THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - Fri, 5 Feb 1999

By Benjamin F. Elliott

As a service to people attending the Gallifrey 1999 convention in Los Angeles (Feb 12 - 15), a special section has been added at the end of the column. Courtesy of Shaun Lyon, we have a list of all the Doctor Who material airing at the convention (and there's a lot). Wherever possible, the start time has been given. Someone could go to that convention, sit down in the video room, and watch Doctor Who (and the other things they're playing) virtually nonstop the whole weekend. If your convention wants to publicize its Doctor Who video programming, contact me in advance with the information and I'll get it into the column.

New Hampshire Public TV wanted to alert viewers to their plans for their February 28th Doctor Who pledge drive. They will air all 6 episodes of The Mind of Evil. The pledge drives this time will be shorter then normal. And the programming will begin at 2PM, not 1PM as earlier reported somewhere. They are not cutting an hour of programming from the drive, merely an hour of pledges.

Prairie Public TV in North Dakota changed their schedule last week. Their listing (which I used) said that episode 1 of Revenge of the Cybermen would air. Apparently someone at the station noticed that Genesis of the Daleks goes before Revenge in the official broadcast order, and forgot to update their web page. Apologies for any confusion.

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA reports that Doctor Who will return to their schedule on February 20th, after a 3 week break. They say that Doctor Who is still an important part of their schedule.

Comments, corrections, and additions are always appreciated and wanted.
And now, on to the schedules:

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Europe:

UK Gold
Late Friday from Midnight to 3AM GMT The Dalek Invasion of Earth movie version
Sunday from 8:45 to 9:40AM The Sontaran Experiment movie version
Friday night insomniacs (and Saturday morning people with good VCR's) can watch the chilling story where the Daleks conquered Earth. The original cast of the 1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan battle the Daleks to try to free humanity. One of them does not leave Earth. The VCR rolls again Sunday morning to catch the 4th Doctor's visit to an Earth recovering from solar flares. A completely abandoned planet, well, apart from the humans and the alien and ... what are they doing here? The Doctor must find out. This story was originally scheduled for last week, but was moved for no apparent reason.

BBC Prime
http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Friday at 1:05AM, Saturday at 10AM The Sunmakers episode 4 of 4
Saturday at 6PM CET Underworld episode 1 of 4
The 4th Doctor, Leela, and K9 continue their travels through time. First, they try to launch a revolution against the Company that has treated humans like slaves. Then they land on a ship from a dead civilization heading for a planet that should not exist to fulfill an impossible quest. It seems that the Time Lords' mistakes have come back to cause the Doctor grief.

Australia:

FOXTEL's UK-TV
http://www.foxtel.com.au/
Saturday at 1PM, Sunday at 2 and 8AM Planet of Fire all 4 episodes
Saturday at 3PM, Sunday at 4 and 10AM Mark Of The Rani both episodes (45 minute episodes)
Monday through Wednesday at 11:30PM Survival episodes 1 through 3 of 3
Thursday and Friday at 11:30PM The Time Warrior episodes 1 and 2 of 4
FOXTEL continues running its Who-Files this week. The weekend stories see the Doctor battle the Master both on the Planet Karn and on Earth in the 19th Century. Classic Ainley. The first weekday story was the end of the series in 1989, where the 7th Doctor and Ace were drawn to a dying world with Cheetah-like people living to hunt. The week concludes with the original Sontaran story. A Sontaran kidnaps 20th Century scientists and brings them back to the Middle Ages.

Canada:

SPACE: The Imagination Station
http://www.spacecast.com/ and
http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
Early Monday at 3:30AM 'The Chase: Flight Through Eternity' episode 3 of 6
Monday at 7:30AM EST 'The Tomb of the Cybermen' episode 4 of 4
Tuesday through Friday at 7:30AM 'The Dominators' episodes 1 to 4 of 5
In 'The Chase', the 1st Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki try to escape Morton Dill before extremely vengeful Daleks can catch up with them. Later Monday morning, the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria try to ensure that the Cybermen are buried forever. The rest of the week chronicles the perils of the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe as they fight the cruel Dominators who have landed on the peaceful planet Dulkis. What are the Dominators' plans? And will the Quarks honor our heroes' bar tab?

