THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - 2 JULY 1999

What a month! Special Who broadcasts on far-flung stations! The launch of an audio line of Doctor Who stories. The lost episode of The Crusade gets its video release. And a "phantom" Who station ...

THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - July 2, 1999

Within days, The Sirens Of Time, an audio story featuring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy as the 5th, 6th, and 7th Doctors, will be released in England by Big Finish as the first in a new line of official Doctor Who stories. (Now let's get them on radio so they can reach a wide audience and I can justify including them in the column's schedules.) It will be released on audio tape and on CD (the CD will be extended). Also coming out in England right now is the video release of the surviving episodes of The Crusade, packaged with The Space Museum, a CD with the audios of the missing Crusade episodes, and a bit more. I get the feeling some UK stores are going to make some money this month.

This weekend, the TV movie airs in New Zealand, the first time any Doctor Who stories have aired there since 1996 when they last aired the TV movie. Meanwhile, it appears that BBC Choice will rerun its broadcast of The Take On Doctor Who later this month. Presumably this means that they are rerunning the episodes aired in November as well as the widescreen Sylvester McCoy narrated segments. I'd strongly advise seeing this on a widescreen TV when it airs. When you see a copy of the master footage smashed into a traditional screen, Syl looks shockingly thin.

After the last column went to press, HBO-OLE's website (http://www.hbo-ole.com) scheduled another broadcast of the Telemovie, this time on the main HBO-OLE station. This broadcast ran Thursday, July 1st at 7:15PM Argentina Time on the ESTE feed and 9:15PM Argentina Time on the OESTE feed. The main HBO-OLE station will air the Doctor Who movie 3 more times this month, on the early mornings of the 11th, 17th, and 20th. Their site lists the exact times, and they will be in the column for the appropriate weeks.

KBTC 28 Tacoma, Washington appears to have discontinued its late Saturday rerun of Doctor Who. Less than 3 months ago, they aired the same episodes 4 times. Now, they are only airing the episodes once.

"Phantom" Station - There is a rumor that a TV station available in Blacksburg, VA has been airing Doctor Who in the recent past. The report indicated that the station was airing a Black & White story. Blacksburg is 30 miles west of Roanoke. So far, the only PBS station I can find around there is WBRA, which, if their web site is to be believed, has not aired the series in May or June. I don't have a time or date for this Who sighting yet, and there is no suggestion on the station. Has anyone down there noticed the Doctor on a local or distant station? With the exception of WQED Pittsburgh, no PBS station in the USA has, to my knowledge, aired any Hartnell or Troughton stories in the last few months. Hmmm ...

Updates and corrections can be sent to bfelliott@jnpcs.com . And now, on to the schedules:

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The UK:

UK Gold http://www.radiotimes.beeb.com/
Late Friday from 12:25 to 2:50AM BST The Keys of Marinus movie version
Sunday from 9:25 to 11:20AM BST The Ribos Operation movie version
UK Gold helps viewers relive the Who 'keys' stories. On the Friday night Black & White, the original TARDIS crew survives the sea of death, sees through the velvet web, escape the screaming jungle, brave the snows of terror, and outwit a sentence of death, all so that they can retrieve the Keys Of Marinus so that Arbitan can restore peace to his people. Sunday morning, have your VCR record the first chapter of the Key To Time, where the Doctor and Romana search for the first key on a primitive planet that's part of a delicate trade sale between two rogues and a madman.

UK Gold Classics http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sunday from 6 to :50PM BST The Ribos Operation movie version
Time shifted broadcast of UK Gold's version of the story.

EUROPE / AFRICA:

BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Friday at 1AM CET The Stones of Blood episode 3 of 4 (Europe only)
Saturday at 9:35AM and 6PM CET The Stones of Blood episode 4 of 4
Searching for the key to time can be dangerous to your health. Cessair Of Diplos prepares to kill as many people as necessary to thwart the Doctor. And the Doctor manages to get himself sentenced to death by computers who bear a striking resemblence to Tinker Bell in the stage play of Peter Pan!

AUSTRALIA:

FOXTEL's UK-TV http://www.foxtel.com.au/ and
http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ (note slight change in web address)
Saturday at 1PM, Sunday at 2 and 8AM Earthshock all 4 episodes
Saturday at 3PM, Sunday at 5 and 10AM Resurrection of the Daleks both 45 minute episodes
Monday through Tuesday at 11:30PM Trial Of A Time Lord: Mindwarp episodes 3 and 4 of 4 (7 and 8 of 14)
Wednesday through Friday at 11:30PM Dragonfire episodes 1 through 3 of 3 (next edition reported this was An Unearthly Child)
The Who-Files say goodbye to the Doctor's companions one by one. Over the weekend, two of the Doctor's oldest enemies do their best to kill off the companions, and one of them succeeds. As the week begins, the 6th Doctor's trial takes a turn for the worse, as the evidence shows him behaving erratically, endangering the entire universe to protect his own skin. Later in the week, the 7th Doctor's life changes forever when he encounters a hurricane named Ace.

