THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - Fri, 27 Aug 1999

It's another quiet week out there in TV Whodom. (2 weeks in a row - feels like a record.) Just two small changes, one for the worse. Don't worry. I'm sure things will be more exciting next week. I would pay particular attention to the SPACE websites. SPACE's September schedule should reveal whether or not that station will continue airing Doctor Who for another year. A Canadian cliffhanger.

Maryland Public Television is reshuffling its schedules again, and Doctor Who is coming out better than many shows. The Doctor just loses his Friday night broadcast, leaving him with a 12:30AM late Saturday broadcast, effective next week. Black Adder will go into reruns next month before reaching the last 2 series. Blake's 7 will be yanked off the air after its September 11th broadcast ("Orac") to make room for Space Island One.

WQED / WQEX Pittsburgh, PA is going back to 1 Doctor Who episode a week, Saturday at 11:30PM. They indicated 6 months or so ago that this would happen when the Fall came and they resumed airing Red Dwarf. The change occurs this weekend.

Corrections and additions are welcome at bfelliott@jnpcs.com . And now, the schedules:

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The UK:

UK Gold http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 9:25 to 11:10AM BST The Creature from the Pit movie
The 4th Doctor, Romana, and K9 2 (with his 2nd voice) arrive on a planet overgrown by vegetation. The residents need to get rid of some of the vegetation and get their hands on more metal in order to build out of an age of darkness. The planet is ruled by arch-feminist Lady Adrasta, who yields a reign of terror over the mostly male population. The writers set up a situation where they could easily have had an overbearing hitting over the head thrashing of certain political ideologies which still have a lot of power today. Instead they opted to show considerable restraint and do a comedy which only attacked the sensibilities of people who take themselves too seriously.

UK Gold Classics http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 6 to 7:55PM BST The Creature from the Pit movie
Time-shifted from UK Gold.

EUROPE / AFRICA:

BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Fri 1AM CET (Not Africa) The Power of Kroll ep 3 of 4
Sat 9:30AM and 6PM CET The Power of Kroll ep 4 of 4
Commander Thawn tries to blow up Kroll with a rocket that could wipe out the entire native population. Of course, if he doesn't, Kroll will probably eat everybody anyway. Some days it's just not worth getting out of bed.

AUSTRALIA:

UKTV http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ and http://foxtel.com.au/
Sat 1PM, Sun 2 and 7AM The War Games all 10 eps!
Mon - Thu 11:30PM Planet of the Spiders eps 1 - 4 of 6
Fri 11:30PM Planet of the Spiders eps 5 + 6 of 6
Don't blink when you watch UKTV over the weekend, or you might miss the occasional broadcast of something other than The War Games, the final adventure of the 2nd Doctor. The weekdays are turned over to Planet of the Spiders, the real story behind the demise of the 3rdDoctor. It's the Who-Files, and they plan to last forever, bwa-ha-ha!

CANADA / UNITED STATES:

SPACE: The Imagination Station http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
and http://www.spacecast.com/
Sat - Tue 7:30AM EDT The Ark eps 1 - 4 of 4 (The Steel Sky, The Plague, The Return, The Bomb)
Wed - Fri 7:30AM EDT The Gunfighters eps 1 - 3 of 4 (A Holiday For The Doctor, Don't Shoot The Pianist, Johnny Ringo)
The 1st Doctor, Steven, and Dodo take center stage this week. First up, in the distant future, an enormous ship is taking the survivors of the human race away from the doomed planet Earth. The Doctor's visit may result in the destruction of humanity. Later in the week, the Doctor's search for a dentist takes him to 1881 Arizona, where a notorious gunfighter has set up shop as a dentist. Sadly for everyone, it appears that the Clanton's will not let a man of war lead a life of peace. The Doctor and company find themselves caught in the crossfire.

MPBC Maine 10, 10, 12, 13, 26 http://www.mpbc.org/
Sat 11:30PM EDT (12:30AM MDT) The Robots of Death ep 2 of 4
Accused of multiple murders, the Doctor and Leela find recovering the TARDIS rather difficult. Meanwhile, the Sandminer is sabotaged.

NHPTV New Hampshire 11, 49, 52 http://nhptv.org/
Sun 3PM EDT Carnival Of Monsters eps 2 + 3 of 4
The Doctor and Jo discover that they are stuck in a Scope, and not in the Indian Ocean as they first thought. Planetary authorities want the Scope destroyed. Subversive elements want to use the Scope to gain power. The Doctor encounters the Drashigs, hungry monsters that could use some Scope themselves.

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 15201
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Seeds of Doom ep 4 of 6
New time slot. After a 3 week intermission, the 4th Doctor resumes his efforts to stop the surviving seed of doom. The Doctor and Sarah invade Harrison Chase's residence in their hunt.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/
Sat 11PM EDT The Hand Of Fear eps 2 + 3 of 4
Under alien control, Sarah rigs a nuclear catastrophe. All so that Eldrad can live.

