Unofficial figures show that the BBC2 showing of Torchwood Episode 12, Fragments was watched by 2.4 million viewers, a10.2% share of the total TV audience.

The figures were up on last week and the programme was the most watched of the day on BBC2, outrating As Time Goes By. It was the 26th most watched on British television for the day. The timeslot was won by ITV's Benidorm.

Fragments had its premier on the digital channel BBC3 last Friday, where it was watched by 0.54 million viewers.

Torchwood: Declassified which followed the episode got 1.5 million viewers.

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Posted By John Bowman

A new trailer for Series Four is now available to view online at the official website's home page as well as on the BBC's YouTube channel.

Lasting 39 seconds and given from the perspective of new companion Donna Noble, it includes three of the monsters that will be appearing in the new series.

UK TV licence restrictions may mean the trailer cannot be viewed by overseas visitors to the sites.

(NB: While hovering your mouse over the official website home page, a box currently pops up with the following text: "Watch the second new trailer tonight at 8.30pm, BBC One and online." However, this does not tally with today's schedule for BBC One.)

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BBC7 is producing a weekly show called "Doctor Who - The Commentaries". "The Commentaries" premieres Sunday 6 April at 6:30PM and 12:30AM British Summer Time. It will air the Sunday after new episodes as part of a block with Paul McGann Big Finish Doctor Who stories that BBC7 has aired before.

"Doctor Who - The Commentaries" will be a recap show, probably similar to the Heroes radio show BBC7 did last year. David Tennant and Catherine Tate are listed as the hosts for the 6 April edition.

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BBC Internal magazine Ariel has reported that Executive Producer Russell T Davies is unhappy with the news series time slot.

The 6.20pm position is the earliest the series has been placed since it returned in 2005. In previous years earlier time slots have resulted in a decrease in viewing figures for the programme.

Update

This is now also being reported by Broadcast.

Russell T Davies is predicting that Doctor Who could lose up to 1.5m viewers when it returns in a new 6.20pm slot next month.

The writer and executive producer of the series told the Broadcast television drama conference today that the BBC should maintain the later 7pm-7.15pm slot and the budget for the sci-fi series but it had mucked it up.

The BBC believes the programme would do as well in the new slot, he said. "Well, we'll see, but I think I'm right."

Not all time travel is welcome

He also said he would resist any move to film the series in HD - it would be too expensive and it was 'rubbish' to think no one would watch unless it was in high definition.

He said it had always been the plan to rest Doctor Who in 2009. He said he would use the time off to work on new projects, for instance for a 9pm slot with more adult, emotional content although nothing had been commissioned.

BBC Ariel

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The schedule for BBC Four's tribute season to Verity Lambert has been revealed.

The evening of Saturday 5th April will look back at the work of Doctor Who's first producer and feature classic episodes from some of the major series for which she was responsible.

The first three episodes of the second Doctor Who story, The Daleks will be shown. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Christopher Barry andRichard Martin, the story was first shown in December 1963 and featured the debut of the Doctor's greatest foe.

The evening will feature a documentary, Verity Lambert: Drama Queen, in which friends and colleagues - including John Hurt, Alan Davies, Lynda La Plante and David Renwick - pay their respects to the woman who helped transform the face of popular television.

BBC Four - Saturday 5th April 2008
• 7.10pm The Naked Civil Servant
  Emmy award-winning film biography of Quentin Crisp
• 8.30pm Doctor Who: The Dead Planet
• 8.55pm Doctor Who: The Survivors
• 9.20pm Doctor Who: The Escape
• 9.50pm Verity Lambert: Drama Queen
  Tribute to the woman whose work ranged from the original Doctor Who to Jonathan Creek and included The Naked Civil Servant, Edward and Mrs Simpson, Minder, May To December and Eldorado.
• 10.50pm Minder
  Senior Citizen Caine
• 11.45pm Jonathan Creek
  The Scented Room

The season continues over the next week with the remaining four episodes of The Daleks as well as an episode of Adam Adamant Lives.

• Monday 7th - 7.35 pm Doctor Who: The Ambush
• Monday 7th - 11.20 pm The Cult of... Adam Adamant Lives!
• Monday 7th - 11.50 pm Adam Adamant Lives
  A Vintage Year for Scoundrels
• Tuesday 8th - 7.35 pm Doctor Who: The Expedition
• Wednesday 9th - 7.25 pm Doctor Who: The Ordeal
• Wednesday 9th - 7.55 pm Doctor Who: The Rescue

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There are two issues of Doctor Who Magazine published in April.