*NEW ZEALAND*:

TV2 http://www.tv2.co.nz/
Saturday from 9 to 10:45PM DOCTOR WHO 1996 movie (adults only)
Paul McGann takes on the most wanted role in British TV in this movie that almost relaunched the series. Just like its previous broadcast in New Zealand, the movie is being hit with an 'adults only' label.

CANADA / USA:

SPACE: The Imagination Station http://www.spacecast.com/ and
http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
Saturday through Monday at 7:30AM EDT The Daleks episodes 5 through 7 of 7 (The Expedition, The Ordeal, The Rescue)
Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30AM EDT The Edge of Destruction episodes 1 through 2 of 2 (The Edge Of Destruction, The Brink Of Disaster)
Thursday and Friday at 7:30AM EDT The Keys of Marinus episodes 1 through 2 of 6 (The Sea Of Death, The Velvet Web)
Some of the earliest Doctor Who episodes air in Canada this week. In Daleks, the Doctor tries to convince the Thals to fight the Daleks before the Daleks wipe them all out. In Edge, the TARDIS is disabled and the crew's memories are affected. Rampant paranoia ensues as they try to figure out which of them damaged the TARDIS. The week ends with the Doctor and company being blackmailed into searching for keys to a giant machine that guarantees peace and order on Marinus.

* MPBC Maine 10, 10, 12, 13, 26 http://www.mpbc.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM EDT (12:30AM ADT) The Deadly Assassin episode 3 of 4
An episode set entirely inside the APC Net, a part of the Matrix on Gallifrey. The Assassin tries a myriad of efforts to kill the Doctor inside this fantasy realm before both of their minds burn out from the strain of being there.

* NHPTV New Hampshire 11, 49, 52 http://nhptv.org/
Sunday at 3PM EDT The Mutants episode 4 and 5 of 6
The 3rd Doctor discovers why the Solonians are mutating. The Marshal launches plans to eliminate the Solonians altogether. An investigator from Earth arrives. Someone's tea goes cold in an unnaturally short period of time ...

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org/
http://www.tvquest.com zip 15201
Toll pledge line 1-900-990-1313
Other pledge lines 1-800-232-8813 and 412-621-5808
SCI-FI SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER - in 5 weeks ...
Saturday at 11PM EDT The Brain of Morbius episode 3 of 4
Immediately afterwards - Doctor Who And The Silurians episode 3 of 7 (color version)
Sarah loses her sight as the tension between Solon, the Doctor, and the Sisterhood escalates. Morbius grows ever more tiresome of waiting for a body. Then, in an early 3rd Doctor episode, the Doctor learns that Doctor Quinn may be hiding vital information about the force responsible for the power failures. Somehow, whenever I see the TV series with Jane Seymour as Dr. Quinn, she comes off as a fictionalized version of this man. The characters seem so similar.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/
Saturday at 11PM EDT The Brain of Morbius episodes 1 and 2 of 4
The 4th Doctor and Sarah land on Karn at the precise moment that a forgotten scientist wants a head for a dangerous experiment. Considering that the Sisterhood, the other inhabitants of the planet, are furiously opposed to any strangers being there, this might be a bad time to visit.

MPT Maryland 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 http://www.mpt.org/
Late Friday at Midnight (no Saturday rerun!!!) Frontier In Space movie version
The 3rd Doctor and Jo land in the middle of a dispute between Earth and Draconia that threatens to escalate into a catastrophic war. Ships from both sides are being raided, and each side thinks the other is responsible. Before you can say "that hypnotizer makes a terrible racket", both sides think the Doctor and Jo are helping the other side. No allies, no TARDIS. The Ogrons return in this story, as do 2 old enemies of the Doctor.

