This Week in Doctor Who: Print Archive
Friday 16th March 2001
This Week In Doctor Who - March 16, 2001 - Vol 4 No 11 |
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by Benjamin F. Elliott Doctor Who is a BBC Trademark. Copyright 2001. |
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Welcome to the weekly guide to Doctor Who broadcasts around the world. Pledge season continues on many US PBS stations, leading to extra Doctor Who episodes or pre-emptions on many stations. UKTV in Australia made a rare goof this past week, airing the last 2 episodes of The Robots of Death out of order. |
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The biggest recent development was first covered on the Outpost Gallifrey site http://www.gallifreyone.com/ last week. WYIN 56 in Gary, IN (eastern side of Chicago market) has, as readers of this column probably know, been very unreliable at airing the advertised episodes for the last few months. Indeed, it's been impressive when they managed 2 consecutive 25 minute episodes without skipping around. To avoid sugar-coating, it has probably been the most inept broadcaster of Doctor Who in the show's 37+ year history. Not too surprisingly, much of the early fan support WYIN had back in 1999 has evaporated. Fans have been in the no-win situation of either having an incompetent station, or no Doctor Who. The report to Outpost Gallifrey indicated that the Doctor Who problems were due to trouble that ensued when the ownership of WYIN occurred last year. WYIN claims to have sorted out its problems, and that they will be much more careful in the future. However, the loss of fan support during the bungling period has taken its financial toll. And now, if they cannot raise enough money during a pledge broadcast of The Power of Kroll, they think they will have to drop the show. My personal impulse on hearing that WYIN has money troubles from their incompetence is to pull out the world's smallest violin. Their problems have been extreme since November, but they have periodically fouled up airing Doctor Who for a year before that. But I don't live in that area. The loss of Doctor Who in the Chicago area would not affect me, but it would affect many people who read this column. And I think most people would agree that it's far better for Doctor Who's future to keep the show on TV stations for new viewers to discover. So, people in the WYIN area will have to make a choice. Can you forgive WYIN its stupidity, help them out, and give them another chance to air Doctor Who properly on their station? Or is being stuck with the video tape memories better than leaving the show on this particular station? (I haven't heard of any other Chicago stations interested in the show, so it's WYIN or oblivion.) I guess you'll have to watch The Power of Kroll Saturday night, listen to the pledge people beg forgiveness, and make your own call. |
Additions and corrections are welcome. And now, the listings: |
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RADIO: |
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WPBR AM1340 http://hometown.aol.com/scifiradioguy/ MP3 Archive http://www.live365.com/ Sun 11:05PM EST Interstellar Transmissions Joey Reynolds' weekly sci-fi radio show, with Doctor Who news and sometimes Doctor Who guests. Details for this weekend's show not available at publication time. |
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UK: |
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UK Gold http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings Sun 11:10AM-1PM GMT Planet of Evil movie On the border between universes, a rescue ship is about to discover what happened to scientists who tried to harvest anti-matter to save their world. Without the Doctor's help, the rescue crew may suffer the same fate. |
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BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/ Sat 3:30PM, Sun 11:30AM CET Arc of Infinity ep 4 of 4 (Late Friday showing pre-empted by Comic Relief 2001.) Omega enters the real universe as a doppleganger of the Doctor. But the process was flawed, and now Omega unwittingly endangers the survival of our universe. Late Thu 12:30AM CET Snakedance ep 1 of 4 One year earlier, a demonic force on Deva Loka invaded Tegan's mind and tried to take control of the Kinda people. Now, the demonic force is trying to exert itself again - just as the TARDIS is heading for the force's home planet. |
AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND: |
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UKTV Australia http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ Sun 7AM, Late Sun 1AM AEDT The Hand Of Fear all 4 eps When Sarah kills a number of security guards and takes control of a nuclear power facility, the Doctor begins to suspect that she may not be acting normally. Mon-Fri 11:30PM AEDT The Talons of Weng-Chiang eps 2 - 6 of 6 A Chinese magician is the front-man for a cloaked figure who claims to be a Chinese god, and is in search of a Time Cabinet. |