Issue 394 is out on the 3rd April 2008. It previews the first set of episodes of the new series including the previously unnamed Episode Five, The Poison Sky. Episode Nine's title is also revealed as River's Run.

A week later the Tenth Doctor Collected Comics is released featuring full-colour comic strip stories written by Rob Davis, Dan McDaid and Jonathan Morris.

Press Release

CRIMINAL INTENTIONS IN DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE 394

Actress Sarah Lancashire speaks exclusively about playing the villain in Partners in Crime, the mysterious Miss Foster, in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine. "Miss Foster is, essentially, a nanny, a guardian, to some rather unusual children," explains Sarah. "I see her as a slightly warped Mary Poppins. She’s quite austere. She’s a strong woman. When I first read the script, I thought, oh, well, of course she’s a baddie… but the more I read it, I thought, no, she’s doing what she’s doing for legitimate reasons." Seriously? "Yes! You can’t blame her at all. Hers is perfectly reasonable behaviour"

Also this issue:

• Doctor Who’s executive producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson answer the most probing of questions as DWM’s readers become the interviewers.
• Previews of the first five episodes of Series Four, Partners in Crime, The Fires of Pompeii, Planet of the Ood and The Sontraran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, featuring new and previously unpublished photos!
• DWM interviews award-winning writer Steven Moffat who breaks his silence about his forthcoming two-parter, Silence in the Library/River’s Run.
• Russell T Davies reveals more of Series Four’s secrets in Production Notes.
• The Fact of Fiction visits a devastated Earth and uncovers the horrific truth behind The Sontaran Experiment.
• Actress Jacqueline King talks exclusively about her role as Donna’s mum in the new season.
• The Doctor experiences a holiday with a deadly difference in a brand new comic strip, Hotel Historia.
Neil Harris recalls the great days of video tape in You Are Not Alone.
• Double trouble for the The Time Team as they watch the adventures of The Two Doctors.
PLUS all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, competitions and even more!

AMAZING DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES IN THE TENTH DOCTOR COLLECTED COMICS!

Collected together for the first time, these new adventures in time and space take the TARDIS into unexplored realms of adventure and excitement!

The Doctor and Martha attempt to save the doomed planet of Loam from destruction at the hands of gigantic monsters, then split up for a crazy adventure spanning Mars and an ordinary London bus! Then it’s off to meet legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton in the icy wastes of the Antarctic, before visiting an abandoned space base where a deadly plot is afoot.

Packed with 100 pages of thrills, scares and laughs, this Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition collects together four full-colour comic strip stories: THE WOMAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD, BUS STOP, THE FIRST and DEATH TO THE DOCTOR!

Featuring the writing talents of Rob Davis, Dan McDaid and Jonathan Morris, plus stunning artwork from Mike Collins (2000 AD), John Ross (Doctor Who Adventures), Martin Geraghty and Roger Langridge (The Fin Fang Four)!

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The BBC Press Office have released details of Episode Two of Series Four, The Fires Of Pompeii.

The episode will be broadcast on Saturday 12th April on BBC1, and features guest stars Peter Capaldi, Phil Davis and Tracey Childs.

The Doctor and Donna travel back into ancient history, in the second episode of Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama. When they arrive in 79AD, however, they discover psychic powers and beasts of stone running riot in the streets of old Pompeii. The time-travellers face their greatest challenge yet – can established history be changed, or must the Doctor let everyone die?

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In advance of the new series launching on BBC One on Saturday 5th April, the digital channel BBC Three is giving viewers a chance to see all three of the Christmas Specials.

David Tennant's debut in the 2005 special, The Christmas Invasion, is being shown on Tuesday April 1st. The following day there is a chance to see the first meeting between The Doctor and Donna Noble when The Runaway Bride is shown. Finally the 2007 special, Voyage of the Damned will be shown on Thursday 3rd.

This Friday David Tennant will be the special guest star on Channel4's The Friday Night Project.

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The BBC has confirmed that Episode One of Series Four, Partners in Crime, will be broadcast at 6.20pm on Saturday 5th April. The episode will be followed by an edition of Confidential on BBC3 at 7.05pm and will be repeated on BBC3 on Sunday 6th.

Saturday 5th is also when BBC Four will be screening a tribute night to Doctor Who's first producer, Verity Lambert. The evening will include three episodes of classic Doctor Who.