MPT Maryland 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 http://www.mpt.org/
Late Fri 12:30AM EDT Robot movie
Friday broadcast start time delayed. Saturday broadcast bumped for Mr. Bean marathon. A newly-regenerated Doctor investigates a series of robberies of top secret military information. The evidence points to a force with inhuman strength and very human motives. This is the final Fridday broadcast. Doctor Who will only air Saturdays beginning next week.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/gateway.htm
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Awakening ep 1 of 2
The 5th Doctor takes Tegan to visit her Grandfather. Unfortunately, he's disappeared, and the village he lives in is engaging in dangerously realistic recreations of a battle in 1643.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/
Sat 11:30PM EDT Planet of the Daleks eps 4 and 5 of 6
This version is designed to cover up the fact that the color version of episode 3 is missing. The titles have been redone to claim to be eps 3 and 4. After escaping from the Daleks in the episode this version doesn't admit exists, the Doctor works with the Thals to find a plan to destroy the Dalek army. The station probably was sold this as part of the regular package, and may not know that episode 3 was skipped. Next time they get to the Pertwee era, someone will have to politely warn them so they can raise the money to get the complete version.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://www.wyin.org/
Sat 10PM CDT Terror of the Zygons ep 3 of 4
Sarah wants to investigate the ancient histories in the Duke Of Forgill's castle to see if they can shed some light on the Loch Ness Monster and the Zygons.

KTCA 2 St. Paul, MN http://www.ktca.org/
Sat 11:30PM CDT Revenge of the Cybermen ep 3 of 4
The Cybermen take Nerva, and prepare to enact their deadly case of
fatal revenge against Voga, the pathologically hated planet of deadly
gold.

IPTV Iowa 11, 12, 21, 24, 27, 32, 32, 36 http://www.sffn.com/ and
http://www.iptv.org/
Fri 11:05PM CDT The Three Doctors eps 2 + 3 of 4
When the 3rd Doctor and Jo are taken out of circulation by the anti-matter jelly blobs, the 2ndDoctor must take over to save UNIT and the galaxy. His great plan to stop the beings of anti- matter - make them watch television! Guest starring William Hartnell as the 1st Doctor.

PPTV North Dakota 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13, 19 http://www.pptv.org/
Fri 10:30PM CDT (9:30PM MDT) The Seeds of Doom ep 2 of 6
Hired thugs hunt the man-turned-plant in Antarctica, and are ready to kill anyone who gets in their way.

KBDI / K32EO 12, 32 Denver / Colorado Springs, CO
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 80205
Fri 11PM MDT Genesis of the Daleks eps 5 + 6 of 6
Sat 10PM MDT Revenge of the Cybermen eps 1 + 2 of 4
On Friday, Davros plays everyone for fools, taking advantage of peoples' weaknesses, even the Doctor's, in his efforts to make the Daleks the supreme beings. On Saturday, the 4th Doctor, Sarah, and Harry return to Nerva and find it full of dead bodies. It seems a space plague is running rampant. A space plague that eats spools of log recordings.

KNME 5 Albuquerque, NM http://www.knmetv.org/
Sat 11PM MDT The Talons of Weng-Chiang movie (more likely The Invisible Enemy)
The Doctor takes Leela to the 19th Century to experience London culture. They find themselves investigating brutal murders instead. What relation does a performer at a London theatre have with the situation. This is the only 4th Doctor story where the scarf makes no appearance.

KRWG 22 Las Cruces, NM (El Paso, TX) http://www.nmsu.edu/~krwgtv/
Sat 10:30PM MDT The Masque of Mandragora movie
The Mandragora Helix, a vicious red ball of hate, uses the TARDIS as an unwitting transport to 15th Century Earth, where it prepares to take control of humanity.

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA http://www.ksps.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 99223
Sat 10:30PM PDT (11:30PM MDT) Enlightenment movie
» The 3rd Sep edition corrected this to Terminus
Turlough must choose between good and evil. Eternals with no lives of their own use humans and a space race to gain respite from their emptiness.

KBTC / KCKA 28, 15 Tampa / Centralia, WA
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 98405
Sat 7PM PDT Day of the Daleks eps 3 + 4 of 4
In the 22nd Century, the Doctor learns that the guerilla actions in the 20th Century actually created an alternate timeline where the Daleks became more powerful. And the Daleks are prepared to do anything to keep the alternate timeline alive.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA http://www.kteh.org/
Sat 11PM PDT The Pirate Planet all 4 eps (Sun)
Douglas Adams' first famous work, before Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy was made. The Doctor goes to the place where the 2nd segment of the Key To Time is supposed to be. Slight problem - the planet's missing and has been replaced by another one. Someone is using their planet to eliminate other planets in search of elements for a procedure that will contravene the laws of physics.

BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Sat 5PM EDT, Sun 8AM EDT Planet of Evil movie, part 1 of 2
The 4th Doctor misses London and lands in the future on the outermost planet in the galaxy, a no- mans land between the realms of matter and anti-matter. An expedition to the planet has been wiped out, and the Doctor tries to figure out why.

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