May 4th 2009 for £19.56
Pre-Order - Save 35% at Amazon.co.uk >>>

What do you think of this cover and DVD extras? Will you be buying it?
Please comment.

'Planet of the Dead' Air Date

According to recent reports 'Planet of the Dead', the first of the 2009 specials, is to be aired on Easter Sunday, that's April 12th 2009. Rumours that this special episode would be shown on that date have been circulating on several forums for a while, but were not confirmed at all. However, in the past few days these rumours have become more prominent and likely.

What do you think of this airdate?

Please comment.

The Story of Doctor Who

Various crew members of the Doctor Who behind-the-scenes production team will take part in the Celtic Media Festival in a special event.

The crew members taking part are: Russell T Davies (Head Writer and Executive Producer), Julie Gardner (Executive Producer), Edward Thomas (Production Designer), Euros Lyn (Director), and Ian Grutchfield (Brand Manager).

Questions for the crew were submitted online, via the BBC Doctor Who website, but this has now closed. The Story Of Doctor Who event takes place on March 25th 2009, during the evening.

Will you be going to this event? What would you ask them, given the chance?

Please comment.

Planet of the Dead - Pictures & Monster Reveal

New pictures for 'Planet of the Dead' have been released and four of them are especially interesting as they reveal the brand new fly-like monster, the Tritivore!

What do you think of these pictures? What of the Tritivore?

Please comment.

Journal of Impossible Things

THIS POST CONTAINS HUGE SPOILERS!

Recently, photos of filming in some sort of library or book shop have been snapped featuring David Tennant and Jessica Hynes (yep, that's right, Nurse Joan Redfern in 'Human Nature' in Series 3). Jessica Hynes is playing a character called Verity Newman, and she is sitting behind a desk presumably there to sign copies of her new book which is called A Journal Of Impossible Things, which has a Time Lord fob watch on the cover!

See the filming pictures >>>

Here's what I think is going on:

• This is filming for the 3rd 2009 special, as it is being directed by Euros Lyn and the 2nd special was directed by Graeme Harper.
  
• Jessica Hynes character, Verity Newman, is probably a direct descendant of Joan Redfern, aquiring the Journal of Impossible Things written by John Smith if it was passed down through the family. Verity then thought it such a good idea that she published it herself.
  
• Verity could have been given this name because John Smith told Joan Redfern that this name was his mother's.
  

What do you think of these pictures? Do you agree or disagree with my theory?

Please comment.

The Image of Fendahl DVD

The cover and details on a new 2|entertain classic Doctor Who DVD release have recently been revealed. The story is The Image of Fendahl (see cover below synopsis, which you can click to enlarge), the synopsis is as follows:

"An ancient human skull has been discovered by archaeologists and is being used by Professor Fendelman in his Time Scanner experiments on contemporary Earth at Fetch Priory. Drawn by the operation of the Scanner, the Doctor arrives as the experiments reach a peak to witness a series of strange happenings. By night the skull glows with a devastating power, leaving destruction in its wake. Already two people lie dead in mysterious circumstances. The Doctor is appalled. Can the Fendahl really be emerging from its twelve million year hibernation? Will the Doctor be able to prevent this deadly enemy devouring everything in its path? The very safety of the planet depends upon it..."

The DVD holds, as usual, a whoile host of extras, including:

• Commentary - With actors Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Wanda Ventham and Edward Arthur
• After Image - cast and crew look back at the making of the story. With actors Louise Jameson, Edward Arthur, Wanda Ventham, script editor Anthony Read, visual effects designer Colin Mapson
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Trailers
• Photo Gallery
• Coming Soon on DVD
• Easter Egg
• Radio Times Listings
• Subtitles
• Subtitle Production Notes

The Image of Fendahl DVD is available in shops from April 5th 2009 for the retail price of £19.56.

Will you be getting this DVD? What do you think of the extras or the cover?
Please comment.

