This Week In Doctor Who - December 11, 1998

In Memoriam: Michael Craze - 1942 - 1998
THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - December 11th, 1998

It's been a crazy week, full of highs and lows, both for the series and for me. Thankfully I wrote most of the schedules out last week, so the column will be essentially complete. Next week should be easier. (Famous last words.)

Thanks to the Doctor Who Alliance's new web host, they are now carrying the complete version of this column, which includes listings for Europe and Australia. Shaun Lyon has done a good job at editing the column to fit their old system, but I'm glad that everyone are now getting it complete. And the Alliance's web site looks better without the pesky ads.

TJ Lubinski (Whosaver) sent out a three part update on the National Feed on Tuesday, December 8th. The full update can be found on news:rec.arts.drwho, http://www.dejanews.com/ (search for National Feed), and the Alliance newsletter. Essentially, the feed would consist of 50 Tom Baker episodes (Robot 1 to Masque Of Mandragora 4) airing once a week. PBS stations have been sent a copy of Genesis Of The Daleks 1 to give them a taste of what they would be getting. Ordering this package is cheaper then ordering the episodes in the traditional manner (but still expensive). The stations air the episode designated for that week, instead of deciding themselves. The hope is that this package of stories from the best known Doctor in the USA will jumpstart support for the series. For the deal to work, they need to have stations commit by mid-January. Many stations may not be able to pick up the feed just yet, even if they want to, because their 1999 budgets have been allocated to programming already. Anyone lobbying for stations to pick up the feed should be polite, note how much they like PBS programming in general (not just British sci-fi), and not go around denouncing the station if they decide not to pick up the series. In case I've glossed over any of the points (darn computer crash erasing the posts), remember to read the full messages if you intend to act on them.

Someone who's name is very familiar in the Who online community sent me this one. - BFE This didn't come from me.....so PLEASE DO NOT MENTION who you got this from on the Internet..... But, at a pogrammers meeting I was at last week, I had some discussions with the progrmmers at WYCC about Dr. Who and their management is very interested in bringing it back. Even if the national feed does not materialize, they are interested in purchasing the series from the BBC sales offices. The only problem here is that that are a much smaller station than WTTW and still have to pay market prices for the size of the Chicago TV market -- but they really want to find a way to make it work. What I can tell you is they are the most friendly Dr.Who people working there I've met in along time, so if your a Chicago fan and serious about seeing the series on the air again -- I strongly suggest you contact them, and begin thinking about some ways that they might be able to find the money to buy the show.

WFWA 39 Fort Wayne, Indiana notified one of its viewers this week that they have discontinued Doctor Who, citing decreasing fan support and fewer pledges. They had recently aired the series Midnight late Saturdays, pre-empting it during pledge drives. Their final broadcast was the movie version of Logopolis, which aired November 14th.

KRCB 22 Rohnert Park, California last aired Doctor Who on November 7th. This station has not scheduled Doctor Who to air in the next 2 weeks. There has been no announcement from the station regarding its plans. Therefore, until further information comes in, I am reluctantly dropping this station from the column. KRCB's web site http://www.krcb.org/ only has information on their auctions, so it might not help people searching for information.

If you have news, updates, corrections, etc. for the column, you can e-mail me. So, on with the schedules.

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UK and Europe:

UK Gold - satellite / cable channel
Late Friday from 12:05 to 3:05AM - The Dead Planet - movie version
Sunday from 8:30 to 11:20AM - The Green Death - movie version
The weekend begins with the second ever Doctor Who story. Ian and Barbara meet aliens for the first time. The alien race introduced in this story turned the series into a smash hit and guaranteed its future. Sunday's story turns on its head the notion that the 3rd Doctor is an arch conservative. An oil refinery's sludge mutates magnets, er, maggots into dangerous creatures that threaten humanity. Meanwhile, a renegade computer plans to take over humanity, blithely unaware that the species it wants to conquer might not survive. The final scene before the closing credits is one of the most haunting scenes on television.

BBC Prime - satellite / cable - http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Friday at 1:05AM, Saturday at 9:55AM - The Invisible Enemy - episode 4 of 4
Saturday at 6PM CET - Image of the Fendahl - episode 1 of 4
The head of the Swarm escapes the 4th Doctor's brain and enters the macro-world. Now it can take over the galaxy. Afterwards, the Doctor tracks down an energy beam that threatens to destroy the planet Earth.

Australia:

FOXTEL's UK-TV - satellite channel 5 - http://www.foxtel.com.au/
Saturday at 1PM, Sunday at 2 and 8AM - Destiny of the Daleks - all 4 episodes
Saturday at PM, Sunday at and AM - Resurrection of the Daleks - both 45 minute episodes
Monday at 11:30PM - Revelation of the Daleks - episode 2 of 2 (45 minutes)
Tuesday through Friday at 11:30PM - Remembrance of the Daleks - the 4 episodes
Destiny! Destiny! No escaping that for me!' I thought for years that that line came from Destiny of the Daleks, and that Young Frankenstein had ripped it off. Partially because many other people I knew thought the same thing. Odd, that. The Daleks rescue Davros to deal with the Movellans. Resurrection deals with the aftermath, as the Daleks rescue Davros again, this time to deal with the virus of the Movellans. Revelation has the 6th Doctor learning about Davros' vilest plot yet. Remembrance sees two Dalek factions about to start a war in 1963 London over special Time Lord technology. It's all Daleks, all the time, for FOXTEL's Who-Files this week.

