This Week in Doctor Who: Print Archive
Friday 8th October 1999
THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - Fri, 8 Oct 1999 |
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By Benjamin F. Elliott |
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Pardon the spartan look of today's column. Writer's block and other obligations got in the way, so most of the US broadcasts do not have story descriptions. I'm leaning towards pasting in various TV guide descriptions of stories next week to let me catch up and recharge. |
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NHPTV New Hampshire makes the headlines again. First, they apparently ordered the 5 episode version of Planet of the Daleks (without the Black & White episode 3). Then they realized the mistake and, they thought, ordered the 6 episode version. Somehow it didn't work. Last week the Black & White episode didn't air, and episode 4 appeared, titled episode 3. It was unclear when / if NHPTV would have the real episode 3 to air. NHPTV ran the Black & White episode of Invasion of the Dinosaurs in 1996, so viewers can be fairly confident that that story will be complete. |
Daily Variety http://www.variety.com/ mentioned in an article Thursday that BBC Prime is available to 8 million subscribers in Europe & Africa, and BBC America is available to 10 million subscribers in the USA. It's eerie to think that more people can see Doctor Who on BBC America than on BBC Prime. It's eerier to think that it might not be long until more people in the USA will be able to see Doctor Who on a BBC station than on a PBS station. |
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Speaking of BBC Prime, that particular station changed their schedules last week, and made their first major shift of Doctor Who time slots in a long time. The Saturday morning broadcast is no more. The 6PM CET airing is now at 4PM CET (teatime, I think). Sunday and Monday airings have been added at 11:30AM and 11:35AM, respectively. And the Friday night 1AM rerun remains unchanged. So bye-bye prime time, but 4 showings instead of 3. |
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UKTV in Australia has apparently decided to rest Doctor Who for 2 months at the end of their top 10 story countdown. Sapphire and Steel will pinch hit for the Doctor as the year 2000 begins. UKTV will then probably run through Doctor Who in order again as it did from 1996 - 1998. |
Most things change through time. Thanks to Mark Phippen, I now have a more distinctive e-mail address for Doctor Who purposes. Additions and corrections for the column are now welcome at organon@logopolis.com . The old address still works, but I like this new one better. Without further ado, here's the listings: |
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The UK: |
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BBC Choice* http://www.bbc.co.uk/choice.html *Only on the England version (the one with the DOG on the screen). BBC Choice Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales variations will not air this special. Next Fri 9-10:30PM BST Invasion of the Dinosaurs eps 1-3 of 6 (world premiere of extended version of episode 3) Next Fri 11PM-12:30AM BST Invasion of the Dinosaurs eps 4-6 of 6 London is evacuated when dinosaurs begin to turn up. The 3rd Doctor wanders into the scene, but his investigation seems to be hampered by forces within UNIT itself. Classic scene - Benton explaining the dinosaur map to Sarah. Make certain to read the BBC Choice descriptions for these episodes. These humourously bad efforts are at http://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/ . Select BBC Choice, and keep clicking 'next day' until you reach the 15th. |
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UK Gold http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings Late Fri 12:30-2:10AM BST The Space Museum movie Sun 9:20-11:10AM BST State of Decay movie On the Friday night Black & White, the 1st Doctor and crew visit a Space Museum. The Dimensions Of Time are out of whack, warning the TARDIS crew of danger. Soon they must plan The Search for The Final Phase. Classic scene - the Doctor's relatives - revealed! On Sunday, while the audience is at Church or asleep, the 4th Doctor, Romana, K9, and a stowaway land on a planet where civilization is falling to pieces. Ruling over this mess are the Three Who Rule, who seem to have a passion for blood. Classic scene - the Doctor 'fixes' Kalmar's computer. UK Gold Classics http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings Sun 6-7:50PM BST State of Decay movie Substantially more convenient time to watch State of Decay if you're among those who get this station. |
EUROPE/AFRICA: |
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BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/ Late Fri 1AM CET (Not Africa) The Armageddon Factor ep 5 of 6 Sat 4PM, Sun 11:30AM, Mon 11:35AM CET/CAT The Armageddon Factor ep 6 of 6 The Shadow's alliances are revealed. So is the tragic truth behind the final segment of the Key To Time. The Doctor must end someone's life to save the universe. Classic scene - Tom Baker significantly improves the credibility of a lousy scene with his never again seen ability to contort his eye pupils near the end of episode 6. |
AUSTRALIA: |
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UKTV http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ http://www.uktv.com.au/ Sat 1PM, Sun 2 + 8AM AEST City of Death all 4 eps (#9 of 10) Mon-Tue 11:30PM AEST Planet of the Spiders eps 5 - 6 of 6 (#8 of 10) Wed-Fri? 11:30PM AEST (#7 Doctor Who story) eps 1 - 3? of ? (confirmed as Earthshock) Over the weekend, it's the #9 Doctor Who story in Australia. Classic scene - the Doctor and Romana's travels through the streets of Paris in episode 1. During the week, it's Planet of the Spiders to begin the week. UKTV won't reveal what #7 is until it begins on Wednesday. |
