THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - Fri, 3 Sep 1999

By Benjamin F. Elliott

There are some rather interesting developments on the Doctor Who front this week. I don't want to duplicate anything that might appear in the Alliance Newsletter, and I'm a bit confused about the details myself. But you just might want to visit the Doctor Who Cutting Archive http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~r.anderson/doctor/doctor.htm and see the link for this past Sunday's Doctor Who article http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~r.anderson/doctor/othercut/90cut/indep99a. htm in 'The Independent', one of the UK papers. (Warning - it is not a good site for slow computers or computers that handle graphics poorly.) Very interesting reading, indeed.

BBC 2 has been mulling over the possibility of finally having a Doctor Who night. It's unknown when / if this will occur.

Following the success of The Massacre, the BBC now plans to release The Web of Fear on audio in March 2000. The Massacre seems to have sold very well considering that not only did the BBC neglect to get it widely released in North America, but also failed to get it to many stores in the UK, a market that it would have seemed pretty obvious to release the audio in. Maybe they should run these stories over their radio stations.

Over in Canada, SPACE's September and Fall schedules came out, and Doctor Who is still on. I had feared that after airing the same episodes for 2 years, SPACE was going to pull the plug. Well, for the time being anyway, the show will remain 7 days a week at 7:30AM EDT. According to one "This Week" reader, SPACE}} has said that Doctor Who's ratings have actually gone up a little in the last few months, although they are still classified as low.

I've been rather neglectful of the internet Doctor Who broadcast that's out there. Every 1stMonday of the month (assuming there hasn't been a change), a Cable radio station in the UK airs The Who Review, a monthly program about Doctor Who. It is broadcast over Real Audio at http://www.bcb.yorks.com/ at 1PM BST (8AM EDT). Now that my Real Player works again, I plan to catch Monday's broadcast, and give a brief review here next week.

Here's one for the Oops file. The listings for KSPS have been wrong for the last 2 weeks. In the August 20th column, the KSPS listing should have said Mawdryn Undead (the column listed Terminus). In the August 27th column, the KSPS listings should have said Terminus (the column listed Enlightenment). Apologies for any confusion out there.

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

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INTERNET:

BCB Radio
http://www.bcb.yorks.com/
Mon 1PM BST (8AM EDT, 5AM PDT) The Who Review (actually broadcast Tues)
monthly show about Doctor Who, assuming that it's still on the air, of course

The UK:

UK Gold
http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 9:20 to 11:10AM BST Nightmare of Eden movie
A traffic accident in space. A dangerous drug returning from the dead. Doctor Who makes its own tongue in cheek contribution to the war on drugs. If you use a mind altering drug, a big, hairy monster will club you to death.

UK Gold Classics
http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 6 to 7:50 PM BST Nightmare of Eden 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 4 of 4
Sat 9:30AM and 6PM CET The Armageddon Factor ep 1 of 6
Friday night, the Doctor, the surviving swampies, and the humans are trapped in the crumbling refinery that Kroll has decided to destroy. On Saturday, the final chapter of the Key To Time saga begins. The Doctor, Romana, and K9 land on a planet engaged in a devastating war with its neighbour.

AUSTRALIA:

UKTV
http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ and
http://www.uktv.com.au/
Sat 1PM, Sun 2 and 8AM AEST Planet of the Spiders all 6 eps
Mon - Thu 11:30PM AEST Logopolis eps 1 - 4 of 4
Fri 11:30PM AEST The Caves of Androzani ep 1 of 4
Over the weekend, its the final chapter of the 3rd Doctor. Giant spiders are furious at the Doctor for taking a special crystal from Metebelis 3, and they engage in a covert invasion of Earth to get the crystal back for their own nefarious purposes. The weekday episodes begin with Logopolis. An increasingly fatalistic 4th Doctor decides to measure the TARDIS and fix the Chameleon Circuit. His efforts are interrupted by a Bubble TARDIS, an air stewardess, and a being in White who seems to exist beyond time. Before the day is over, the universe will be destroyed - if it's lucky. On Friday, Caves Of Androzani begins. The 5th Doctor and Peri land on a planet famous for its deadly mud blasts. It's also famous for gun-smuggling, and the Doctor winds up on the wrong side of the law very quickly.