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Steven Moffat has been nominated in the Best Writer category at the BAFTA Craft Awards for his work on Doctor Who, it has been announced. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will be hosting the ceremony on May 11th. The awards honour those who work behind-the-scenes in the television industry, and composer Murray Gold is also nominated for his work on Doctor Who.

Moffat's competition consists of Jimmy McGovern (for The Street), Tony Marchant (The Mark of Cain) and Heidi Thomas (Cranford). Doctor Who also receives nominations in the categories of Interactive Fiction Contribution, Sound (Fiction / Entertainment) and Visual Effects.

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Doctor Who Adventures issue 57, is out on now across the United Kingdom.

Press Release

This week in Doctor Who Adventures…

Get ready for the exciting new series of Doctor Who with a special preview of what's coming up. How will Donna meet the Doctor? Who is Wilf? What are the Pyrovile? And what connects Agatha Christie to scary giant wasps? Check out what we know so far.

We also celebrate the return of the frondly Ood by giving away a free jumbo inflatable of these particularly yucky looking aliens!

PLUS:
Posters: Jake and a Cyberman, creepy Carrionites, the Titanic and Martha and Jack.
Tales from the TARDIS: Martha rescues the Doctor.
The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who – Utopia to Voyage of the Damned.
Quiz: Donna's back! Take our quiz to find out what you know about her already.
How to draw: a horrible Heavenly Host.
Secrets: discover how the Krillitane were gunged.
Make it! An amazing moving Dalek illusion.
Doctor's Data: facts about the Brethren from Tooth and Claw.
Comic strip: part two of Every Dog has its Day – what has happened to a young boy's dog?
Time Teasers: more mind-bending puzzles.
Who knows! Your questions answered.
Win: goodies up for grabs.
Subscription offer: subscribe and get a free Cyberman watch!
AND LOADS MORE!

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Posted By Nathan Baron

Former Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston is set to star in the up and coming Stephen Sommers-directed film G.I. Joe, based on the Hasbro toy line and Devil's Due comic. He will play Destro, COBRA's arms dealer and love interest of the Baroness. The film also stars Ray Park (Darth Maul) as Snake Eyes. The film is an origin story and Sommers says he plans to explain various strange aspects - from Destro's metal mask to Snake Eyes' lack of speech.

The film is due to open on August 7th 2009.

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Unofficial figures show that the BBC2 showing of Torchwood Episode 11, Adrift was watched by 2.1 million viewers, a8.9% share of the total TV audience.

The programme was the 3rd most watched of the day on BBC2, with slightly fewer viewers than Gardeners World and Eggheads. It was the 29th most watched on British television for the day. The timeslot was won by BBC1's The Passion which got 3.7 million viewers. Torchwood outrated the second half of Moving Wallpaper and Echo beach on ITV1.

Adrift had its premier on the digital channel BBC3 on Wednesday, where it was watched by 0.84 million viewers

Torchwood: Declassified which followed the episode got 1.3 million viewers.

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Following its BBC One broadcast, the Season Four Cinema trailer is now available on the officialBBC Website as well as in high quality on the BBC YouTube channel.

In addition to the Cinema trailer, a short tease was shown on BBC One just before the late News, featuring upcoming monsters from the new series. Different versions were shown in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. All three versions are now on the Doctor Who Websiteand on the BBC YouTube Channel.

Link One
Link Two
Link Three

Due to licence restrictions the clips may not be available outside the United Kingdom.

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Doctor Who has received two nominations and Torchwood one nomination for the prestigious Hugo awards.

The Hugo Awards are given every year by members of Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Convention, and have been presented since 1953.

The full list of nominations in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form category are.

• Doctor Who - Human Nature/Family of Blood, written by Paul Cornell and directed by Charles Palmer
• Doctor Who - Blink, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Hettie Macdonald
• Torchwood - Captain Jack Harkness, written by Catherine Tregenna and directed by Ashley Way
• Battlestar Galactica - Razor, written by Michael Taylor and directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá and Wayne Rose
• Star Trek New Voyages - World Enough and Time written by Michael Reaves & Marc Scott Zicree and directed by Marc Scott Zicree

This is the third year running that Steven Moffat has been nominated for the award, having won in 2006 for The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and in 2007 for The Girl in the Fireplace. Paul Cornell was previously nominated in 2006 for Father's Day.

The Winners will be announced at Denvention 3 in Denver, Colorado in August.