CANADA/USA: |
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SPACE: The Imagination Station http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm http://www.spacecast.com/ Sat-Tue 7:30AM EDT The War Games eps 7 - 10 of 10 Wed-Fri 7:30AM EDT Spearhead From Space eps 1 - 3 of 4 As the week, begins, Pat Troughton's Who run ends. The humans begin to fight back against the people running The War Games, but it will take outside help to bring an end to this evil. Classic scene - Arturo Villar's entrance to the resistance headquarters in episode 8. Later in the week, Jon Pertwee appears in the 1st colour Who story. Marooned on Earth with partial amnesia, the 3rdDoctor finds himself increasingly involved in UNIT's investigation of outlandish meteor showers. The evidence begins to point towards an alien invasion. Classic scene - the Doctor escapes his captors and wheelchairs his way across the hospital grounds. |
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MPBC Maine 10, 10, 12, 13, 26 http://www.mpbc.org/ Sat 11:30PM EDT (12:30AM ADT) The Talons of Weng-Chiang ep 4 of 6 I've only seen the movie version, but I think this is about where the giant rat appears. And we see a fair amount of Magnus Greel. Leela gets action sequences. |
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NHPTV New Hampshire 11, 49, 52 http://nhptv.org/ Sun 3PM EDT Planet of the Daleks eps 5+6 of 6 (5 ep version) NHPTV will air 2 episodes of Planet of the Daleks. |
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WQED/WQEX 13, 16 Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org/ WQED has joined the stations that give detailed schedules from their web site. Don't worry, TV Quest - there are still some stations out there who haven't done this yet. Sat 11:30PM EDT The Masque of Mandragora ep 3 of 4 The Court Astronomer reveals his true intentions. Many forward looking people visit Giuliano to discuss the future - then find it hard to leave. |
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WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/ Sat 11PM EDT The Robots of Death eps 1+2 of 4 The Doctor tries to teach Leela how the TARDIS works, something he never bothered to do for any of the rest of the companions. The lesson is interrupted when the TARDIS lands on a Sandminer operated by robots and run by humans. Well, that's what the humans think, anyway. |
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MPT Maryland 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 http://www.mpt.org/ Late Sat 12:30AM EDT Planet of Evil movie The 4th Doctor misses 1980 London and lands in 37,666 Inter Minor instead. This is probably the only time in science fiction where people actually interact with sentient anti-matter. I like these stories. I'm glad they're airing. But it's getting pretty hard to find new ways to describe early Tom Baker episodes! |
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WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/gateway.htm Sat 11:30PM EDT Resurrection of the Daleks 4 part version, ep 1 A time corridor forces the TARDIS down in 1985 London. Meanwhile, in the future, a space prison is attacked by Daleks. |
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WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/ Sat 11:30PM EDT The Time Monster eps 4+5 of 6 The Master gains the information he needs to travel back to Atlantis. Reality breaks down in Cambridge. The Doctor decides to lock his TARDIS into the Master's. |
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WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://208.137.2.91/ Sat 10PM CDT Pyramids of Mars ep 1 of 4 WYIN has mysteriously moved their website to a difficult to remember address. It is up to date, at least, and the site finally lists the episodes that they are actually airing. |
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IPTV Iowa 11, 12, 21, 24, 27, 32, 32, 36 http://www.sffn.com/ http://www.iptv.org/ Fri 11:05PM CDT Frontier In Space ep 6 of 6 Fri 11:31PM CDT Planet of the Daleks ep 1 of 6 ยป it was clarified the following week that Planet of the Daleks was skipped in favour of The Green Death instead. |
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PPTV North Dakota 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 13, 19 http://www.pptv.org/ Fri 10:30PM CDT (9:30PM MDT) Robot ep 2 of 4 |
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KBDI/K32EO 12, 32 Denver/Colorado Springs, CO http://www.kbdi.org/ http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 80205 Fri 11PM MDT Planet of Evil eps 1+2 of 4 Sat 10PM MDT Planet of Evil eps 3+4 of 4 |
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KRWG 22 Las Cruces, NM (El Paso, TX) http://www.nmsu.edu/~krwgtv/ Sat 10:30PM MDT Horror of Fang Rock movie |
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KSPS 7 Spokane, WA http://www.ksps.org/ http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 99223 Sat 10:30PM PDT (11:30PM MDT) Frontios movie |
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KBTC/KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma/Centralia, WA http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 98405 Sat 7PM PDT The Mutants eps 1+2 of 6 |
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BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/ Sat 6AM + 5PM, Sun 8AM EDT The Brain of Morbius movie, pt 1 of 2 |
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CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA: HBO OLE http://www.hbo-ole.com/ Doctor Who - the 1996 movie. English with Spanish subtitles. Argentina Mexico City Late Fri (Este) 1AM 11PM Late Fri (Oeste) 3AM 1AM Check which feed of this station you have (in some countries, both versions are offered), then factor in any time difference. |
That's it for this week. Until next week, take care. |
