This Week In Doctor Who - February 1, 2002
(posted 1st Feb 2002, 12:31pm - TWIDW post #0070)

THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - February 1, 2002
by Benjamin F. Elliott
Vol 5, No 5
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho/
thisweekindoctorwho-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Welcome to the weekly guide to Doctor Who broadcasts around the world.

AUSTRALIA - News on the TV front. The full story is at http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ and http://www.dwca.org.au/ . In brief, UKTV, which interrupted their weeknight airings of Doctor Who back in December, will resume those 11:30PM broadcasts on Monday 18 March. First up will be Attack of the Cybermen, which was skipped before, followed by The Trial Of A Time Lord and the remainder of the series. The weekend broadcasts will continue uninterrupted. When UKTV reaches the end of the series this time, Doctor Who will be given a "bit of a rest". Thanks to the Doctor Who Club of Australia, Jason Fraser, and Brian Lindsey.

NEW ZEALAND - Prime TV is airing the Peter Cushing movie Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150A.D. on Wednesday, 6 February, at 10:35PM. It is a remake of the 1st Doctor story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. This is the first Doctor Who broadcast in New Zealand since last June, when Prime TV interrupted the weekday reruns of the series.

CANADA - BBC Kids http://www.bbckids.ca/ now has a detailed TV schedule online, as opposed to the rather useless listings it had before. I've been told that they had the detailed schedule available before I commented in last week's column about how hard it is to find out what BBC Kids is doing. Apparently the cache on my browser didn't update for BBC Kids to show me what they actually had. Hmm.

As for Doctor Who on BBC Kids, it looks like it will continue airing 5 days a week, 4 times a day, for at least the next month or so without pre-emptions or extra airings. They're skipping over The Robots of Death, which aired on New Years Eve, airing The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and then returning to Robot, the first 4th Doctor story. Apparently they only bought the 72 episodes from Robot 1 to Talons Of Weng-Chiang 6. Hopefully the show is performing well enough that BBC Kids will buy additional episodes before too long.

One point to ponder about BBC Kids - they'll have aired 72 episodes of Doctor Who in their first 3 and a bit months on the air. BBC America - the BBC channel in the US - only aired 66 episodes of the show total, and it took them 26 months to premiere all of them. BBC America never aired The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

USA - Maryland Public TV (MPT) had a technical mixup last weekend. Those of us who were watching or taping Frontier In Space last Saturday night noticed in horror that 1 hour, 58 minutes, and roughly 40 seconds into the 2 hour, 15 minute movie, they cut to a commercial and a magazine about living in Alaska. The last portion of the show, which ended with a cliffhanger linked to the following story, did not air. According to the people at MPT, it was an unfortunate case of a clock being mistakenly set to 2 hours instead of 2 1/2 hours. As of press time, MPT was not planning to repeat Frontier In Space this weekend, or re-air it in the near future. Let this be a warning - it's not only those of us at home who sometimes have trouble setting our VCR clocks. TV stations can get confused too.

USA - It turns out that WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) pre-empted Doctor Who on January 19 for a sports event not on their schedule. As a result, the episodes advertised for that night (Four To Doomsday episodes 1+2) were moved to January 26, and the second half of that story will air this week.

Additions and corrections are welcome at bfelliott@... , bfelliott3 on AOL IM , or thebfe on Yahoo Messenger. And now, the listings:

---

INTERNET RADIO:

BCB Bradford http://www.bcb.yorks.com/
Realplayer Stream http://www.bcb.yorks.com/bcb.ram
Thu 7-8PM GMT (2-3PM EST, 11AM-12PM PST, 6-7AM AEDT) - The Who Review
BCB's monthly roundup of Doctor Who news and releases throughout the UK. I stopped listing the program last year when several attempts to tune in at the advertised time resulted in finding rap music in its place. It's definitely been back on the air the last couple of months, so it returns to the column. The show could start any time between 7 and 7:20, and end any time between 7:40 and 8PM, lasting from 25 minutes to an hour. Next broadcast 7 March.

UK:

UK Gold http://www.sceneone.co.uk/s1/tv/listings
Sat 7:10-9AM GMT The Curse of Fenric movie
Fear, suspicion, and an old Viking curse turns humans into vampires. Unless the 7th Doctor and Ace can solve the mystery, the bloodiest battle of World War II won't involve the Germans.
Sun 7:40-9AM GMT Survival movie
Last story of the original series. UK Gold will probably go back to the beginning of the Jon Pertwee (3rd Doctor) era next weekend. Visiting her hometown, Ace discovers that her old friends are disappearing, one by one. Right before each one disappears, a black cat appears. And now the cat is shadowing Ace. With Sylvester McCoy as the 7th Doctor.

