THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - Fri, 14 May 1999

By Benjamin F. Elliott

'Three years ago the Telemovie came, forever altering the future of Doctor Who ...'

That's right. It's the third anniversary of the world TV premiere of the Paul McGann Doctor Who movie, the latest official TV installment in the series so far. Sadly, a series has not (so far) emerged from the movie.

But Doctor Who itself has been far from dead. There are two Doctor Who book lines put out by the BBC, one of them with the 8th Doctor. Virgin Publishing has a semi-successful spinoff book line with Bernice, an ex-Doctor Who companion. Fan production videos are proliferating (I've been cast in one that begins filming next month, with a much meatier role in a planned sequel). The Autons have their own direct to video series. K9 has his own audio series. The 7th Doctor and Ace (with new names) have their own audio series. An OFFICIAL Doctor Who direct to audio series is beginning (it gets coverage in the column as soon as they think to get Radio broadcasting deals). And this very week, a new line of "monster" audios was announced, with Sontarans and other aliens getting to be their own stars. All we need now is a new TV series, a movie deal, and widely released action figures, and Doctor Who will be everywhere.

In sadder news, this is apparently the final scheduled week of Doctor Who on Louisiana Public Broadcasting. This station had resumed Doctor Who broadcasts in July 1997 after a strong public demand. It ran through the 7th Doctor, and then the 3rd Doctor. Hopefully, the series has only been pulled temporarily to let a limited run series play out, and then it will come back. The last time LPB removed Doctor Who, they promised it would come back after a rest, and it did. They do air the series in episode format, and next up would be the TomBaker stories, so my conspiracy personality hopes they just want to arrange to get good copies of the stories.

Due to my being soon to be 1000 miles away from my computer and internet connection, any additions, corrections, or updates sent after 9PM EDT on May 18 will not make it into the column. Next week's column will note where to send news for the guest writers of the May 28 and June 4 columns. (This is the last time I'll be away for some time - I promise.) With my luck, more lost episodes will turn up, a movie deal will be signed, and Tom Clancy will be convinced to write a BBC Book all while I'm away. Anyway, here are the schedules:

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EUROPE:

UK Gold
Late Friday from 12:25 to 2:30AM BST The Seeds of Death movie version
Sunday from 8:25 to 11:05AM BST The Talons of Weng-Chiang movie version
{Note: The Seeds of Death has been given a time slot shorter then the movie version's actual broadcast length (2 hrs, 16 minutes). Interesting.}
Friday night, the 2nd Doctor returns to Earth, where the Ice Warriors have taken control of Moonbase and the T-Mat, the most advanced transportation system ever. This is the first phase of the Ice Warrior's invasion plan. On Sunday morning, enjoy The Talons of Weng-Chiang. The description is included in FOXTEL's listings.

UK Gold Classics
Sunday from to PM BST The Talons of Weng-Chiang movie version
Same as UK Gold, but at a better time for viewers with this station.

BBC Prime
http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Friday at 1AM CET The Ribos Operation episode 4 of 4
Saturday at 9:40AM and 6PM CET The Pirate Planet ep 1 of 4
The Key To Time saga continues. Friday night, the Graff Vynda-K hunts the Doctor and company through the ice caves searching for the jethryik (segment 1 in disguise). Next, the Doctor and Romana travel to Calufrax, home of the second segment. But another planet is in Calufrax's place.

AUSTRALIA:

FOXTEL's UK-TV
http://www.foxtel.com.au/ and
http://varos.simplenet.com/drwho/uktv/
Saturday at 1PM, Sunday at 2 and 8AM The Talons of Weng-Chiang all 6 episodes
Monday at 11:30PM The Visitation episode 4 of 4
Tuesday to Wednesday at 11:30PM The King's Demons eps 1 through 2 of 2
Thursday to Friday at 11:30PM The Curse of Fenric eps 1 through 2 of 4
It's the final full week of The Who-Files. Over the weekend, the 4th Doctor and Leela go to 19thCentury London to visit a theatre. Unbeknowest to them, an ancient evil from the 51st Century is back. Monday see the end of the Visitation, where the 5th Doctor visits Pudding Lane in 1666 hoping to stop the destruction of humanity. Next, the 5th Doctor arrives in 1215, where King John declares him to be a demon. The week ends when the 7th Doctor and Ace arrive in 1943 at a secret naval base which the Russians are about to invade.