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Prime TV New Zealand http://www.tetrap.com/drwho/nzdwfc/ http://www.primetv.co.nz/ Sun-Fri 6PM 2 eps in movie format daily Sun-Mon The Robots of Death movie, pts 1 - 2 of 2 Last rerun in 1987. On a sandminer with more robots than humans, people are starting to die. The Doctor and Leela are fingered as obvious suspects. But Poul suspects the case is not that neat. It is messier than he believes. Tue-Thu The Talons of Weng-Chiang movie, pts 1 - 3 of 3 Last rerun in 1987. See UKTV Australia for details. Fri Horror of Fang Rock movie, pt 1 of 2 Only previous NZ airing in 1987. Prime TV moves ahead of UKTV Australia with this story. Death and betrayal stalk the people trapped at a lighthouse on a cold, foggy night. A killer is at loose, and the Doctor is fairly certain it is not human. But the killer may not have to do anything, if these wretched humans keep on being paranoid and endangering each other. |
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BBC America http://www.bbcamerica.com/ Mon-Thu 8AM EST (5AM PST)/Tue-Fri 5AM EST (2AM PST) - 2 eps in movie format daily Mon-Tue/Tue-Wed The Ark In Space movie, pts 1 - 2 of 2 Harry Sullivan's first trip through time takes him to Space Station Nerva, where the survivors of humanity dream oblivion, while a species of intergalactic wasps prepare to make a nice dinner out of them. Wed-Thu/Thu-Fri The Android Invasion movie, pts 1 - 2 of 2 BBC America's confused episode order sends them to Harry Sullivan's last story, after he has left the TARDIS crew. The Doctor and Sarah find him when they return to Earth. But Harry, like all the other humans, is acting very strangely. More alien than the Doctor, as if that was possible. » it was later reported that the episodes were awry: should have been Robot 3-4, The Ark In Space 1-4, and The Android Invasion 1-2 |
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NHPTV New Hampshire 11,49,52 http://www.nhptv.org/ Late Thu 12:30AM EST The Ribos Operation eps 1+2 of 4 The Key To Time Series begins. Romana joins the TARDIS team as they search for the 1stsegment of the Key on Ribos, a planet in an ice age. |
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WQED/WQEX 13,16 Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org/ No episodes scheduled this week at publication time. |
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WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/ Saturday airing pre-empted by Ballykissangel marathon. Returns March 24. Early Monday 4AM "??" It is unclear if a Monday episode will air this week. » it was reported that the marathon ended early so Enlightenment 1+2 got shown at 11:00pm |
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MPT Maryland 22,28,31,36,62,67 http://www.mpt.org/ Late Sat Mid EST The Greatest Show in the Galaxy movie Time approximate after Robot Wars. The 7th Doctor and Ace are lured to a famous circus, where acts from all over the galaxy compete - and die. |
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WUSF 16 Tampa, FL http://www.wusftv.usf.edu/ Sat 11:30PM EST Remembrance of the Daleks ep 3 of 4 Ace begins to suspect that Mike may be keeping secrets. The Doctor finds himself dealing with 2 Dalek factions at once. A new science fiction series is about to premiere on the BBC - Doc-... |
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WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://www.wyin.org/ Sat 10:05PM CST The Power of Kroll all 4 eps WYIN will likely decide to keep or dump Doctor Who based on the pledge results on this evening. The 5th segment of the Key To Time is on Delta Magma, a moon where humans want to refine gas emissions, much to the annoyance of the natives and an enormous green octopus. K9 does not appear, but his voice (John Leeson) appears as one of the refiners. |
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WILL 12 Urbana, IL http://www.will.uiuc.edu/ Sat 11:30PM CST Revenge of the Cybermen ep 2 of 4 The "plague" attacks Sarah, leaving her near death. To save her, the Doctor must T-mat her down to Voga. But the T-mat has been sabotaged. |
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IPTV Iowa 11,12,21,24,27,32,32,36 http://www.sffn.com/ http://www.iptv.org/ No episodes this week. Returns March 23. |
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KBDI/K32EO 12,32 Denver/Colorado Springs, CO http://www.kbdi.org/ No episodes this week. Returns March 31. |
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KUED 7 Salt Lake City, UT http://www.kued.org/ Sat 11PM, Late Sat 12:30AM MST The Face of Evil ep 1 of 4 The 4th Doctor arrives on a planet where he is feared as an evil deity. On the plus side, that means he left an impression. |
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KBTC/KCKA/K65BU 28,15,65 Tacoma/Centralia/Gray's River, WA http://www.kbtc.org/ Sat 7PM, Late Sat 12:30AM PST Underworld eps 1+2 of 4 In a remote section of space, the Doctor and Leela come across the Minyans, a species the Time Lords inadvertently harmed in the distant past. Now the Doctor must help the Minyans clear up a mess that came about from the previous interference. |
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KTEH 54 San Jose, CA http://www.kteh.org/ Sun 11PM PST The Web Planet movie (The Web Planet, The Zarbi, Escape To Danger, Crater Of Needles, Invasion, The Centre) The TARDIS is dragged down to a world where ants and caterpillars are the main species, and a giant fungus grows destroying everything in its path. |
Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care. |