EUROPE/AFRICA/ASIA:

BBC Prime http://www.bbcprime.com/
Late Fri 12:30AM, Sat 4PM CET Revelation of the Daleks 4 pt version, ep 3
Sat 4:30PM, Late Sun 12:30AM CET Revelation of the Daleks 4 pt version, ep 4
An assassin carries out a plan to eliminate Davros, only to find himself distracted by a loud man in a louder suit (the 6th Doctor). To eliminate the Daleks from their facility, the employees of Tranquil Repose decide to call in - *more* Daleks. Suffice it to say those guys will never will the strategic planning of the year award.
Wed Noon CET The Trial of a Time Lord (The Mysterious Planet) ep 1 of 14 (The Mysterious Planet ep 1)
Thu Noon CET The Trial of a Time Lord (The Mysterious Planet) ep 2 of 14 (The Mysterious Planet ep 2)
Taken out of time and suffering from partial amnesia, the 6th Doctor finds himself on trial for meddling in the affairs of other worlds. Exhibit one - footage of the time he poked and prodded into the affairs of the planet Ravalox.

AUSTRALIA:

UKTV http://www.varos.com/drwho/uktv/ http://www.foxtel.com.au/
Sun 7AM, Late Sun 1AM AEDT Planet of Fire all 4 eps
Under alien control, Kamelion manipulates the TARDIS to drag the 5th Doctor into the affairs of Trion, a dying world. The symbol of power on Trion is a special triangle - the same triangle that is on Turlough's wrist. And Turlough has no intention of explaining why that is.

NEW ZEALAND:

Prime TV http://www.tetrap.com/drwho/nzdwfc/ http://www.primetv.co.nz/
Wed 10:35PM Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150A.D. 1966 theatrical movie
Colour movie remake of the black & white story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Starring the Daleks as themselves, with Peter Cushing as "Dr. Who". Dr. Who, Susan, Louise, and a policeman named Tom use the TARDIS to visit the future, where they find Earth under the brutal oppression of the Daleks. Only previous broadcast of this movie on New Zealand TV was in 1989.

CANADA:

BBC Kids http://www.bbckids.ca/
Weekdays 7:30PM, 10:30PM, 2AM, 4AM EST (4:30PM, 7:30PM, 11PM, 1AM PST)
Fri The Face of Evil ep 3 of 4
Mon The Face of Evil ep 4 of 4
Xoanon, a lunatic computer who believes himself to be the 4th Doctor, decides to have the two groups of people on the planet kill each other, and kill off the Doctor while he's at it. Afterwards, he plans to Oop Oop Gleeble Whirp Glam Ding. As I said, the computer's a lunatic.
Tue-Fri The Talons of Weng-Chiang eps 1 - 4 of 6
London police blotter, 19th Century. 2:45AM. "The mysterious disappearances of young ladies continues. Some mad nut (Tom Baker, the 4th Doctor) thinks that the Chinese are involved. Some Chinese attacked him. He's 'appropriated' Professor Litefoot to investigate his theories. Could be worse, I suppose. He could have claimed it was an alien from the future."

USA:

I have made a minor change to the DirecTV channel info. The lower channel number is the one used on newer receivers, which are likely to replace older receivers over time, so it is now listed first.

NHPTV New Hampshire 11,49,52 http://www.nhptv.org/
Dish Network Boston Local 8781 - not yet offered
Late Sat Mid EST The Visitation eps 1+2 of 4
Late Thu Mid EST The Visitation eps 3+4 of 4
1664 England. The 5th Doctor, Tegan, Adric, Nyssa, and the Sonic Screwdriver find Black Death, ordinary death, space aliens, aggrivated locals, and a Highwayman. That's the trouble with visitations - whenever you have guests over, someone makes a mess.

WQED/WQEX 13,16 Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org/
DirecTV Pittsburgh Local 13/947
Dish Network Pittsburgh Local 8136
Late Sat Mid EST Kinda ep 1 of 4
The 5th Doctor and company land on a forest planet which appeals Kinda tranquil. But whatever you do, don't fall asleep.

WYBE 35 Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org/
DirecTV Philadelphia Local 35/909
Dish Network Philadelphia Local 8162
Sat 4AM+5:30PM EST Genesis of the Daleks eps 3+4 of 6
Sat 11PM EST Genesis of the Daleks eps 5+6 of 6
The Kaleds and the Thals discover that they face a threat more serious than each other - grey metallic monsters called The Daleks. Now both species face extinction unless a tall man wearing a long multicolored scarf can wipe them out. But the tall man isn't certain if the Daleks should be eliminated. Tall man - Tom Baker.

MPT Maryland 22,28,31,36,62,67 http://www.mpt.org/
DirecTV DC & Baltimore Local 22/980
Dish Network DC Local 8083 - not yet offered
Dish Network Pittsburgh Local 8141 - not yet offered
Dish Network Baltimore Local 8736 - Baltimore Locals not yet offered
Late Sat Mid EST Planet of the Daleks movie
Picking up from the climax of Frontier In Space, which you didn't see last week, the 3rd Doctor and Jo hunt a Dalek army to the planet Spirodon, where experiments in invsibility could give the Daleks a key advantage in the next war. Based on the running time indicated on MPT's web site, it appears they (again) ordered the 1 hour, 45 minute movie version of this story. The movie version is missing an entire episode in the middle, cut out because it is in black & white. A number of color scenes are also cut to hide the missing episode. My advice - tape this version for comparison - the edit was masterfully done. Then, go to your local video store and buy Planet Of The Daleks on video so you can see what you missed. Now, if the broadcast runs 2 hours, 15-20 minutes and has a black & white section in the middle, then that would mean they figured it out and got the complete version in time.