CANADA / UNITED STATES:

SPACE: The Imagination Station
http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm and
http://www.spacecast.com/
Sat 7:30AM EDT The Gunfighters: The O.K. Corral ep 4 of 4
Sun - Wed 7:30AM EDT The War Machines eps 1 - 4 of 4
Thu - Fri 7:30AM EDT The Tomb of the Cybermen eps 1 - 2 of 4
On Saturday, the 1st Doctor and company find themselves ensnared in the famous battle at the OK Corral. The battle is performed in a dramatically impressive (if historically inaccurate) matter. Most of the week goes to the final complete Hartnell story. The Doctor returns Dodo to London, and matches wits with the ultimate computer, an evil being that plans to rule the Earth by having all computers work together. This is also known as the Internet. At the end of the week, it's the most famous missing story, rediscovered in Hong Kong in 1991. Tomb Of The Cybermen, a 2ndDoctor story that never aired in Canada until SPACE picked up the series. An expedition travels to Telos to unearth the tombs where the Cybermen went to die. As the tricks and traps of the tombs slowly kill the archaeologists, the 2nd Doctor fears that the Cybermen are not as deceased as history believes.

MPBC Maine 10, 10, 12, 13, 26
http://www.mpbc.org/
Sat 11:30PM EDT (12:30AM ADT) The Robots of Death ep 3 of 4
The Robots are being converted into monstrous killers. The 4th Doctor, Leela, and D84 are faced with the prospect of getting the surviving humans to work together and fight their servants-turned killers.

NHPTV New Hampshire 11, 49, 52
http://nhptv.org/
Sun 3PM EDT Carnival Of Monsters ep 4 of 4
Sun 3:30PM EDT Frontier In Space ep 1 of 6
As the Carnival ends, the Scope is dying, and everyone (including Jo) inside will die unless the 3rdDoctor can make emergency repairs. Then comes the beginning of Frontier In Space, where Ogrons impersonate Humans and Draconians, turning those two species incredibly paranoid and hostile.

WQED / WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.wqed.org/
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Seeds of Doom ep 5 of 6
Harrison Chase loses his last tenuous hold on reality. The Krynoid decides to destroy the Chase mansion, with everyone inside.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA
http://www.wybe.org/
Sat 11PM EDT The Hand Of Fear ep 4 of 4
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Deadly Assassin ep 1 of 4
On the planet Kastria, the 4th Doctor, Sarah, and Eldrad investigate what happened to Eldrad's species many years ago. Then, the 4th Doctor returns to Gallifrey alone to answer a distress call. He has been given a vision of the future. In the vision, the President dies.

MPT Maryland 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67
http://www.mpt.org/
Late Sat 12:30AM EDT The Ark In Space movie
The Friday broadcast has been discontinued. The 4th Doctor, Sarah, and Harry land on a space station where the survivors of humanity slumber away, waiting for the wake up call to emerge and repopulate the Earth. The call may never come. The Ark holding the humans has been sabotaged, and some of the humans are missing ...

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL
http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/gateway.htm
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Awakening ep 2 of 2
The games really are creating a link between 1643 and 1984. A stranded alien hopes to use the link to inspire a rash of death for him to feed on.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH
http://www.wcet.org/
Sat 11:30PM EDT Planet of the Daleks ep 6 of 6 (5 ep version)
Late Sat Mid EDT The Mutants(?) ep 1 of 6
The 3rd Doctor must figure out how to bury the Dalek army forever. Afterwards, WCET flips back to an earlier story. The Time Lords send the Doctor with a package for a revolutionary on the planet Solos. I'm a bit dubious that WCET would rerun this story, but it is what their website claims. In theory, they should be airing The Green Death, ep 1 of 6, the final Jo story.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL)
http://www.wyin.org/
Sat 10PM CDT Terror of the Zygons ep 4 of 4
The Loch Ness Monster invades London! Godzilla, eat your heart out!

