THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - Fri, 20 Oct 2000
(posted Fri, 20 Oct 2000, via the Doctor Who Alliance)

Who Nights, Who Nights, Everywhere!

Welcome to the weekly guide to the known Doctor Who broadcasts all over the world. It's another big weekend for US Who fandom, as the National Who Night is recording tomorrow night (Saturday) at WQED's studios in Pittsburgh, PA. I am personally heading up there to take part, and will hopefully have a detailed report about it for the Doctor Who Alliance Newsletter next week. And don't forget the marathon on WYBE in Philadelphia, also airing Saturday night.

NATIONAL Who Night - October 21st:

The 14 PBS stations that air Doctor Who are the stations currently eligible to buy the special this weekend with Sylvester McCoy and a fan chosen story. The 6 stations that have bought the story are:

WQED/WQEX Pittsburgh, PA - live Oct 21 10PM-1AM
NHPTV New Hampshire - date unknown
MPT Maryland - December 2nd 11PM-2AM (confirmed just last night)
WCET Cincinnati, OH - late November/early December
IPTV Iowa - date unknown
KBDI/K32EO Denver/Colorado Springs, CO - date unknown

Some November listings are already online, and WCET, IPTV, and KBDI/K32EO have not as of now scheduled the special in November. That could change, or they could be holding it for December. NHPTV's November listings were not yet online as TWIDW went to press.

The poll for selecting the Sylvester McCoy story to air closed late last weekend so that the story could be ordered in time for the special. I know which story won, and which format, and I'm not telling. All will be revealed Saturday during WQED's live broadcast.

KTEH Who Night - 18th:
If you live in the San Jose, CA area, you have already had a Who Night. KTEH 54 had their live, local special on the 18th from 8 to 11:15PM. Carole Ann Ford (Susan) and Sylvester McCoy (7thDoctor) were the lively guests, who apparently made a great double act. 5 episodes aired, two each from Susan and the 7th Doc's era, and one voted on by the fans - Battlefield episode 3. The special faced twin obstacles - KTEH was off the air for most of the day for transmitter work, while the TV Guide mistakenly listed cooking and home renovations shows in the timeslot. The special still brought in a lot of money for the station, in spite of these problems that probably cut into the audience. We hope to have the final pledge total in a future column.

Pledge highlights of the special:
$60 - Disappearing TARDIS Mug (2@$120)
$60 - History of the Universe book
$90 - Paul McGann T-Shirt (ltd number)
$120 - pick a video (An Unearthly Child, Survival, or Curse Of The Fatal Death!!!)
$180 - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth double video
$240 - Unearthly Child video, Survival video, and a membership to Gallifrey 2001
$500 - all the videos and a mug
$800 - same as $500, but you get a diamond logo sweat shirt

Since they had such a good time doing it live, and many potential viewers were unaware it was on, KTEH will rerun the special. So, if you missed it locally, or you did not have enough time to get a friend in San Jose to tape it for you, be ready Sunday, December 3, at 8PM Pacific Time for the rerun. All the stuff listed above should still be available.

WYBE Who Night - October 21st:
No studio guest, but the longest of the Who Nights at 4 hours long (8PM to Midnight). The second half of Castrovalva will air, followed by all of Four To Doomsday. They are looking forward to a good night, but they still need people in the studio as of this writing. If you can make it to Philadelphia and help out Saturday night, e-mail Tom Beck at tomfodw@aol.com .

And now, non-Who Night stuff.

MPT - Last week, MPT surprisingly aired an episodic version of Planet of Fire. This weekend's story - The Caves of Androzani has also been scheduled with sufficient time for an episodic version. MPT has traditionally aired movie versions since they first ran the series in 1985, but they experimented with episodic version with the very first Hartnell episodes in 1998 and the second half of Tom Baker's era in the first half of this year. Did they order the wrong tape this time, or are they giving episode versions another chance now that we are in a part of the series' history where the episode versions available are unedited? We should find out when Caves airs on Saturday night. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy's eras have never aired in episode versions in the DC/Northern Virginia/Maryland area, so it could be interesting.

UK Gold - Clearly, no one at UK Gold reads this column. I as much as warned them last week about the version of The Daemons they aired in 1998 (episodes 1 through 4 in Black & White, episode 5 in Colour). The whole point was so they would check quickly to make certain they had the proper colour version to air when the rerun came along. So, what did they air? The Daemons -episodes 1 through 4 in Black & White, and episode 5 in Colour. You can't win sometimes.

