THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - February 23, 2001

by Benjamin F. Elliott
Vol 4, No 8
Doctor Who is a BBC Trademark. Copyright 2001.

With so many of the regular readership off at the Gallifrey convention in Van Nuys, CA, you can almost hear the echoes from the empty internet around here. But you're here - otherwise you couldn't be reading this. So, let's get started.

CANADA - Shaw Cable in the Western part of Canada is in the process of purchasing Doctor Who to air on a station(s) of theirs later this year. They tentatively plan to announce where Doctor Who will air in June, with a Summer launch date. This will be the first Canadian home for Doctor Who since it aired on the SPACE cable channel from October 1997 to March 2000. Alas, the representative from Shaw did not tell my source which part of their rather large company is buying the show. It will be useless to even try to guess which station(s) Doctor Who will be on until more details come out.

» this turned out to be BBC Kids carried by Shaw, as confirmed in September.

NEW ZEALAND - Hmm. It has come to my attention that Prime has been trimming their Doctor Who episodes since going to 1 hour a day. They are not cutting any actual footage (I think), but the ending credits of the first episode and the opening credits of the second episode are being removed, giving the impression of a One Hour show airing 6 times a week, instead of a Half- Hour show airing 12 times a week. I haven't heard anyone complaining, so I assume this move was well accepted in New Zealand. But, when you notice that Prime TV is now listed as movie format, that is the reason.

USA - MPT Maryland fans will want to know that Doctor Who's start time will be changing (again) after the current pledge season. The 11:30PM start time will end with the March 10th broadcast (Silver Nemesis). After a late start on the 17th, Doctor Who will settle in at 11:45PM from March 24th on. MPT has purchased the 1999-2000 season of Robot Wars, an interesting show from the UK where teams build robots to battle each other, hosted by Craig Charles (Red Dwarf). Season 2 (1998-1999) aired on some PBS stations last year, but not in MPT's area. These episodes are from season 3, where Robot Wars went to 45 minute episodes, hence the delay in Doctor Who's airing time. Other PBS stations with Doctor Who were airing Robot Wars, so it's possible that there may be other time changes in upcoming weeks.

USA - Dallas, TX readers of This Week - a reminder. KERA 13 is adding Doctor Who in March to their weekly schedule. 2 Jon Pertwee episodes each week. I don't know the start date and time yet. (actually June 2001)

USA - WYBE Philadelphia area fans will want to remember that WYBE is going to 24 hours next week. Doctor Who will be part of the Pajama Party festivities on Friday, March 2 into Saturday morning. Don't be caught off guard. It is still unclear at this time if the 24 hour schedule will result in a time change for Doctor Who (Saturdays 11PM) or additional showings of the episodes.

USA - An oops last week. BBC America was erroneously listed as airing the second half of the Brain Of Morbius on Monday morning. I forgot that the Monday installment would be pre- empted for a marathon of Castaway. That portion of Brain did air on the Tuesday morning rerun.

USA - The bulk of PBS stations are beginning their March pledge drives this weekend or next. Take all times for US stations with more salt than you usually do. And if your PBS station (ex: WQED, MPT, IPTV) has a Doctor Who special upcoming, that would be a good time to thank the station for supporting the show.

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

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RADIO:

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BCB Cable 104FM Bradford, UK http://www.bcb.yorks.com/
Live Realplayer http://www.bcb.yorks.com/bcb.ram/
Thu 7ishPM GMT (2ishPM EST, 11ishAM PST, Fri 6AM AEDT) The Who Review March 2001 edition
Tim Moon's monthly exploration through all the latest in Doctor Who in England, part of the Evening Magazine. 30 to 40 minutes long. Listen for the audio clips.

WPBR 1340AM West Palm Beach, FL http://hometown.aol.com/scifiradioguy/
MP3 Archive Airings http://www.live365.com/
Sun 11:05PM EST Interstellar Transmissions ep 11 (Run, Logan, Run!)
After the weekly Doctor Who and sci-fi news, Joey interviews William Nolan, author of the sci- fi book Logan's Run. 55 minutes.