The USA:

Maine Public Broadcasting 10, 10, 12, 13, 26, 39
http://www.mpbc.org/
Saturday at 9PM The Android Invasion episodes 1 and 2 of 4
The 4th Doctor and Sarah finally get back to modern-day Earth. But the place is nearly deserted, and the only people around appear not to be people.

New Hampshire Public TV 11, 12, 15, 49, 52
http://nhptv.org/
Sunday at 3PM Inferno episodes 6 and 7 of 7
The 3rd Doctor tries to escape the doomed alternate Earth to warn the Earth he knows before they can make the same mistakes. At least one of the people on the doomed Earth wants to go with him, and won't take no for an answer.

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.wqed.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM Planet of Evil episode 1 of 4
The 4th Doctor and Sarah miss their intended landing place by 30,000 years and half a galaxy. Instead they land on a jungle planet where people are disappearing from an expedition.

Maryland Public TV 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67
http://www.mpt.org/
Friday and Saturday at Midnight The Mind Robber movie version
The 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe try to escape a lava flow (see The Dominators). Their efforts take them out of time and into a realm of unreality. Surely nothing can hurt them outside reality. What could possibly be there? The 5 shortest regular episodes ever. Compiled into a movie, it runs about 95 minutes.

WUFT 5 Gainesville, FL
http://www.wuft.org/
Saturday at 5PM Revelation of the Daleks movie version
The most violent Doctor Who TV story ever. The 6th Doctor and Peri come to visit a friend of the Doctor's at Tranquil Repose. Little do they know that the people in Tranquil Repose are neither reposing nor tranquil. What is the secret this facility hides? Who is The Great Healer? And is the DJ's hair real? Final story before the BBC imposed hiatus in 1985. The last word of the story was cut off, possibly to make it work as a final scene if they hadn't gotten another year. About 90 minutes.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL
http://wusftv.usf.edu/
Saturday at 11:30PM Arc of Infinity episode 3 of 4
The 5th Doctor has been executed, leaving Nyssa in shock. The anti-matter creature embroils Tegan further in his machinations. The Castellan suspects that the Doctor may not be as dead as the evidence suggests. Maxil (Colin Baker in a pre-Doctor role) scowls a lot.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH
http://www.wcet.org/
Saturday at 11:45PM Inferno episodes 1 and 2 of 7
The 3rd Doctor wants to use the power from a drill project to repair his TARDIS console. But his first attempt at a take-off has disturbing results. Affected by pledge drives. Scheduled to end at 12:50AM.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting 13, 18, 24, 24, 25, 27
http://www.lpb.org/
Saturday at 10PM The Time Warrior episodes 1 and 2 of 4
The adventures of Sarah Jane Smith, freelance journalist. First up: after cheating her way into a top secret installation that has been losing scientists, she begins to suspect a Doctor John Smith in the disappearances. She sneaks into his blue Police Box to try to uncover his secrets. This is her first mistake.

Iowa Public TV 11, 12, 27, 32
http://www.iptv.org/ and http://www.mach3ww.com/sffn/
Friday at 11:05PM Colony In Space episodes 3 and 4 of 6
The colonists call in an adjudicator to help resolve the land dispute. The 3rd Doctor and Jo notice that the adjudicator looks eerily familiar. Maybe it's the beard.

Prairie Public TV of ND 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13
http://www.prairiepublic.org/
Friday at 10:30PM Genesis of the Daleks episode 2 of 6
Sarah's witnessed the activation of the very first Dal - er, Mark 3 Travel Machine. It won't be the last. The Kaleds are split over how to deal with these new creations.

KBDI 12, 11, 32 Denver, CO
http://www.kbdi.org/
Friday at 11PM The Time Warrior episode 2 of 4
Friday at 11:30PM, Saturday at 10PM The Time Warrior episode 3 of 4
Saturday at 10:30PM The Time Warrior episode 4 of 4
The 3rd Doctor's efforts to stop a Sontaran from bringing scientists to the Middle Ages to repair his ship are hampered by the local residents believing that the Doctor is a wizard. Meanwhile, Sarah slowly comes to terms with the fact that she's traveled through time.