WUFT 5 Gainesville, FL http://www.wuft.org/
On hiatus. Contact info@wuft.org or IMelvin@wuft.org to express support for the Doctor's swift return.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/home.htm
Saturday at 11:30PM EDT The Five Doctors 4 episode version, part 1
The 5th Doctor suffers trauma and distress when his previous incarnations are ripped out of their timestreams. Pursuing the traces of them, he winds up in the forbidden Death Zone of Gallifrey.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/
Saturday at 11:30PM EDT The Curse of Peladon episodes 3 and 4 of 4
The 3rd Doctor is tricked into violating one of Peladon's cardinal laws, and the high priest wants him to die. The Ice Warriors try to find the real saboteurs on Peladon to take the heat off themselves.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://www.wyin.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip (use one of Chicago's zip codes)
Saturday at 10PM CDT Genesis of the Daleks episode 5 of 6 (actually Part Six)
Davros plans to give the Daleks foreknowledge of all their failures in the future, to ensure that the outcomes will change in favor of the Daleks. The Kaled Scientists prepare an end game move against Davros. The Doctor agonizes over whether history should be changed in any direction.

* KTCA 2 St Paul, MN http://www.ktca.org/
Saturday at 11:40PM CDT The Sontaran Experiment episode 1 of 2
The 4th Doctor visits an Earth mangled and reshaped by Solar Flares.

IPTV Iowa 11, 12, 21, 24, 27, 32, 36 http:www.iptv.org/ and
http://www.sffn.com/
Friday at 11:05PM CDT The Sea Devils episode 6 of 6
Friday at 11:30PM CDT The Mutants episode 1 of 6
The 3rd Doctor races to find a way to deal with the Sea Devils other than Brigadier-ing them ala The Silurians. But time is running out. Afterwards, the Doctor is hijacked by the Time Lords on yet another mission they need completed but don't want to get involved in (TM).

* PPTV North Dakota 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13, 19 http://www.pptv.org/
Friday at 10:30PM CDT (9:30PM MDT) The Android Invasion episode 4 of 4
The 4th Doctor and Sarah use the Kraal invasion fleet to get back to Earth, where they try to alert the inhabitants of the invasion before it is too late. Final appearances of Ian Marter as Harry Sullivan and John Levene as RSM Benton.

KBDI / K32EO 12, 32 Denver / Colorado Springs, CO http://www.kbdi.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 80205
Friday at 11PM MDT The Ark In Space episodes 3 and 4 of 4
Saturday at 10PM MDT The Sontaran Experiment both episodes
On Friday, catch the second half of "Ark", as the Doctor and company try to keep the Wirrn from eating the last survivors of humanity. Saturday, the Doctor visits an Earth that has been ravaged by solar flares. He wants to find out if Earth is once again habitable for humans. Earth is certainly habitable for beings with potato heads.

KNME 5 Albuquerque, NM http://www.knmetv.org/
Saturday at 11PM MDT The Android Invasion movie version (more likely The Brain of Morbius)
The 4th Doctor and Sarah find themselves back on Earth. Most of the people are missing, and the dead come back to life with surprising ease. UNIT is around, but no one recognizes the Doctor, except a man who died in deep space 2 years ago.

KRWG 22 Las Cruces, NM (El Paso, TX) http://www.nmsu.edu/~krwgtv/
Saturday at 10:30PM MDT Genesis of the Daleks movie version
The 4th Doctor is intercepted en route back to Nerva by the Time Lords, who want him to carry out a small task. The Doctor merely has to alter the Daleks history at the moment of their creation.

» The channel actually showed the last two episodes of Genesis which were cut off last week, followed by Revenge of the Cybermen.

* KSPS 7 Spokane, WA http://www.ksps.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 99223
Saturday at 10:30PM PDT (11:30PM MDT) Black Orchid movie version
1925 England. Cricket. Masquerades. Food. Murder. An upper crust family holds a dark secret that endangers Nyssa's life. Adric overeats.

* KBTC / KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma / Centralia, WA
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 98405
Saturday at 7PM PDT The Claws of Axos episodes 1 and 2 of 4
{This is the advertised broadcast. Episodes 5 and 6 of The Mind of Evil may air instead.}
An American security agent comes to help track down the Master. Aliens crashland offering to end hunger. Charges that elements of Earth: Final Conflict are stolen from this story are probably bogus. Probably.

» the skipped The Mind of Evil episodes eventually aired on 25th September.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA http://www.kteh.org/
Sunday at 11PM PDT Horror of Fang Rock all 4 episodes
The TARDIS gets lost in the fog and deposits the Doctor and Leela at a lighthouse. Atmospheric problems and a green killer blob cause the inhabitants of the lighthouse to panic.

BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Saturday at 5PM, Sunday at 8AM EDT The Sontaran Experiment movie version
See KBDI for a description.

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That's it for this week. Until next week, take care.

Benjamin F. Elliott

Doctor Who is a trademark of the BBC. Copyright 1999.