NORTH AMERICA:

SPACE: The Imagination Station
http://www.spacecast.com/ and
http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
Saturday at 7:30AM EDT The Mind Robber episode 5 of 5
Sunday through Wednesday at 7:30AM EDT The Krotons eps 1 through 4 of 4
Thursday to Friday at 7:30AM EDT The Seeds of Death eps 1 through 2 of 6

Saturday morning, it's the shortest ever regular episode (18 minutes), where the 2nd Doctor does battle with the Master of the Land Of Fiction. The next part of the week goes to 'Krotons', a story which, despite its title, has nothing to do with salads. A civilization which is extremely advanced in some areas and extremely primitive in others is exploited by never-seen beings in a spaceship. At the end of the week, the Doctor and company return to 21st Century Earth, where T-Mat, the ultimate transportation system, has broken down, threatening to hurl Earth into chaos.

MPBC 10, 10, 12, 13, 26 Maine
http://www.mpbc.org/
Saturday at 9PM EDT The Masque of Mandragora episodes 1 and 2 of 4
A hateful energy being uses the TARDIS as a way to invade 15th Century Italy. The 4th Doctor has to undo the damage before Earth is thrown into a perpetual dark age.

NHPTV 11, 49, 52 New Hampshire
http://nhptv.org/
Sunday at 3PM EDT Day of the Daleks episode 4 of 4
Afterwards - The Curse of Peladon episode 1 of 4
In "Day", the rebels plot to destroy Sir Reginald Styles' house in an attempt to put history back on the right course. In "Curse", the Time Lords send the Doctor on another mission, and don't explain what the mission is. The TARDIS takes a fall.

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.wqed.org/
No scheduled episodes this week. WQED is airing a viewer's choice night.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA
http://www.wybe.org/
Saturday at 11PM EDT Terror of the Zygons eps 3 and 4 of 4
The Zygons plot to take over the Earth, with the help of the Loch Ness Monster. Has the Doctor underestimated the power of crystalline technology?

MPT 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 Maryland
http://www.mpt.org/
Late Friday at Midnight EDT Day of the Daleks movie version
{No Saturday broadcast. MPT is airing a Red Green marathon to get through the episodes faster. They are doing this with a lot of shows right now. Maybe the management changed.}
Assassins from the 22nd Century try to eliminate Sir Reginald Styles, believing that his treachery caused World War III and set the stage for the Daleks to invade. The future has been altered, and the Doctor must put it right again.

WUFT 5 Gainesville, FL
http://www.wuft.org/
Saturday at 5PM EDT Battlefield movie version
The 7th Doctor and Ace hook up with a future incarnation of UNIT when warriors from another dimension show up looking for the remains of King Arthur. Nicholas Courtney reprises his role as Lethbridge-Stewart. Jean Marsh guest stars as Morgaine.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL
http://wusftv.usf.edu/
No episode this week. Red Dwarf VIII marathon.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH
http://www.wcet.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM EDT Colony In Space eps 4 and 5 of 6
Let's check the scorecard. The colonists form one faction. The miners form a second faction. The adjudicator (Roger Delgado) has his own sinister motivations, forming a third faction. The savages are getting very restless, forming a fourth faction. And the 3rd Doctor and Jo, trying to keep everyone alive, make a fifth faction. Amazingly, all five sides do badly this week. Any more subplots and they'd be mistaken for Babylon 5.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL)
http://www.wyin.org/
Saturday at 10PM CDT (4th Doctor episode)
Based on earlier information, I assumed that the 3rd episode of The Ark In Space would air here. However, TV Quest http://www.tvquest.com/ (zip code 46410) indicates that an episode of Genesis of the Daleks will air instead. Episode 2, I think.

