THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - December 10, 1999

More Doctor Who BBC2 ratings have come in. Episode 3 of Spearhead From Space, which aired 23 November at 6PM, had 2.4 million viewers and 12% of the viewing public watching.

UKTV in Australia has tentatively decided to resume its Doctor Who broadcasts on Thursday, January 13, in the same 11:30PM time slot it has had since 1996. They will probably begin with An Unearthly Child and work their way through the series. Weekend broadcasts will probably resume on January 22/23.

WQED Pittsburgh replaced its December 4 Red Dwarf/Doctor Who marathon at the last minute to air a "Great Performances" special. The reason was not known as of publication time.

Slight correction - IPTV did not have a pledge drive last week. The extra Doctor Who episodes were there to fill in for Space Island One and get Doctor Who to the end of a story before pre- empting regular episodes for several weeks of specials.

It's that time of year again - many stations are pre-empting the show this week.
UKTV in Australia - returns January 13, 2000
BBC America - returns December 18
NHPTV New Hampshire - returns December 19
WQED Pittsburgh, PA - returns December 18
KTCA St. Paul, MN - returns December 18
PPTV North Dakota - returns December 17
KBDI Denver, CO - returns December 18

This Week In Doctor Who has a new e-mail address (again). Additions and corrections are now welcome at orga...@zxmail.com . Thanks to backup This Week writer Jefferson Eng for the new account. And now, the listings:

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UK/IRELAND:

BBC2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Tue 6PM GMT Doctor Who And The Silurians ep 2 of 7
No wonder the power station has been having problems - there are creatures in the caves!

UK Gold http://www.sceceone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Late Fri 1:15-2:55AM GMT The Krotons movie
Robert Holmes - the most popular writer of the TV series. Philip Madoc - one of the most popular actors to play Who villains. This is their first story. Meanwhile, the 2nd Doctor's umbrella meets a tragic end.
Sun 9:20-11:15AM GMT Arc of Infinity movie
First Adric died. Then they Tegan behind by mistake. Now someone is trying to molecularly bond with the Doctor. What's next - Nyssa holding a gun?

UK Gold Classics http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 6-7:55PM GMT Arc of Infinity movie
Time shifted for the convenience of Church goers and late risers.

TG4/TnaG http://www.tnag.ie/ http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Fri 6:31PM GMT Inferno eps 3+4 of 7
Next Fri 6:31PM GMT Inferno eps 5+6 of 7
The 3rd Doctor has become trapped in an alternate universe where the drill project is just tragically ahead of schedule. Whatever he does, at least one universe appears doomed to destruction. On the other hand, he has the comforting feeling of experiencing life under a one world government.

EUROPE/AFRICA:

BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Fri 1AM CET (Not Africa) City of Death ep 4 of 4
So this is why Season 17 is so reviled. When the Doctor and company head back in time to fight Scaroth, it's an AMERICAN who goes back with them, not a Brit. The truth is out.
Sat 5PM, Sun 11:30AM, Mon 11:35AM CET/CAT The Creature from the Pit ep 1 of 4
Romana makes the mistake of reconnecting the emergency distress call receiver to the TARDIS, which promptly drags them off to a backwater forest planet where an egg shell is begging for help. Stop laughing - it's a good story.

CANADA/USA:

SPACE: The Imagination Station http://www.hwcn.org/~an933/spacedw.htm
http://www.spacecast.com/
Sat 7:30AM EST The Rescue: Desperate Measures ep 2 of 2
The 1st Doctor discovers the secret of Koquillion.
Sun-Wed 7:30AM EST The Romans eps 1 - 4 of 4 (The Slave-Traders, All Roads Lead To Rome, Conspiracy, Inferno)
In Ancient Rome, the Doctor and company find themselves dragging into murder, kidnapping, treachery, deceit, and hideous lyre playing. Doctor Who's original semi-comedy story.
Thu-Fri 7:30AM EST The Web Planet eps 1 - 2 of 6 (The Web Planet, The Zarbi)
The TARDIS is dragged down onto Vortis, a planet where the laws of physics have given up and gone home, leaving the creatures of the planet up to their own devices. One creature has taken advantage of this, turning Vortis into a land of terror.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 19129
Sat 11PM EST The Sun Makers eps 1+2 of 4
Pluto - an austere but warm planet. Six suns leave the planet in constant daylight, and support the entire human population. The design - kind of like certain early Blake's 7 episodes. Only one thing mars this paradise - it's virtual slavery. A mysterious combination corporation + welfare state government has taken the tax code to the logical extreme and is working humanity to death.
» the following week's edition reported that episode two was cut off part way through.