Thanks to Jason Snell

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Several DVD sites are now listing K-9 Tales, a double bill consisting of the Invisible Enemy and K-9 And Company, for release in the United Kingdom on 16th June 2008.

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Unofficial figures show that the BBC2 showing of Torchwood Episode 10, From Out of the Rain was watched by 2.6 millionviewers, a 11% shareof the total TV audience.

The figures are slightly up on last week and made the programme the most watched of the day on BBC2, beating Johnny's New Kingdom. It was the 17th most watched on British television for the day. The timeslot was won by Channel4's Grand Designs Revisited which got 3.9 million. The Rock on BBC1 got 3.0 million viewers while Rock Rivals on ITV1 got 2.8 million. From Out of the Rain had its premier on the digital channel BBC3 last week, where it was watched by 0.81 million viewers

Torchwood: Declassified which followed the episode got 1.3 million viewers.

Episode 11, Adrift was watched by 0.84 million viewers on BBC3, a 4.9% share of the audience, making it the highest rated programme on BBC3 for the day. It will be shown on BBC2 on Friday.

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The BBC has confirmed that Series Four of Doctor Who will launch on BBC One in the week beginning 5th April 2008.

The day and time slot for the programme are still to be confirmed but it will almost certainly be shown around 7pm on Saturday 5th April.

Episode One, Partners In Crime, reunites the Doctor with Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate. It also stars Sarah Lancashire as Miss Foster.

The runaway bride sets out to find her Time Lord.

Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again – even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?

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This week's Doctor Who Adventures takes a look at the most exciting machine in the universe, the Doctor's TARDIS. You can find out how the design team created the look for the time machine, and take a peek at the amazing controls.

The issue comes with eight free gifts. There's a special folder, Time Agent badge, Dalek and TARDIS magnets, pen, holographic stickers and psychic paper. There are posters of the TARDIS inside and out, the Doctor in 42, and Dalek.

In "Tales from the TARDIS", the Abzorbaloff reveals his ugly face and "The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who" reviews The Lazarus Experiment to Blink. The quiz asks how much do you know about the Cybermen and explores why we love K-9.

There are details on how to be a scary Clockwork Robot and "Doctor’s Data" looks at the First Doctor. The Comic strip is part one of a new adventure for the Doctor "Every Dog has its Day."

Doctor Who Adventures is out across the UK on Thursday 20 March.

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Posted By John Bowman

Doctor Who has been nominated for a Bafta in the Interactivity category of the British Academy Television Awards for 2008.

The official site's Comic Maker is up against Channel 4's Big Art Mob, BBC One's Spooks Interactive and ITV1's The X Factor.

Jo Pearce and Anwen Aspden of BBC One and BBC Wales receive the specific Comic Maker citations.

The award winner will be announced at a ceremony at the London Palladium on April 20. It follows the series' Emmy nomination earlier this month for its interactive services.

The show won two Baftas in May 2006 - Best Drama Series and the Pioneer Audience Award. In addition, Russell T Davies won the Dennis Potter Award, for outstanding TV writing, at the 2006 event.

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Doctor number four, Tom Baker, today opened the latest official Doctor Who Exhibition which takes place at the Earls Court exhibition centre in West London.

The exhibition which occupies the the Museum Hall beneath the centre, runs from March 20th until 19th September 2008 and features actual props from the set as well as costumes and monsters from the show. Over 100 exhibits will be on display including the TARDIS, Daleks, Cybermen and many of the Doctor's other enemies from across time and space.

The exhibition is open 7 days a week 10am - 6pm.

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The BBC has confirmed that the Season Four cinema trailer will make its debut on British Television on Saturday 22nd March 2008. As well as being shown on BBC One around 7pm, the preview will be available on the official BBC Website.

With David Tennant and Catherine Tate now confirmed as guests on the BBC1Jonathan Ross show on Friday 4th April, it is looking likely that the series will return to BBC1 on Saturday 5th April 2008.

18th March Update: The new edition of the Radio Times has the trailer listed asDoctor Who Series Four Preview, between the film Toy Story and casting showI'll Do Anything at about 7:05pm.

(note: the BBC website have corrected a previous broadcast date of 29th March as reported yesterday)

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BBC Audiobooks have revealed that David Tennant will be the reader of their latest audio-exclusive release Doctor Who: Pest Control. The adventure will be available only on CD and for download and will not be published as a book. It is due for release on the 8th May 2008.