» this episode ended up being pre-empted and was subsequently broadcast a fortnight later.

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TV:

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UK:

UK Gold http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sun 8:15-11:10AM GMT Genesis of the Daleks movie
The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry are taken out of time on a suicide mission to wipe out the Daleks at the point of their birth. With the stakes so high - can they afford to win?

EUROPE/AFRICA/ASIA:

BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Fri 1AM*, Sat 3:30PM, Sun 11:30AM CET Arc of Infinity ep 1 of 4
Late Thu 12:30AM CET Arc of Infinity ep 2 of 4
*Not seen in all regions. Back on Earth, Tegan Jovanka searches for her cousin, who disappeared when he stumbled across a creature of anti-matter who wants to return to our universe by bonding with the Doctor. By the way, isn't it strange how Borusa is always played by a different actor whenever he appears on Doctor Who.

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND:

UKTV Australia http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/
Sun 7AM, Late Sun 1AM AEDT The Brain of Morbius all 4 eps
The Doctor and Sarah uncover a plot to build a new body for an old Time Lord who wants to threaten the galaxy again. Can Professor Solon be stopped from his dangerous plan, or will the Doctor be distracted by a Sisterhood lighting up his life - and his body?
Mon-Tue 11:30PM AEDT The Hand Of Fear eps 3 - 4 of 4
The Doctor offers to return Eldrad to her/his home planet if she/he will stop causing trouble on Earth. But neither the Doctor nor Eldrad are prepared for what will happen on the planet Kastria. And no, Phil, they don't find a fruit basket.
Wed-Fri 11:30PM AEDT The Deadly Assassin eps 1 - 3 of 4
The episodes that got Doctor Who discussed in the House Of Commons. The Doctor is lured to Gallifrey, where he is framed for a bizarre murder. To save his own skin, he must find the real killer, and stop an effort to destroy the entire planet. A surreal, scary, and violent Doctor Who story. And a rather useless effort to end this description with a bit of humour.

Prime TV New Zealand http://www.tetrap.com/drwho/nzdwfc/
http://www.primetv.co.nz/
Sun-Fri 6PM 2 episodes edited into movie format daily
Sun Planet of Evil movie, pt 2 of 2
Last rerun in 1987. The Morestrans try to leave the anti-matter world. Unknown to them, someone has snuck anti-matter on board. And the planet will not let anyone leave with anti- matter, not even if they're dead. Certainly not if they're alive.
Mon-Tue Pyramids of Mars movie, pts 1 - 2 of 2
Last rerun in 1987. The Doctor and Sarah try to return to U*N*I*T, but instead find themselves a few decades early, when Mummy was alive. Er, mummies. Robot mummies.
Wed-Thu The Android Invasion movie, pts 1 - 2 of 2
Last rerun in 1987. Before Star Trek: Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Earth: Final Conflict and similar shows had their characters find themselves in faked realities, the Doctor and Sarah came across a disturbing facsimile of an English village. Why would someone go to all the trouble of copying rural England. Maybe it's due to the space station out there, with the U*N*I*T presence.
Fri The Brain of Morbius movie, pt 1 of 2
Last rerun in 1987. See UKTV Australia for details.

USA:

BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/
Mon-Thu 8AM EST (5AM PST); reruns Tue-Fri 5AM EST (2AM PST) - 2 episodes edited into movie format daily
Mon/Tue The Hand Of Fear movie, pt 2 of 2
See UKTV Australia for details.
Tue-Wed/Wed-Thu The Deadly Assassin movie, pts 1 - 2 of 2
See UKTV Australia for story details.
Thu/Fri The Seeds of Doom movie, pt 1 of 3
Invasion of the Pod People. Literally. The plants land as pods, and grow into sentient beings as intelligent as people, if somewhat more carnivorous.