KTCA 2 St. Paul, MN
http://www.ktca.org/
Sat 11:35PM CDT Revenge of the Cybermen ep 4 of 4
The Cybermen and the Vogans seem unaware that their various attack strategies could destroy both sides at the same time. If either group destroys Nerva Beacon, it will be the biggest bang in history. Features the famously cruel claim that "Harry Sullivan Is An Imbecile!"

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 ep 4 of 4
Fri 11:31PM CDT Carnival Of Monsters ep 1 of 4
First, all 3 Doctors must put their differences behind them to stop Omega and save the universe. Then, the 3rd Doctor tries to take Jo to Metebelis 3. They find themselves on a famous missing boat in 1926.

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 3 of 6
The Doctor and Sarah return to England hoping to find the 2nd Krynoid pod before it hatches and starts to kill.

KBDI / K32EO 12, 32 Denver / Colorado Springs, CO
Fri 11PM MDT Revenge of the Cybermen eps 1 + 2 of 4
Sat 10PM MDT Revenge of the Cybermen eps 3 + 4 of 4
Denver viewers can see all of Revenge of the Cybermen this week. See the redesigned Cybermats. Shriek in terror as Sarah is poisoned. Ponder curiously why the head Cyberman has a black helmet. A good story cruelly criticized for its less than stellar special effects.

KNME 5 Albuquerque, NM
http://www.knmetv.org/
Sat 11PM MDT Horror of Fang Rock movie
The 4th Doctor and Leela arrive at a lighthouse wrapped in fog. The inhabitants of the lighthouse are being stalked by an unearthly jellyfish.

KRWG 22 Las Cruces, NM (El Paso, TX)
http://www.nmsu.edu/
Sat 10:30PM MDT The Hand Of Fear movie
Sarah is buried in a quarry blast. When she is rescued, she is somewhat stranger, obsessed. Eldrad must live, Eldrad Must live. Events millions of years ago influence the present. Can the Doctor figure out what's going on before Sarah causes a catastrophe?

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA
http://www.ksps.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 99223
Sat 10:30PM PDT (11:30PM MDT) Enlightenment movie
What I said last week, only this time KSPS is actually airing it. End of the Black Guardian & Turlough trilogy.

KBTC / KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma / Centralia, WA
Sat 7PM PDT The Curse of Peladon eps 1 + 2 of 4
The Time Lords send the Doctor and Jo to Peladon, where they impersonate ambassadors at a conference. The Peladonian ruler wants his planet to join the Galactic Federation, but forces in his government and in the Federation are willing to kill to stop this happening.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA
http://www.kteh.org/
Sun 11PM PDT The Stones of Blood all 4 eps
The Doctor and Romana search for the 3rd segment of the Key To Time on Earth. A stone circle is the starting ground. A blood cult is getting out of hand, and the stones are hungry. What is the secret of Vivian Fay?

BBC America
http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Sat 5PM, Sun 8AM EDT Planet of Evil movie, pt 2 of 2
The planet will not let the Morestrans leave as long as they have any anti-matter on board the ship. Professor Sorenson smuggles anti-matter on board, and begins to succumb to it.

CENTRAL / SOUTH AMERICA:

HBO Plus
http://www.hbo-ole.com/plus.htm
Next Fri 4:45PM ADT (2:45PM CDT) Doctor Who the 1996 Movie
HBO Plus (formerly HBO-OLE 2) will have its first of 4 September broadcasts of Paul McGann's first Doctor Who appearance next Friday afternoon.

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