Pest Control was commissioned from author Peter Anghelides. he said "I love David Tennant's work on the book adaptations, so I'm simply thrilled that he's reading this special audio. He phoned to discuss the characterisations, and my younger son picked up. How great is that? A phone call from the Doctor!"

The story is the first to feature Donna as the Doctor's companion and below we can offer a sneak preview of the script.

Thanks to Brian Jacob

There was another squealing sound from high above. Donna wondered what it was. The Doctor already seemed to know, and dragged her protesting over the sodden ground and towards the truck. 'Take cover!' he yelled. 'The bombardment has started!' 'Incoming!’ bellowed Harrison from the middle distance. A dull crump sounded from beyond the truck, and a fountain of black earth spurted up into the air and scattered over them. There was a fizzing sound of energy. The remaining soldiers leapt out of the transport vehicle, fresh weapons in their hands. Harrison had appeared by Donna's side. He was looking to her for orders, she realised. She wasn't in uniform, she wasn't able to command him, and all because of a simple misunderstanding. Harrison's eyes glazed over. He toppled face forward and sprawled in the mud. Only then did Donna know what the fizzing sound was. Weapons were firing. Harrison had been shot dead in front of her. The dun-coloured shapes of more soldiers scurried past, taking positions. It took Donna a moment to work out what they were doing: they were aiming their rifles upward. She followed the direction of their weapons. She stared in disbelief. Donna could make out thin legs on fat, swollen bodies dropping from the invisible sky. The air was alive with gunfire as the creatures fell through the fog and clattered to the ground. 'Oh my God,' she breathed. 'Doctor, they're dropping ponies on us!' Not exactly,' he said, pulling her behind the truck. Donna slithered in the mud, and landed on her bum. She could feel the water soak right through. The Doctor was still talking: 'Look again. Horses don't have parachutes.'

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Following next week's showing of Torchwood Episode 10, From Out Of The Rain, the series moves to a new slot of Fridays at 9pm with the showing of Episode 11, Adrift, on Good Friday, 21 March 2008. The following week sees Episode 12, Fragments, with the season finale, Exit Wounds, showing on BBC Two on Friday, 4 April 2008 at 9pm. Each episode will still receive its premier on BBC Three.

The SciFi Channel now has a webpage for The Sarah Jane Adventures, which premiers in the United States on Friday, 11 April 2008 with Invasion of the Bane. This pilot episode will be shown at 7.30pm ET with the series moving to a regular slot of 8pm the following week.

April 18th also sees the arrival of Doctor Who Season Four to the Sci-Fi channel, with the showing of the Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned. No date has yet been confirmed for the UK premiere of Series Four, but the series is expected to launch in the first half of April.

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Unofficial figures show that the BBC2 showing of Torchwood Episode 9, Something Borrowed was watched by 2.4 million viewers, a 10.2% share of the total TV audience.

Although slightly down on last week, the programme was still the most watched of the day on BBC2, beating Johnny's New Kingdom, and was the 24th most watched on British television for the day. The episode had its premier on the digital channel BBC3 last week, where it was watched by 0.81 million viewers.

Episode 10, From Out of the Rain was watched by 0.81 million viewers on BBC3, a 4.3% share of the audience, making it the highest rated programme on BBC3 for the day.

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Doctor Who Adventures issue 55 is out on Thursday 13 March across the United Kingdom.

Press Release

Beware the Host!

This week’s Doctor Who Adventures looks at the (almost) silent stars of Voyage of the Damned, the Heavenly Host. Read all the essential information on these horrible androids and find out what happened to them aboard the Titanic.

Our special photo story this issue is about Time Crash, where the Fifth Doctor ends up in the Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS. The issue comes with an essential piece of kit for all Time Agents – a special Doctor Who log book with a pen and some cool stickers.

PLUS:
Posters: we’ve got Judoon, the Fifth Doctor and Host!
The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who – The Runaway Bride to Evolution of the Daleks.
Quiz: this week we have some questions about the Doctor.
Doctor’s Data: who is Donna Noble?
Comic strip: Part two of a comic strip – Reign of the Stone Monkey.
Make: a child of the Slitheen mask – yuck!
Time Teasers: help Bloodtide and Doomfinger with this week’s word search and brain teasers.
Who knows! Your questions answered.
Secrets: discover who the Catkind of New Earth were created.
Win: loads of Doctor Who goodies!
Subscription offer: subscribe and get a free Cyberman watch!
AND LOADS MORE!

