This Week In Doctor Who - February 12th, 1999

Doctor Who movie airs in Central and South America. Ole!

THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - February 12th, 1999

Welcome again to the column aimed at alerting all discerning sci-fi fans to the times and channels where Doctor Who is airing around the world. Every known station and time, with descriptions of the episodes airing. (Sometimes the descriptions are done in a slightly humourous way to catch the reader's interest.) Suitably big Who events, like the Doctor Who video schedule at a convention, missing episodes turning up, etc. will also sometimes appear here. If the column does its job, all the readers, first time or people who remember the messy early editions of 7 months ago, should have a good time, and maybe find themselves a little more interested in this great British program. Well, let's get started.

HBO OLE http://www.hbo-ole.com/, a Spanish language branch of the HBO Cable network operating in Central and South America, has acquired rights to air the 1996 Doctor Who Telemovie, and has scheduled it at least 4 times over the next 3 weeks. The broadcast will apparently be in English, and it was unclear whether there would be Spanish subtitles. It will go after the US station listings. HBO OLE has two broadcast feeds.

The ESTE (East) feed originates in Argentina and is available in Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Columbia, Chile, Panama, Paraguay, Mexico, Surinam, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The OESTE (West) feed originates in Mexico and is available in Argentina, Aruba, Barbados, Columbia, Costa Rica, Curaeao, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Rep. Dominicana (Dominican Republic), Santa Lucia, and Venezuela.

The OESTE feed airs all the programs from the ESTE feed 3 hours later. This column will use the ESTE feed times for Argentina, which are also the OESTE times for the bulk of Mexico. Viewers in other countries will need to adjust for different time zones and the particular feed they have.

And in case anyone hadn't heard, Doctor Who and K9 are coming back in new audio productions. A Doctor Who audio story (with Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy) is in development at Big Finish Productions, and a series with K9 and the Mistress (Lalla Ward playing Romana, but with a different name for legal reasons), being made by BBV. This column is delighted to hear of the news, and hopes that these stories will somehow find their way onto radio stations as well as the retail market.

Any corrections, additions, or feedback would be gratefully appreciated.
And now, on to the schedules:

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Europe:

UK Gold
Late Friday from 12:05 to 1AM GMT The Rescue movie version
Late Friday from 1 to 3AM The Romans movie version
Sunday from 8:30 to 11:10AM Genesis of the Daleks movie version
Friday night, it's the Vicki chronicles! In the first story, Vicki is marooned on the planet Dido when the 1st Doctor and company turn up. Then she goes to ancient Rome and meets Emperor Nero. Sunday morning your VCR can record that classic Who love story - Genesis Of The Daleks. Davros tenderly designs his mutants to conquer and destroy, Nyder acts like a devoted younger brother doing whatever Davros asks. The Thals and the Kaleds all act out of love of their races. The 4th Doctor acts out of love of life. And the Time Lords betray their love of maintaining the time line when they ask the Doctor to . A real Valentine's Day treat.

BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Friday at 1:05AM, Saturday at 10AM Underworld episode 1 of 4
Saturday at 6PM CET Underworld episode 2 of 4
The most watched story of Season 15, Underworld tells the adventures of the P7E, on a quest to recover the racebank of the Minyan people. The 4th Doctor, Leela, and K9 arrive just as they're on the verge of completing the mission. But beware a planet without the budget to put up walls, for it could be deadly.

Australia:

FOXTEL's UK-TV http://www.foxtel.com.au/
Saturday at 1PM, Sunday at 2 and 8AM Survival all 3 episodes
Monday and Tuesday at 11:30PM The Time Warrior episodes 3 and 4 of 4
Wednesday and Thursday at 11:30PM The Sontaran Experiment episodes 1 and 2 of 2
Friday at 11:30PM The Invasion of Time episode 1 of 6
Begin the weekend with the end of the series, the one where Ace return to Perivale and learns that cats can kill. The weekday episodes begin with the 3rd Doctor fighting Lynx the Sontaran to rescue kidnaped scientists and keep Lynx from returning to his battle unit. Then the 4th Doctor lands on a solar flare altered Earth where another Sontaran is torturing humans for battle information. At the end of the week, the 4th Doctor begins acting more erratically then normal and returns to Gallifrey to declare himself President. A busy who week.

North America:

SPACE: The Imagination Station http://www.spacecast.com/ and
http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
Early Monday at 3:30AM EST The Chase: Journey into Terror episode 4 of 6
Monday at 7:30AM The Dominators episode 5 of 5
Tuesday through Friday at 7:30AM The Mind Robber episodes 1 through 4 of 5
As the Chase continues, the 1st Doctor and company think they've found the perfect hiding place from the Daleks. The Daleks are less then convinced. One of the crew will not make it into the TARDIS in time. Later Monday, the Dominators concludes, as the 2nd Doctor develops an ingenious plan to deal with the Dominators. But will it work? The rest of the week features The Mind Robber, a story famous for its ingenuity but infamous for the shortness of its episodes.

Maine Public Broadcasting 10, 10, 12, 13, 26, 39 http://www.mpbc.org/
Saturday at 9PM The Android Invasion episodes 3 and 4 of 4
The 4th Doctor must find Sarah and determine a way to get to the real Earth in time to save it from a deadly invasion.

New Hampshire Public TV 11, 12, 15, 49, 52 http://nhptv.org/
Sunday at 3PM Terror of the Autons episodes 1 and 2 of 4
The Master dons the 'beard of evil' for the first time in these two classic episodes that also see the introduction of Jo Grant and Mike Yates. There's a dastardly plot, too. Hopefully these will be the color-restored episodes.