IRELAND - An interesting bit of news came out this week. Those of you in Ireland remember TG4's airings of the Pertwee Doctor Who episodes, which ended abruptly last month after The Mutants episode 5. They aired (most) of the first 13 Pertwee stories twice. But some broadcaster in Ireland ordered the later Pertwee stories. It seems the BBC inadvertently sent over two copies of episode two of Invasion of the Dinosaurs instead of episodes 1 and 2, and it had to be corrected. But it is not yet clear which station the stories were sent to. Did TG4 actually purchase the entire Pertwee package, but chose not to finish for whatever reason? Did another station buy the shows, bringing an end to TG4's broadcasts, but not put the show on themselves? Could the show reappear later this television season? Hmmm.

Additions and corrections are welcome at bfelliott@earthlink.net , bfelliott@gallifreyone.com , or bfelliott3 on AOL IM. And now, the listings:

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UK:

UK Gold
http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 9:20-11:10AM BST Day of the Daleks movie
The Doctor may be in exile, but the power of time travel will not leave him alone. An assassination attempt against a politician draws the Doctor and Jo into a paradox between the 20thand 22nd Centuries. What caused the successful Dalek invasion of Earth? And why are the Daleks so scared?

UK Gold 2
http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 6-7:50PM BST Day of the Daleks movie
Time-shifted from UK Gold.

EUROPE/AFRICA/ASIA:

BBC Prime
http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Fri 1:05AM*, Sat 3:30PM CET Four To Doomsday ep 1 of 4
Sun 11:30AM, Late Thu 12:35AM CET Four To Doomsday ep 2 of 4
*Not seen in all regions. The 5th Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan investigate an alien ship approaching Earth. The aliens promise peace and brotherhood, as aliens generally do. But this time, the aliens have peacefully visited Earth before.

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND:

UKTV Australia
http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/
Sun 7AM, Late Sun 1AM AEDT Frontier In Space all 6 eps
The Doctor and Jo are caught in the crossfire between Earth and Draconia when Ogrons are used to incite an intergalactic war. Roger Delgado makes his final performance as the Master.
Mon-Thu 11:30PM AEDT Planet of the Daleks eps 3 - 6 of 6
Episode 3 is in Black & White, due to the colour copy being lost. The Thals and the Doctor team up on Spirodon to stop the Dalek army from being revived.
Fri 11:30PM AEDT The Green Death ep 1 of 6
Jo turns down a trip with the Doctor to take part in the intrigue between Global Chemicals and an environmentalist commune. When things begin to turn dangerous, the phone rings for the Doctor. And rings, and rings ...

Prime TV New Zealand
http://www.tetrap.com/drwho/nzdwfc/
http://www.primetv.co.nz/
Sun-Wed 6:30PM Terror of the Autons eps 1 - 4 of 4
Last rerun in 1992. First ever colour broadcast in New Zealand. The 3rd Doctor's exile on Earth is interrupted by a fellow Time Lord known as the Master, who shortly after his arrival on Earth begins a reign of murder and deceit.
Thu-Fri 6:30PM The Mind of Evil eps 1 - 2 of 6
Last rerun in 1992. Black & White due to the 70s junkings. The Doctor wants to look into a device that promises to reform violent offenders by purging their minds. But the Brigadier wants his help protecting a World Peace Conference instead.

USA:
(Stations who have purchased National Who Night have * by them.)

BBC America
http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Mon-Thu 8AM EDT (5AM PDT), reruns Tue-Fri 5AM EDT (2AM PDT)
Mon/Tue Pyramids of Mars eps 3+4 of 4
Sutekh wants his freedom to bring death throughout the universe again. And if that means manipulating a 749 year old from another planet into freeing him while trying to retrap him, oh well. Meanwhile, the Scarman brothers reunite for a final show of brotherly love.
Tue-Wed/Wed-Thu The Brain of Morbius eps 1 - 4 of 4
In a remote section of the galaxy lies a planet that few people go to. Anyone unfortunate to arrive faces certain doom from either a fanatical sisterhood or a charming scientist and his mons, er, servant.
\Thu/Fri The Masque of Mandragora eps 1+2 of 4
New season, new console room for the TARDIS. New red special effect that kills people. The TARDIS is invaded, and the Doctor may be unintentionally responsible for a wave of death in the 15th Century.

*NHPTV New Hampshire 11,49,52
http://nhptv.org/
Sun 3PM EDT The Robots of Death eps 1+2 of 4
The Doctor decides to teach Leela how the TARDIS operates, possibly the first time ever that the Doctor tries to explain it to a companion.

*WQED/WQEX 13,16 Pittsburgh, PA
http://www.wqed.org/
Sat 10PM-1AM EDT National Doctor Who Night - Live

With Sylvester McCoy and TJ Lubinsky on the set, and someone named Benjamin Elliott in the studio somewhere.