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Final figures released by BARB give Episode Seven of Torchwood, Dead Man Walking, a final rating of 3.31 million viewers, making it the 6th most watched programme of the week on BBC2. The episode was first shown on BBC3 the previous week where it got 1 million viewers.

Episode Eight, A Day in the Death received 1.18 million for its premier on BBC3, and was the second most watched programme on the channel for the week.

Full Torchwood Season Two data is now available in theDoctor Who Forum.

Top Programmes BBC2 (we 2 March 2008)

1 MASTERCHEF (THU 2000) 5.47m
2 MASTERCHEF (MON 2032) 4.41m
3 MASTERCHEF (WED 2002) 4.40m
4 MASTERCHEF (TUE 2030) 3.56m
5 UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (MON 2001) 3.55m
6 TORCHWOOD (WED 2102) 3.31m
7 HORIZON (TUE 2100) 3.16m
8 AN ISLAND PARISH (TUE 1959) 2.90m
9 TROPIC OF CAPRICORN (SUN 2001) 2.70m
10 QI (FRI 2202) 2.28m

Top Programmes BBC3 (we 2 March 2008)

1 EASTENDERS (Tue 2200) 1.22m 
2 TORCHWOOD (Wed 2152) 1.18m 
3 KIZZY: MUM AT 14 (Mon 2101) 0.78m
4 EASTENDERS (Thu 2159) 0.74m
5 60 SECONDS (Mon 2200) 0.73m
6 EASTENDERS (Mon 2202) 0.65m
7 TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISP (Sun 2101) 0.64m
8 EASTENDERS (Fri 2201) 0.54m
9 DAWN GOES LESBIAN (Mon 2232) 0.52
10 DAWN GETS A BABY (Thu 2101) 0.47

Source BARB

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Doctor Who Executive producer Russell T Davies has spoken exclusively to SFX about the future of Doctor Who.

The show returns this Spring for a fourth series, and will encore as four specials in 2009 before returning for a fifth full series in 2010. While there has been no official comment on the future of Doctor Who beyond that, Davies reveals that the establishment of this transmission pattern will help to ensure the show's longevity.

"Doctor Who is now one of the BBC's biggest flagship shows," he tells the magazine. "And this sort of pattern will guarantee it being on air for twenty years. It's no good looking at that American pattern of making seven years if you're lucky - that's just not going to work. Who wants it to die after seven years? It's much bigger than that. It needs looking after, in the sense that it needs pauses, it needs its legend revamping every so often. If you build these pauses in now and say this will always happen, that's part of the plan now - it's literally a twenty year plan, which can't be guaranteed, because different people will be in charge in years to come - but if you present them with something rock solid, that is working, and has a unique transmission pattern that shouldn't be interfered with, then it will stay."

In the interview Davies also tackles such topics as the casting of Catherine Tate, the rise of the online critic and the true story behind the return of Billie Piper. In addition, he confirms that UNIT, the fictional military organisation returning to the show in the new series, is now the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, and not the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce as it was previously known.

The full interview is in SFX 168, on sale across the UK on Wednesday 12 March.

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Posted By Brigadier Bill

In a statement to Sci-Fi Wire Eidos has confirmed that it is preparing to announce a release date for a video game based on Doctor Who, according to gamer site videogaming247. Details on the game are still under wraps, but it is known that the company has the rights to the franchise and has been developing a game for the PC, PS2 and DS platforms.

A source told the site that work has started on the title and an announcement of a potential release date is forthcoming. Nothing else is known of the game thus far, the site said.

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The BBC has confirmed that the 1978 Tom Baker story The Invasion of Time is due for release in the UK on 5th May 2008. The release is being timed to coincide with the appearance of the Sontarans in Series Four. Extras on the disc include a commentary with actors Louise Jameson andJohn Leeson, the script editor Anthony Read and visual effects designer Matt Irvine.

As previously announced a number of documentaries are included. Out of Time is a look at the making of the story, The Changing face of Gallifrey, asks how the portrayal of the Time Lords has changed over the years, The Elusive David Agnew investigates the mysterious writer of the story andDeleted Scenes has previously cut scenes from the film inserts in Episodes five and six.

May will also see the release of a box set entitled Bred for War. This will include the new release of The Invasion of Time along with the previously released Sontaran stories, The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Experiment and The Two Doctors. The box set will contain no additional extras.

As previously announced the release date of the Peter Davison story, Black Orchid, will be the 14th April 2008. The Restoration Team website now has an article on this story. It confirms the commentary team of Peter Davison,Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton and Matthew Waterhouse.