Doctor Who Magazine #406 - Cover & Details

The cover and details of Doctor Who Magazine issue #406 have recently been released and you can see them below... hooray!
DWM #406 includes the following:

• The Daleks' not-quite-made American spin-off show
  
• David Tennant - What's to come on Comic Relief night!
  
• Exclusive Interviews - Colin Baker & Gareth Roberts
  
• BBC7 Audio Series Preview
• Logopolis
• Brand-New Comic Strip - The Doctor and Majenta go on another action-packed adventure!
• Gallifrey Guardian
• Production Notes
• Who On Earth Is...
• You Are Not Alone
  
• Win DVDs, CDs, toys!
  
• Tribute to Dalek operator, John Scott Martin

Doctor Who Magazine #406 is in WHSmith's and other stores today, Thursday 5th March, for £3.99.

Will you be getting this issue? What do you think of the cover or information?
Please comment.

News Update

First of all, before starting this post properly, I must say I apologise for the lack posts recently. However, I am hopefully going to be able to keep the posting up, but now let's get on with a news updates.

---

Retardis Rumours
According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, the TARDIS interior will apparently change for Series 5, when Matt Smith comes in as Doctor 11, to suit the new HD format which Doctor Who will be filmed in, starting with 'Planet of the Dead'. The designers are also apparently going to "improve the quality of the police box exterior", said the Daily Mirror. On the other hand, this story really should be taken with a pinch of salt, as reports flew around about there being a new console room when the Titanic crashed through the TARDIS walls in 'Last of the Timelords' and for the begining of Series 4, for some reason.

---

K9 Has Company!
The K9 'spin-off' series, created for the Jetix digital TV channel, will be a mixture of live-action studio and location filming with actors, alongside a revamped CGI K9.
The logo for the K9 television series has recently been revealed by Paul Tams - the co-creator and co-associate producer of the programme - and it can be seen below (click image to enlarge).

---

May contain spoilers!

On The Scene
Filming has started on the second Doctor Who 2009 special (and seemingly finished on 'Planet of the Dead'), starring Lindsay Duncan as a new companion, Adelaide; she commented: “I’m thrilled to be involved in Doctor Who. I’ve never done anything like this before and I’m really looking forward to working with David Tennant and the Doctor Who team". This episode is written by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford, and directed by Graeme Harper.

While filming on location, interesting elements have been spotted, an Ood (some people are saying this is Ood Sigma) has been seen in a snowy scene involving The Doctor, Adelaide and 2 other new characters stepping out of the TARDIS. Also, a robot with 'caterpillar-tracks' started next to the TARDIS, but then rolled it's way up to The Doctor, and a sign prop was spotted which stated: "Congestion charging Central Zone. Fine of 3000 yen per day". Yen is the currency in Japan, so maybe they are there, as one of the two new characters is an oriental-looking woman, although their surroundings don't look like Japan at all. Another interesting element is that Lindsay Duncan is wearoing militaristic-type clothes and has a handgun, so maybe UNIT are in each of the specials?
See photos of that scene, courtesy of Alun Vega's Flickr album, HERE.

---

Awards Galore!
David Tennant has been nominated twice in the Best Actor category at the Broadcasting Press Guild awards, he is nominated as The Doctor in Doctor Who and the other nomination is for his role as Arthur Eddington in the BBC's Einstein and Eddington, which aired November last year and was also nominated for Best Single Drama. The awards results will be revealed on March 27th.

At the Visual Effects Society, an "international organization of visual effects professionals", nominated the team at The Mill in two awards categories, one of which they won. The award they won was Outstanding Matte Paintings In A Broadcast Program Or Commercial, this was awarded for Simon Wickers, Charlie Bennett, Tim Barter and Arianna Lago for their work on 'Silence in the LIbrary' and 'Forest of the Dead'. The other award is Outstanding Visual Effects In A Broadcast Miniseries, Movie Or Special, but this lost out to HBO's mini-series John Adams.

---

What do you think of any of this news?
Please comment.