One complete story will air in this special, as voted on by those of you who remembered to vote earlier this month. Which one of Syl's 12 was it? Was it episodic, or movie? And what on Earth does TJ Lubinsky have in mind for the rest of the night? You're getting the first look before the other PBS stations. It's a fair bet that the final number of stations airing this special will be based in part on how much support it gets in Pittsburgh. It will live or die on you. No pressure.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA
http://www.wybe.org/
Sat 8PM-Midnight "Doctor Who Marathon"
If you can volunteer at their studios, contact tomfodw@aol.com at once. WYBE still needs a volunteer or two.
8PM-ish Castrovalva eps 3+4 of 4
As the Doctor recovers in Castrovalva, Nyssa and Tegan begin to notice suspicious characteristics in their hosts. And whatever happened to Adric?
9PM-ish Four To Doomsday all 4 eps
See BBC Prime for description.

*MPT Maryland 22,28,31,36,62,67
http://www.mpt.org/
Sat 11:35PM EDT The Caves of Androzani (complete story - format uncertain)
(NOTE: MPT's October listings indicate that they are airing the National Doctor Who Night in this slot. They are not. The satellite feed was cancelled, so they can't air it live. They will air it December 2nd at 11PM.) The 5th Doctor's era ends with this tense installment, where The Doctor and Peri get caught in the battle between a corrupt government, drug smugglers, and a kindly maniac with a mean streak. Last week's story was in episode format instead of movie, which might mean that MPT is switching to episodic versions again. Or it might be a mistake. This broadcast should reveal the truth of the matter.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL
http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/gateway.htm
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Trial Of A Time Lord ep 12 of 14 (Terror Of The Vervoids ep 4 of 4)
The Vervoids intend to wipe out all animal life they can come across, both on Hyperion III and Earth when the ship gets there. How far will the Doctor have to go to save the day?

*WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH
http://www.wcet.org/
Sat 11:30PM EDT The Deadly Assassin ep 4 of 4
In the aftermath of the battle in the Matrix, the Time Lords learn who the real traitors are. But it may not be enough to save their planet from destruction.
Sat 11:55PM EDT The Face of Evil ep 1 of 4
Season 14 had a real "body parts" theme to it. The "Masque" of Mandragora. The "Hand" of Fear. The "Face" of Evil. Methinks the producer has a rather sinister side to him.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL)
http://www.wyin.org/
Sat 10PM CDT The Sun Makers ep 1 of 4
Ok. WYIN is actually airing episode 1 of The Sunmakers this week, as the Gatherer listens to an appeal from a D-Grade worker for a reprieve on his taxes.

TPT 2 St. Paul, MN
http://www.tpt.org/
Sat 11:30PM, Sun 5:30AM CDT The Invisible Enemy ep 4 of 4
The Doctor is free of the virus, but Professor Marius has been taken over.

*IPTV Iowa 11,12,21,24,27,32,32,36
http://www.sffn.com/
http://www.iptv.org/
Fri 11:05PM CDT The Androids of Tara eps 1+2 of 4
Peasants with computers and nobles with Middle-Age style technology. What a place for the 4thKey To Time to be hidden in. A wild tale with Peter Jeffrey as the wonderfully evil Count Grendel.

PPTV North Dakota 2,3,4,6,9,13,19
http://www.pptv.org/
Fri 10:30PM CDT (9:30PM MDT) The Invasion of Time ep 4 of 6
The battle for freedom begins on Gallifrey, both within and without the Citadel. The Doctor tries to get the Vardans to reveal their true identities.

*KBDI/K32EO 12,32 Denver/Colorado Springs, CO
http://www.kbdi.org/
Late Fri 12:30AM MDT The Androids of Tara eps 1+2 of 4
Sat 10PM MDT The Androids of Tara eps 3+4 of 4
See IPTV for story details.

KUED 7 Salt Lake City, UT
http://www.kued.org/
Sat 11PM, Late Sat 12:30AM MDT The Seeds of Doom ep 2 of 6
"Scorby, reporting in. We were slightly delayed due to a faulty report that the seed pod was found in Australia, instead of Antarctica. But we're here now, and the pod (pods, actually) should be on its/their way to you shortly. By the way, would anyone mind if a major research facility in Antarctica suddenly ceased to exist? Wouldn't want to draw attention to ourselves."

KBTC/KCKA/K65BU 28,15,65 Tacoma/Centralia/Gray's River, WA
http://www.kbtc.org/
Sat 7PM, Late Sat 12:30AM PDT The Masque of Mandragora eps 3+4 of 4 (actually episodes 1+2)
What's an evil count to do? Not only does Count Frederico face the challenge of the Doctor, but someone in his employ has defected to another evil side. Caught between both sides, this could be a very difficult week.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA
http://www.kteh.org/
Sun 11PM PDT Paradise Towers all 4 eps
I didn't mention this publicly during the Who Night voting on fairness grounds, but the movie version of this story is missing scenes, notably the background shots of Paradise Towers at the start of episodes 2, 3, and 4. Fortunately, this is the episodic version, which is complete.

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Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care.