MPT Maryland 22, 28, 31, 36, 62, 67 http://www.mpt.org/
Late Sat 12:30AM EST The Robots of Death movie
The problem with a title like this is, while it is very impressive and drags you in, it kind of gives away the major plot twist before the story even begins. At least it doesn't say that the 4th Doctor and Leela land inside a sandminer in the desert. That would just be too much.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/gateway.htm
Late Sat 12:30AM EST The Caves of Androzani ep 2 of 4
Really late start. The 5th Doctor and Peri don't feel very well after being executed. It seems that they may have health problems. Alternate title for this story - You Only Die Twice.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/
Late Sat 12:30AM EST The Time Warrior eps 2+3 of 4
Late start from pledges. The 3rd Doctor is mistaken for a wizard, and Sarah tries to come to grips with the fact that she traveled through time. Next week - episodes 5 and 6 of the Silurians?????

WYIN 56 Gary, IN http://www.wyin.org/
Sat 9PM CST Thirty Years In The TARDIS 1993 documentary
A much more recent documentary than the one that aired last week. To celebrate the 30thanniversary of Doctor Who, a 50 minute documentary examining the series is made. Released on video in 1994 in a 90 minute version, which TV stations cannot get.

IPTV Iowa 11, 12, 21, 24, 27, 32, 32, 36 http://www.sffn.com/
http://www.iptv.org/
Late Fri 12:05AM CST Return To Devil's End documentary
May start late due to live college wrestling. BBV Video brings the surviving cast members of The Dæmons (including Jon Pertwee - this is pre-1996) back to where the story was filmed to get their thoughts on that much-beloved story. Due to various specials, IPTV will not air any more Doctor Who until January 7, 2000!

KNME 5 Albuquerque, NM http://www.knmetv.org/
Sat 11PM MST The Ark In Space movie
Late start from pledge drives. The story that leads into The Sontaran Experiment, which aired two weeks ago. The production codes strike again. The 4th Doctor, Sarah, and Harry land on an Ark which houses the final survivors of humanity.

KRWG 22 Las Cruces, NM (El Paso, TX) http://www.nmsu.edu/~krwgtv/
Sat 10:30PM MST The Androids of Tara movie
Time approximate after pledge drives. Romana finds the 4th segment of the Key To Time, and is promptly kidnapped by a greedy Count who wants the throne of Tara. Princess Strella - Mary Tamm.

KUED 7 Salt Lake City, UT http://www.kued.org/
Doctor Who Marathon - the regeneration episodes - all times approximate.
Sat 8PM+1:10AM MST An Unearthly Child ep 1 of 4
Sat 8:35PM+1: AM MST The War Games ep 10 of 10
Sat 9PM+2: AM MST Spearhead From Space ep 1 of 4
Sat 9:40PM+2: AM MST Planet Of The Spiders ep 6 of 6
Sat 10:05PM+3: AM MST Robot ep 1 of 4
Sat 10:40PM+3: AM MST Logopolis ep 4 of 4
Sat 11:15PM+4: AM MST Castrovalva ep 1 of 4
Sat 11:55PM+4: AM MST The Caves Of Androzani ep 4 of 4
Late Sat 12:20AM+5: AM MST The Twin Dilemma ep 1 of 4
Late Sat 12:45AM+5: AM MST Time And The Rani ep 1 of 4

KSPS 7 Spokane, WA http://www.ksps.org/
http://www.tvquest.com/ zip 99223
Sat 10:30PM PST (11:30PM MST) Timelash movie
Many years ago, the 3rd Doctor visited the planet Karfel, and helped them through a period of great trouble. Now, the 6th Doctor lands at another such moment. And a good thing, too. Loch Ness was getting fairly crowded.

KBTC/KCKA 28, 15 Tacoma/Centralia, WA http://www.kbtc.org/
Doctor Who straight through from 6PM to 3AM.
Sat 6+11?PM PST Carnival Of Monsters eps 3+4 of 4
The Scope has been terminally damaged. Jo, some human idiots, a gaggle of drashigs, and some cuddly Cybermen are all in mortal peril.
Sat 7:20PM+12:30?AM PST The Talons of Weng-Chiang all 6 eps
A quick jump to the 4th Doctor's era, and the only story where he didn't wear the scarf. A mystical magician in 19th Century London knows far more than he is willing to admit about the disappearance of many young ladies who have been to his popular theatre show.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA http://www.kteh.org/
Sun 11PM PST The Keeper of Traken all 4 eps (Restored)
The 4th Doctor and Adric are asked to go to Traken and stop a dead, decaying peace of evil from destroying a planet of peace and harmony.

CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA:

HBO PLUS http://www.hbo-ole.com/plus.htm
Doctor Who 1996 movie - final airing on this station this year
Early Tue 4:45AM Argentina (1:45AM Mexico)

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