Canada:

SPACE: The Imagination Station - http://www.spacecast.com/ and
http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
Sunday at 8AM EST, repeat at 3:30AM - The Web Planet: Invasion - episode 5 of 6
Monday through Thursday at 7:30AM - The Romans - all 4 episodes (The Slave Traders, All Roads Lead To Rome, Conspiracy, Inferno)
Friday at 7:30AM - The Web Planet - The Web Planet - episode 1 of 6
Deja-Who. During the weekend, experience episode 5 of The Web Planet, where the Menoptera's efforts to re-invade their homeworld and take it back take some alarming turns. Most of the weekday shows feature The Romans, the original comedic Doctor Who story. On Friday, they reach episode 1 of The Web Planet again.

The USA:

IPTV http://www.iptv.org and http://www.mach3ww.com/sffn/ , Prairie Public Broadcasting http://www.prairiepublic.org , and KBDI are not airing Doctor Who this week. They will resume airing Doctor Who next week.

Maine Public Broadcasting 10, 10, 12, 13, 26, 39 - http://www.mpbc.org/
Saturday at 9PM - The Face of Evil - all 4 episodes
Two cultures - one technological, one tribal, each hating the other. Both worship Xoanon, a mysterious being with power over the planet. Now someone is standing up to Xoanon. Leela, one of the top warrioresses in the tribe, no longer believes. And she has evidence to back up her claim. A tall man with curly hair who eats babies has arrived, and he looks just like Xoanon. Ends at about 11:30PM after the pledge drive.

New Hampshire Public Television 11, 15, 49, 52 - http://nhptv.org/
Friday at 10:30PM - Doctor Who And The Silurians - episodes 3, 4, and 5
A rift between two Silurian factions. One favors peaceful co-existence with humanity. The other favors wiping them out. The humans, naturally, want to wipe out the Silurians. And the 3rd Doctor is in the middle. Sounds a bit like Earth: Final Conflict, doesn't it? Three color-restored episodes, running a little over 70 minutes. NHPTV has only scheduled 60 minutes, so it will probably start early, run late, or both.

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania - http://www.wqed.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM - "(Doctor Who pledge special)"
WQED is airing an (apparently complete) Doctor Who story with pledges. The various TV listings had not revealed which story would air as of publication time. Ends at 2AM.

» The identity of this story is currently unknown

Maryland Public Televison 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 - http://www.mpt.org/
Friday and Saturday at Midnight - The Space Museum - movie version
The 1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki arrive in their own futures, much to their confusion. Worse, it seems they never left this planet that they haven't arrived on yet. And a curious bit of unintentional foreshadowing occurs. Hint: "I fooled them all. I am the Master!" A little under 90 minutes, but slotted for 100 minutes.

WUFT 5 Gainesville, Florida - http://www.wuft.org/
Saturday at 4:30PM - Planet of Fire - movie version
Kamelion's acting oddly. An archaeological artefact from another planet turns up on Earth. A college student goes for a swim. An old bearded enemy plans for another appearance. And Turlough's keeping secrets. This twisty game of chess runs for 2 hours when pledge drives get counted.

WUSF 16 Tampa, Florida - http://wusf.usf.edu/
Saturday at 11:30PM - Earthshock - episode 3 of 4
Our ship is approaching Earth. It's cargo is secure. But people are mysteriously dying. We've caught the culprits, a tall, fair-haired man and a teenager. But something doesn't seem right. Thank goodness we're getting to Earth soon!

WCET 48 Cincinnati, Ohio - http://www.wcet.org/
Saturday at *11:45PM* - Spearhead From Space - episodes 3 and 4 of 4
The Nestene Intelligence prepares for its takeover of Earth. The 3rd Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier run out of time as the invasion begins. And THE PLASTIC WILL RULE THE WORLD!

Louisiana Public Broadcasting 13, 18, 24, 24, 25, 27 - http://www.lpb.org/
Saturday at 10PM - Frontier In Space - episodes 3 and 4 of 6
The Humans don't trust the Draconians. The Draconians don't trust the Humans. No one trusts the 3rd Doctor or Jo. But it seems everyone trusts the man with the beard.

KSPS 7 Spokane, Washington - http://www.ksps.org/
Saturday at 10:30PM - The Sun Makers - movie version
The best 4th Doctor story. The Doctor, Leela, and K9 land on Pluto in the future. Humanity has been moved out here to mine materials that will make the Usurians rich. The humans are also being taxed to death. And now Independence Day has come! Remember to watch this story just before paying your taxes. About 90 minutes.

KBTC 28, 15 Tacoma, Washington
Saturday at 7PM, no Monday broadcasts - The Happiness Patrol - episodes 1 and 2 of 3
Your parents always said that too many sweets would kill you. They were right! A source for TV listings that had mentioned the late Saturday broadcasts do not list them for this weekend.

KTEH 54 San Jose, California - http://www.kteh.org/
Late Sunday at 12:06AM - Time and the Rani - all 4 episodes
The Rani makes the TARDIS crash-land on Lakertya, forcing the Doctor's 6th regeneration. A new 7th Doctor must uncover the Rani's latest scheme before history is erased. This was only the second time in Who history that there was an opening sequence before the credits began. (The Lionheart movie compilation cut some of this sequence and moved the rest after the credits.) Ends at 1:47AM.

BBC America - cable / Dish Network channel 135 - http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Saturday at 5PM EST, Sunday at 2PM - The Sontaran Experiment - movie version
The 4th Doctor, Sarah, and Harry transmat from Nerva to Earth to determine if it's habitable for humanity. They find a potato-headed alien torturing humans to evaluate their suitability for conquest. Edited for commercials. Scheduled to run 1 hour.

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Until next week, take care.

Benjamin F. Elliott

Doctor Who is a trademark of the BBC. Copyright 1998.