Stories in preparation but unscheduled include The Brain of Morbius and The Trial of a TimeLord as well as a double issue entitled K9 Tales, comprising of the 1977 story The Invisible Enemy and the 1981 special K-9 and Company.

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The latest issue of Doctor Who Adventures issue 54, is out now across the United Kingdom.

Press Release

Who’s the worst villain in Doctor Who?

The Doctor has encountered so many brilliant villains on his travels, and sometimes they look just like us, making them even more scary than usual. Remember scheming Margaret Slitheen and the absorbing Victor Kennedy? Innocent enough at first, they were actually terrible monsters in disguise!

In this week’s Doctor Who Adventures, we look at the top 10 list of the universe’s most wanted, essential reading in case you ever run into one of them.

The issue comes with a special Doctor Who monster notebook and pen, perfect for jotting down notes of your adventures and alien sightings!

PLUS:
Posters: The Beast from The Satan Pit, loads of villains and a creepy Cyber creator poster of John Lumic.
Tales from the TARDIS: The Master captures the Doctor.
The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who – a look at Love & Monsters to Doomsday.
Quiz: will you get maximum points in our Max Capricorn quiz?
Why we love… villains in Doctor Who.
Comic strip: Part one of a new comic strip – Reign of the Stone Monkey.
Make: a mask of our top villain and a fantastic model of Dalek Sec!
Time Teasers: help Bloodtide and Doomfinger with this week’s word search and other brilliant puzzles.
Who knows! Your questions answered.
Win: loads of Doctor Who goodies!
Subscription offer: subscribe and get a free Cyberman watch!
AND LOADS MORE!

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Doctor Who's interactive services have been nominated for an International Emmy Award.

The nomination is for innovation on multi-media outlets to complement the broadcast programme and recognizes content on the web, Interactive TV and mobile phones.

Speaking to the official Doctor Who website, Interactive Producer Rob Francis said "The Doctor Who television series has always been at the forefront of creative innovation, and we've been determined that our interactive and online offerings are equally ambitious".

Since the return of the series in 2005, the BBC has launched a number of projects aimed at complementing the series. These include the interactive Christmas special, Attack Of The Graske, the Tardisodes for Season Two and the Comic Maker application, which allows fans to create their own online adventures.

Francis promised "some exciting new interactive features for Series Four".

Doctor Who is nominated along with Spooks, Emmerdale and The Truth About Marika. The winner will be announced in Cannes on 8th April 2008.

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Episode Eight of Torchwood, A Day in the Death, scored an Appreciation Index figure of 85. It was highest figure for the day on BBC2.

The edited repeat was watched by 0.9 million viewers, a 4.0% share of the total audience. Torchwood Declassified also got 0.9 million viewers.

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Unofficial figures show that the BBC2 showing of Torchwood Episode 8, A Day in the Death was watched by 2.7 millionviewers, a 11.7% shareof the total TV audience.

The programme was the most watched of the day on BBC2, beating Eggheads, and the 19th most watched on British television for the day. The episode had its premier on the digital channel BBC3 last week, where it was watched by 1.05 million viewers.

Episode Nine, Something Borrowed was watched by 0.81 million viewers on BBC3, making it the highest rated programme on BBC3 for the day, and giving it a 4.9% share of the total audience.

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Posted By John Bowman

Episodes of Doctor Who that were originally colour but now only exist in black and white could be restored to their former glory.

In a major piece headlined Putting colour back in the Doctor's cheeks, today's Guardian reports how the colour recovery process has been made possible thanks to an error by technicians when 16mm black-and-white film recordings were made from the original colour master tapes for overseas sales before the masters were purged.

These telerecordings were liable to interference from the colour-encoded video signal, and this pattern of grey dots - called chromadots - would normally be eliminated with a filter.

However, filters were not always used, meaning the chromadots were often burnt into the film, and while at BBC Research engineer James Inselltheorised that it was possible to extract the original colour pattern and decode it.

Insell, who subsequently set up an independent group to work on the technology, points out in the article: "The quality of the film has got to be good enough to have captured this pattern. We're really talking about working from the original negatives and having an HD scan made to get as much information as possible from the film."

The piece stresses that this is not colourisation, whereby colour reference material is used or colour is invented. It quotes Insell as saying: "In the colour recovery process, what you get out are the original colours."

Such is the potential that software for large-scale colour recovery is being developed, and he adds: "BBC Worldwide is obviously quite interested in releasing archive content, notably with Doctor Who and various programmes like that."