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA
http://www.ksps.org/
Doctor Who returns in 2 weeks.

KBTC / KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma, WA
Ghost Light episode 3 of 3
Saturday at 7:30PM and 1AM, Monday at 8PM and 1AM The Curse of Fenric episode 1 of 4
In the conclusion of Ghost Light, the 7th Doctor learns that shedding Light on a matter is not always the best solution. In The Curse of Fenric, our heroes land in 1943 England in a village holding some dark secrets. This is the only Ace story where she does not bring her leather jacket with her.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA
http://www.kteh.org/
Sunday at 11PM Battlefield all 4 episodes
Isn't it amazing how coincidences like these can happen? The only Who station in California airs the story with Jean Marsh's final Doctor Who appearance, just 6 days before The Lion, the lost episode of The Crusade with Jean Marsh's first Doctor Who appearance, premieres in the US at Gallifrey 1999. This story also features Nicholas Courtney's return as The Brigadier as the 7thDoctor and UNIT battle knights from another dimension who have come to retrieve Arthur. It even features the return of a certain yellow roadster that fans of the 3rd Doctor might recognize. 4 episodes of must-see-Who this Sunday night.

BBC America
http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Saturday at 5PM EST, Sunday at 2PM Planet of Evil movie version, part 1 of 2
The 4th Doctor and Sarah discover that the TARDIS has bungled it again. Instead of going to London, it's taken them to a planet on the border between matter and anti-matter. And something on that planet is killing people. The episodes have been edited together for time and to make room for additional commercials. 1 hour.

Gallifrey 1999 Video Features

In some cases, they appear to have scheduled overlapping programs [note from Alliance editor: This is incorrect, based on a wrong time sent to Benjamin...)

Friday the 12th:
1PM Remembrance of the Daleks special "71" edit
2:45PM The Gunfighters all 4 episodes
4PM "Backtime" special independent film with Tom Baker
8PM The BBV Focus Series - direct to video stories done in the Doctor Who style with Doctor Who actors:
"Summoned by Shadows"
"More than a Messiah"
"The Terror Game"
"The Airzone Solution"
"The Zero Imperative"
"The Ghosts of Winterbourne"

Saturday the 13th:
10AM The Mind Robber all 5 episodes
12:30PM Dr. Who's Lust in Space direct to video special
1:30PM "Where On Earth is Katy Manning?" direct to video documentary
2:30PM Revenge of the Cybermen all 4 episodes
3:45PM Attack of the Cybermen both 45 minute episodes
**6PM The Crusade: The Lion episode 1 of 4 (USA premiere of formerly lost episode)**
8:15PM Terror of the Zygons all 4 episodes
10PM The Time Monster all 6 episodes

Sunday the 14th:Main Room:
10AM "Auton" direct to video spinoff
11AM "Auton II: Sentinel" direct to video spinoff
12PM Return To Devil's End direct to video documentary
1PM "MindGame" and "The Making of MindGame" direct to video spinoff and documentary
4PM Survival all 3 episodes
6PM "The Missing Years" and The Ice Warriors Special Edition - the recent BBC video release of the surviving Ice Warriors episodes, and a documentary on the lost stories

Other Room:
10AM The Moonbase telesnap reconstruction special
11:45AM The Space Pirates telesnap reconstruction special
2:15PM The Wheel In Space telesnap reconstruction special
4:45PM The Evil of the Daleks telesnap reconstruction special
7:45PM The Enemy of the World telesnap reconstruction special

Monday the 15th:
10AM The Krotons all 4 episodes
11:45AM Mawdryn Undead all 4 episodes
1:30PM Battlefield all 4 episodes

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As of last word, the Alliance newsletter will not go out next week, which may make it difficult for some people to find this column. If you are one of those people, or if you'll be at the convention and away from your computers, see you in two weeks. As for everyone else, until next week, take care.