*****LAST SCHEDULED BROADCAST!!!!!*****

LPB 13, 18, 24, 24, 25, 27 Louisiana
http://www.lpb.org/
Saturday at 10PM CDT Planet of the Spiders episodes 4, 5, and 6 of 6
Lupton tries to con the Great One. Tommy is altered by the crystal. The 3rd Doctor discovers that the man in charge of the monestary is an old friend. Sarah accidentally travels to Metebelis. The 3rd Doctor must face his fear, even if it costs him his life and his time slot on Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

*****LAST SCHEDULED BROADCAST!!!!!*****

KTCA 2 St. Paul, MN
http://www.ktca.org/
Saturday at 11:45PM CDT Robot episode 2 of 4
Sarah encounters an enormous robot, the work of Professor Kettlewell during his time at the Think Tank. She wonders if it may be responsible for the burglaries. Before people get too upset at the regular cast for not figuring this out sooner, please remember that the characters don't see the opening credits like we do. They can't just go 'Aha! The story title is "Robot! There must be a robot involved somewhere!'

IPTV 11, 12, 27, 32 Iowa
http://www.iptv.org/ and http://www.mach3ww.com/
Friday at 11:05PM CDT Planet of the Daleks episode 6 of 6
Friday at 11:30PM CDT Day of the Daleks episode 1 of 4
Daleks, Daleks, everywhere. The 3rd Doctor and Jo try to bury a Dalek army in an ice cave as "Planet" concludes. Then, flip back to "Day", where people from the future are trying to kill Sir Reginald Styles. With Day of the Daleks, IPTV returns to its regular run of Doctor Who stories after 2 months of special programs.

PPTV 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13, 19 North Dakota
http://www.pptv.org/
Friday at 10:30PM CDT Pyramids of Mars episode 1 of 4
1911, Egypt. Professor Marcus Scarman has discovered another Eqyptian tomb. But, unlike other Egyptian tombs, the being locked away with this one is still alive.

KBDI 12 Denver, CO
http://www.kbdi.org/
Friday at 11PM MDT Planet of the Spiders eps 1 and 2 of 6
Saturday at 10PM MDT Planet of the Spiders eps 3 and 4 of 6
Arachnophobics, beware. Enormous spiders have come to Earth. Their mission - retrieve a blue crystal that used to reside on Metebelis Three. The crystal's current owner - the 3rd Doctor.

KNME 5 Albuquerque, NM
http://www.knmetv.org/
Saturday at 11PM MDT The Ark In Space movie version

The story that goes *before* the one New Mexicans saw last week. The 4th Doctor, Sarah, and Harry arrive on Space Station Nerva, where the last remnants of Earth's civilization sleep away, waiting for the signal to wake up and return to Earth. The signal is thousands of years overdue, and a secret menace threatens to wipe this bastion of humanity out of history.

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA
http://www.ksps.org/
Saturday at 10:30PM PDT Warriors Gate movie version
Conclusion of the E-Space trilogy. The 4th Doctor, K9, Romana, and Adric arrive at the gateway between Normal and E-Space. A ship of traders and slaves is stuck there. The Doctor and Romana get caught up in intrigue involving the ship, while K9 is damaged one time too many...

KBTC / KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma, WA (Seattle)
Saturday at 7PM and 2:30AM PDT Inferno episodes 1 and 2 of 7
The 3rd Doctor and Liz perform experiments at Project Inferno, an attempt to break through the crust of the Earth. Problems begin to emerge at the project. The Doctor would look into the problems, but he is more interested in an experiment that goes disasterously wrong.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA
http://www.kteh.org/
Sunday at 11PM PDT The Seeds of Doom all 6 episodes
Late Sunday at 1:30AM PDT "interview with Jon Pertwee" - 1984 documentary
Many years ago, alien plant pods buried themselves into the Antarctica tundra. As long as they remain buried, the world is safe. But if they are ever unearthed and activated, every living animal on Earth will be threatened. After "Seeds", catch an interview with the 3rd Doctor.

BBC America
http://www.bbcamerica.com/home.html
Sunday at 8AM EDT The Android Invasion movie version, part 2 of 2
No Saturday broadcast due to Fawlty Towers marathon. The 4th Doctor and Sarah must get to the real Earth to warn people about the Kraal invasion before it's too late.