Insell also worked on the reverse standards conversion process, which was used to great effect on various DVD releases, such as The Claws of Axos.

(With thanks to Tony Clark and Luke McCullough.)

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Final figures released by BARB give Episode Six of Torchwood,Reset, a final rating of 3.22 million viewers, making it the channels 5th most watched programme of the week. Reset was first shown on BBC3 the previous week.

Episode Seven, Dead Man Walking received 1.01 million for its premier on BBC3, and was the second most watched programme on the channel for the week.

Top Programmes BBC2 (w/e 24 Feb 2008)

1 MASTERCHEF (MON 2033) 3.72m
2 MASTERCHEF (THU 2000) 3.66m
3 UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE (MON 2002) 3.52m
4 MASTERCHEF (TUE 2033) 3.24m
5 TORCHWOOD (WED 2101) 3.22m
6 THE CHOIR - BOYS DON'T SING (FRI 2101) 3.16m
7 MASTERCHEF (WED 2030) 3.01m
8 AN ISLAND PARISH (TUE 2002) 2.78m
9 TROPIC OF CAPRICORN (SUN 2001) 2.73m
10 WAINWRIGHT WALKS (TUE 1932) 2.35m

Top Programmes BBC3 (w/e 24 Feb 2008)

1 EASTENDERS (Thu 2159) 1.283m
2 TORCHWOOD (Wed 2202) 1.009m
3 TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISP (Sun 2102 0.830m
4 EASTENDERS (Tue 2200) 0.804m
5 EASTENDERS (Mon 2159) 0.565m
6 DAWN GETS NAKED (Mon 2229) 0.510m
7 BIZARRE ER (Thu 2229) 0.507m
8 60 SECONDS (Mon 2100) 0.505m
9 FILM: THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (2004) (Sat 2104) 0.504m
10 LITTLE BRITAIN (Sun 2132) 0.478m

Source: BARB

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This month's Doctor Who Magazine comes with a complete new Doctor Who audio adventure.

Cuddlesome is a brand new adventure for the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, co-starring Roberta Taylor, Timothy West, and David Troughton. "It's about a dastardly plot to infect the world," says Peter, "because someone was nasty to someone when they were young! It's a nice idea, toys are the perfect way to get to the population. Evil!"

Also this issue, DWM counts down the 100 Greatest Doctor Who Death Scenes of All Time! Doctor Who’s current executive producer Russell T Daviesleads the comments on the programme’s most memorably morbid moments. Speaking about the battle between the Raston Warrior Robot and the Cybermen in 1983’s The Five Doctors, Russell enthuses, "Best. Massacre. Ever. Heads go flying! Arms! Guts! On Children in Need night! We should really bring those Rastons back one day, they were brilliant" Terrance Dicks agrees, as the writer of the story, "there’ll be a few quid in it for me!"

Meanwhile, writer Steven Moffat is full of praise for Pete Tyler’s death in 2005’s Father’s Day "just chilling, and tragic and unforgettable" while fellow scribe Paul Cornell raves over Harrison Chase’s grisly demise in 1976’s The Seeds of Doom – "Just gorgeous. Apt and relishable. One of the absolute best Doctor Who deaths."

Also in DWM 393: "30 Reasons to be excited about Series 30" – with new photos from the new series! Martha Jones, alias Freema Agyeman answers questions from the dreaded TARDIS tin" and script-writer Gareth Roberts reveals how the Doctor and Donna are set to meet Agatha Christie, as he discusses his forthcoming adventure, The Unicorn and the Wasp.

The Fact of Fiction uncovers the truth behind 1066 and all that as it examines The Time Meddler while Novice Hame actress Anna Hope speaks about her new Doctor Who audio role. Nightmarish creatures fill the final chilling chapter of full colour comic strip Universal Monsters and Russell T Davies extols the new-found virtues of an oft-neglected Tom Baker tale.

Neil Harris bemoans the ‘worst story ever’ in You Are Not Alone and The Time Team find that it’s grim up north as they watch The Mark of the Rani.

DWM 393 is out in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2008.

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Nominations for the Royal Television Society awards have been announced. Included in the list are:

Best Drama Series: Doctor Who
Best Actor: David Tennant (Recovery/Doctor Who)
Best Children's Drama: The Sarah Jane Adventures

The awards will be presented on Wednesday 19th March 2008. A full list of nominees is available on the RTS website.

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