NHPTV New Hampshire 11,49,52 http://www.nhptv.org/
Late Thu 12:30AM EST The Invasion of Time eps 5+6 of 6
The Sontarans invade the Capitol. They plan to use Gallifrey to control the universe. But first, they want to kill the President of Gallifrey. A tall, curly-haired man with an unbelievable scarf.

WQED/WQEX 13,16 Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org/
Sat 11:30PM EST The Power of Kroll eps 3+4 of 4
The leader of the refinery wants to kill Kroll and the Swampies.  Kroll wants to kill the people at the refinery and the Swampies. Bad day to be a Swampie, if you ask me.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/
Sat 11PM EST Mawdryn Undead eps 3+4 of 4
Turlough's mission is to kill the Doctor, or allow the Doctor to help Mawdryn, with the devastating consequences. But the Doctor had better not be allowed to fail Mawdryn.
» this was reported to be Terminus 1+2 instead!

MPT Maryland 22,28,31,36,62,67 http://www.mpt.org/
Sat 11:30PM EST The Happiness Patrol movie
Another 70 minute story. The 7th Doctor and Ace infiltrate an oppressive Earth colony in the hopes of overthrowing the whole setup in one night. Thankfully, he has come across one of the most foolish regimes in galactic history. Even so - one night is pushing your luck, and pushing your luck in the pursuit of Revolution is very hazardous to your health.

WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/
Sat 11:40PM EST Dragonfire ep 3 of 3
Late start time. The secret of the Dragonfire is revealed. Ace is faced with a difficult decision.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/
Sat 11:30PM EST The Sun Makers ep 4 of 4
The Gatherer and the Collector find themselves in grave peril when a revolution breaks out.
Sat 11:55PM EST Underworld ep 1 of 4
The Doctor and Leela arrive on a ship carrying the survivors of a terrifying mistake in the Time Lords' past.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://www.wyin.org/
Sat 10PM CST Image of the Fendahl? ep 4? of 4
See KBTC for details.

WILL 12 Urbana, IL http://www.will.uiuc.edu/
Sat 11:20PM CST Genesis of the Daleks ep 4 of 6
See UK Gold for details.

TPT 2 St. Paul, MN http://www.tpt.org/
Sat 11:30PM, Sun 5:30AM CST The Ribos Operation ep 1 of 4
The Doctor is hired to hunt for the segments of the Key To Time - a device that can restore the balance between good and evil in the universe, or just destroy the universe.

IPTV Iowa 11,12,21,24,27,32,32,36 http://www.sffn.com/ http://www.iptv.org/
Fri 11:05PM CST The Horns of Nimon eps 3+4 of 4
Romana discovers that the Nimon is lying to Soldeed. It seems the Nimon species likes to infiltrate worlds, then destroy everything. How quaint. Sounds like they'd be terrible house guests.

PPTV North Dakota 2,3,4,6,9,13,19 http://www.pptv.org/
Fri 10:30PM CST (9:30PM MST) The Androids of Tara ep 3 of 4
To protect Tara from being taken over by Count Grendel, the Doctor has a robot declared King.

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

KUED 7 Salt Lake City, UT http://www.kued.org/
Sat 11PM, Late Sat 12:30AM MST The Deadly Assassin ep 3 of 4
See UKTV Australia for details.

KBTC/KCKA/K65BU 28,15,65 Tacoma/Centralia/Gray's River, WA
http://www.kbtc.org/
Sat 7PM, Late Sat 12:30AM PST Image of the Fendahl eps 3+4 of 4
Unbeknowest to Thea Ransome, she is fated to be turned into the leader of the Fendahl and suck the planet Earth dry.

KTEH 54 San Jose, CA http://www.kteh.org/
Sun 11PM PST The Dalek Invasion of Earth movie (World's End, The Daleks, Day Of Reckoning, The End Of Tomorrow, The Waking Ally, Flashpoint)
The Daleks have conquered the Earth in the 22nd Century, and the Doctor joins the fight to free the planet. Meanwhile, Susan discovers romance.

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Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care.