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA http://wqed.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM Planet of Evil episode 2 of 4
Why is it that wherever the Doctor and company turn up, they get accused of being the killers? So they're discovered next to a blood-drained corpse. What kind of evidence is that? And why won't the Morestrans believe in the dangers of anti-matter?

Maryland Public TV 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 http://www.mpt.org/
Friday and Saturday at Midnight The Krotons movie version
One of Doctor Who's most popular writers, Robert Holmes, made his debut in this tale of a peaceful people ruled and used by secretive crystalline beings. The 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe arrive on Graduation Day. Of course, by the time they're done, it's Independence Day. And that could result in it being the Day of the DEAD.

WUFT 5 Gainesville, FL http://www.wuft.org/
Saturday at 5PM Trial Of A Time Lord movie version, part 1 of 4
In this portion, also known as "The Mysterious Planet", the 6th Doctor is brought to a Gallifreyan court where he faces trial for interfering in the affairs of other races. The Valeyard presents his first piece of evidence, a visit by the Doctor and Peri to Ravalox, a planet in the far future that seems strangely familiar.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://wusftv.usf.edu/
Saturday at 11:30PM Arc of Infinity episode 4 of 4
The 5th Doctor, Nyssa, and Tegan chase Omega through Amsterdam to prevent a catastrophic explosion. Omega tries to finish his bonding and stabilize.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM Inferno episodes 3 and 4 of 7
The 3rd Doctor is blasted into an alternate universe where everything is different, colder. Even Liz Shaw and Lethbridge-Stewart are acting sinister. And unknown to everyone, this planet is ticking down towards an INFERNO.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting 13, 18, 24, 24, 25, 27 http://www.lpb.org/
Saturday at 10PM The Time Warrior episodes 3 and 4 of 4
The 3rd Doctor and Sarah must work together to stop Lynx the Sontaran from causing widespread death in his efforts to rejoin his battle fleet.

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 5 and 6 of 6
The Master's TCE dies a tragic death. The miners and the settlers engage in deadly brinksmanship. The underground civilization is revealed to be far more advanced then imagined, and the Master plans to exploit their power.

Prairie Public TV of ND 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13 http://www.prairiepublic.org/
Friday at 10:30PM Genesis of the Daleks episode 3 of 6
Two cases of treachery among the Kaleds this week. One will give the 4th Doctor a chance to stop the Daleks. Another may mean the annihilation of the Kaled race. In a countdown to catastrophe, who will win?

KBDI 12, 11, 32 Denver, CO http://www.kbdi.org/
Friday at 11PM The Time Warrior episode 4 of 4
Friday at 11:30PM, Saturday at 11PM Invasion of the Dinosaurs episode 2 of 6
Saturday at 11:30PM Invasion of the Dinosaurs episode 3 of 6
After the conclusion of The Time Warrior, KBDI Who fans can enjoy a thrilling saga of dinosaurs, time travel, and a shocking betrayal from a long-time friend. Special programming delays the Saturday broadcasts. KBDI regrets that they wound up with the 5 episode version of Invasion of the Dinosaurs, instead of the complete 6 episode version. It's about time the syndicator removed the 5 episode version altogether and just offered the full version (with Black & White episode 1). This isn't as bad as the 5 episode Planet of the Daleks (with episode 3 sliced out), but it's time to do better.

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA http://www.ksps.org/ Doctor Who returns next week.

KBTC / KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma, WA
Saturday at 7PM and 12:30AM, Monday at 7:30PM and *1AM* The Curse of Fenric episodes 2 and 3 of 4
An ancient curse is coming true, and the townspeople are dying. The 7th Doctor knows what's going on, but he won't say. Will faith save the day?

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA
Sunday at 11PM Ghost Light all 3 episodes
Late Sunday at 12:15AM 1983 Tom Baker Interview
The 7th Doctor brings Ace to 1883 Perivale to face one of her oldest fears. Of course, she would have to have a fear of a place with wacked-out aliens that are about to go on the rampage. I suppose it helps the dramatic flow. Afterwards, see a 1983 interview with Tom Baker, the 4thDoctor.

BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Saturday at 5PM EST, Sunday at 2PM Planet of Evil movie version, part 2 of 2
The Morestrans try to leave Zeta Minor. But someone brought anti-matter on board, and the planet is willing to kill to keep it from leaving. Edited to allow for extra commercials. 1 hour.

Central / South America:

HBO OLE http://www.hbo-ole.com/
Tuesday night at 9:59PM* Dr. Who 1996 Telemovie
*ESTE Feed Argentina time, OESTE Feed Mexico time
HBO OLE has a Spanish language description of this movie on their website, which Jim C. Fung has been kind enough to try to translate: "Science Fiction from Geoffrey Sax DR. WHO A strange man has fallen from the sky, December 30th 1999. A telephone booth has fallen from the sky during a shooting. An unknown(?) gentleman goes out of the booth and gets shot more than once. Minutes later, he is taken in an emergency fashion to the hospital, and while he is being assisted there, they discover that he possesses two hearts. Meanwhile, the soul of the man wanders the streets in search of a body, in order to complete its evil plan: to destroy the Earth." Another person also tried to translate this passage, but I only have room for one version in the column.

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Until next week, take care.

Benjamin F. Elliott

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