Friday, May 29, 2009

New Doctor Who Assistant

Little-known actress Karen Gillan has been unveiled as the next assistant in Doctor Who.
The 21-year-old will star alongside new Time Lord Matt Smith in the new series, to be broadcast next year.
Gillan has already appeared in the drama, having played a Soothsayer in The Fires Of Pompeii in the last run.
"I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor's new companion. - I just can't wait to get started," she said.

Upcoming UK DVD Releases

From Gallifreyone.com:
DVD sales sites have begun listing release dates for several stories for DVD release in the UK.

The second Doctor swan song, The War Games, is due for release on July 6th. The ten part story, staring Patrick Troughton is released on 3 discs. First shown in 1969, it also features Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury. Extras cleared for release at the BBFC website include a feature on the truth behind the War Games, Timezones; a feature on Malcolme Hulke; a 'Now and Then' on the Locations used in the story; a feature on Dudley Simpson; and a look at the Second Doctor in Comic strips.

August 10th sees the release of a box set entitled The Black Guardian Trilogy which contains three stories from the fifth Doctor. Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment were originally broadcast in the winter of 1983. They cover the arrival of Mark Strickson as Turlough and the departure of Sarah Sutton as Nyssa as well as featuring Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka.

Listed for release in September are two stories. The first Colin Baker story, The Twin Dilemma is listed for release on September 7th. This is the first conformation that the story will be released this year. It completes the DVD releases for the sixth Doctor. Just two weeks later sees the release of the first Doctor story, The Keys of Marinus. In addition, a special edition of the 1988 Sylvester McCoy story Remembrance of the Daleks is being issued on July 20th.

The current expected UK DVD release schedule is therefore as follows:
• 22 June 2009 - Delta And The Bannermen
• 6 July 2009 - The War Games
• 20 July 2009 - Remembrance Of The Daleks - Special Edition
• 10 August 2009 - The Black Guardian Trilogy
• 7 September 2009 - The Twin Dilemma
• 21 September 2009 - The Keys of Marinus

The Dalek War box set (Frontier in Space / Planet of the Daleks) is still expected later this year.All dates are subject to change.

The Doctor Visits Sarah Jane

Yes I know I'm a little late with this news. I've been working on another project. More details on that soon.

From the BBC:


Doctor Who fans are in for a treat this Autumn as David Tennant makes a special appearance as The Doctor in CBBC's hit drama series The Sarah Jane Adventures with a starring role across two episodes.
Investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, one-time companion to that strange wanderer in time and space known as The Doctor, is reunited with her old friend as The Sarah Jane Adventures is back for a third series of alien-busting adventures on CBBC this September.
Elisabeth Sladen, who plays Sarah Jane, says: "When I heard the news that David was going to be joining us I was absolutely over the moon. Not only has it made my day but it will also make the viewers' day.
"It's fantastic news that Sarah Jane is going to spend some time working with The Doctor again and is testament to just how successful this CBBC series is."
Russell T Davies, Executive Producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures, adds: "Viewers thought they may have to wait until November for the next full episode of Doctor Who, but this is an extra special treat.
"And it's not just a cameo from David – this is a full-on appearance for The Doctor as he and Sarah Jane face their biggest threat ever."
The series includes 12 weeks of brand new adventures featuring a new alien race, the reptilian Veil and their enemies the Judoon, alongside an extraterrestrial girl that can make people play games against their will.
There will also be a living painting, the inhabitants of a supposedly haunted house, monsters who want to infect Earth with a strangely aggressive weed and a chance for Sarah Jane to find personal happiness with someone who could be the perfect person to complete her family.
Alongside adopted son Luke, Sarah Jane's team is made up of Luke's streetwise pal Clyde Langer, their schoolmate Rani, who lives opposite and has aspirations to become a journalist like Sarah Jane, and Mr Smith, their Xylok supercomputer up in the attic, plus Sarah Jane's robot dog, K-9.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

David Tennant to Play Hamlet for BBC 2

Actor David Tennant has signed up to reprise his role as Hamlet for BBC Two.
The Doctor Who star recently completed a stint playing the prince on stage as part of a Royal Shakespeare Company production.
He will be joined by all of the key members of its original cast, including Star Trek actor Patrick Stewart, who plays Claudius.
Last week Tennant finished filming his farewell Doctor Who episodes, which will be shown later this year.
He announced he was leaving the popular BBC show last year at the National Television Awards.
BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said the 180-minute screen production of Hamlet was "a wonderful opportunity... to bring one of the great stage successes of last year to a wider audience".
Tickets for the stage performances, which opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon and later moved to London, sold out in hours.
After his debut appearance, the Guardian called Tennant the "best Hamlet in years".
Although the 38-year-old was lauded by critics, he hurt his back and was unable to perform for a while as he recovered from surgery.
In February his return to the stage as Hamlet was named the event of the year in the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Awards, which also saw Kenneth Branagh win best actor for Ivanov.

Doctor Who on Blu-Ray and BBC America

BBC America today announced the acquisition of five new Doctor Who specials, the first of which, 'Planet of the Dead', will have its broadcast premiere in the US in July. Shortly thereafter, it will be released on Blu-ray. At the time of writing, no specific release date or edition details have been divulged.

Of course, if you want to skip the broadcast altogether, 2 Entertain Video is releasing 'Planet of the Dead' in the UK on June 29.