WCET 48 Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org/
DirecTV Cincinnati Local 48/909
Dish Network Cincinnati Local 8356
Sat 11PM EST Warriors' Gate eps 2+3 of 4
Humans use time-sensitive slaves to cross the boundaries of the universes. But the boundaries are falling in on each other, secrets from the past and future are coming together, and a gateway between the realms is endangered. Meanwhile, K9 suffers the metallic equivalent of a stroke, limiting his ability to travel in space and time. 4th Doctor - Tom Baker.
» it was reported the following week that the episodes were replaced by a pledge special.

WYIN 56 Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://www.chicagowho.com/
http://www.wyin.tv/
Dish Network Chicago Local 8502 - coming soon
Sat 11PM CST Four To Doomsday eps 3+4 of 4
(Postponed from an earlier date.) The 5th Doctor lets Bigons be bye-gones.
» the following week indicated that nothing was shown in the end as the channel was off-air.

WILL 12 Urbana, IL http://www.will.uiuc.edu/
Sat 11:27PM CST The Robots of Death ep 2 of 4
Yes, I know it's an odd start time. The shows WILL is airing on Saturday nights at the moment have varying lengths. As long as they keep giving the actual start time out, it's all good. Oh, you want a story description? The 4th Doctor and Leela are accused of committing the murders that have been occuring on the Sandminer. Fortunately for the Doctor's claims of innocence, the murders keep happening ...

TPT St. Paul, MN http://www.tpt.org/
analog KTCA 2 digital KTCI-DT 16.5 (2.5)
DirecTV Minneapolis Local 2/891
Dish Network Minneapolis Local 8576
Sat 11:30PM, Sun 5:30AM CST The Horns of Nimon ep 2 of 4
Romana investigates strange customs on Skonnos, while the 4th Doctor and K9 play cricket with the TARDIS and a Black Hole.

IPTV Iowa http://www.sffn.com/ http://www.iptv.org/
analog 11,12,21,24,27,32,32,36 digital KDIN-DT 50 Des Moines, IA
Sat 11:35PM CST Frontios eps 3+4 of 4
A super-intellectual beetle of immense size leads an army that plans to wipe out humanity and invade the cosmos. A TARDIS would be ideal as a means to help the army spread its power.

KERA/K24AD Dallas/Wichita Falls, TX http://www.kera.org/
analog 13,24 digital KERA-DT 14.1 Dallas, TX
DirecTV Dallas Local 13/889
Dish Network Dallas Local 8406
Late Fri 12:15AM CST The Three Doctors all 4 eps
A Black Hole drains the power from Gallifrey, leaving it vulnerable, then sends forces to Earth in an attempt to capture the 3rd Doctor. This story was designed to celebrate Doctor Who beginning its 10th Season. Patrick Troughton returns as the 2nd Doctor. William Hartnell returns as the 1st Doctor. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Seargeant Benton see the inside of the TARDIS for the first time. And the plot twist at the end that viewers had been expecting for years.

» it was reported the following week that stories were in production order so this was actually Carnival Of Monsters.

KBDI/K32EO 12,32 Denver/Colorado Springs, CO http://www.kbdi.org/
DirecTV Denver Local 12/910
Dish Network Denver Local 8211
Late Fri 12:30AM MST Snakedance eps 3+4 of 4
The 5th Doctor goes on a spiritual quest to find the key to preventing the Mara from re-manifesting itself. The Manussan civilization prepares for its celebration, unaware that it will bring the Mara into being.
Sat 11PM MST Mawdryn Undead eps 1+2 of 4
The crippled crew of a space ship park themselves above Earth to seek help for their problem. But the presence of the ship sets off a chain of events which separates the 5th Doctor from his TARDIS, and retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart from his memories.

KUED/KUES Salt Lake City/Richfield, UT http://www.kued.org/
analog 7,39
digital KUED-DT 42 Salt Lake City
UT DirecTV Salt Lake City Local 7/982
Dish Network Salt Lake City Local 8536
Sat 11PM, Late Sat 12:30AM MST The Pirate Planet ep 1 of 4
Romana decides to land the TARDIS herself, a thought that terrifies the 4t h Doctor. When the TARDIS finds itself in the right place, but the wrong planet, is it a case of bad TARDIS piloting, or something very sinister. This was the first Doctor Who story written by Douglas Adams, who went on to write some book series or other that got international attention.

KBTC/KCKA/K65BU 28,15,65 Tacoma/Centralia/Gray's River, WA
http://www.kbtc.org/
DirecTV Seattle Local 28/970
Dish Network Seattle Local 8620
Sat 7PM, Late Sat 12:30AM PST Kinda eps 1+2 of 4
See WQED for details.

KTEH/KCAH 54,25 San Jose/Watsonville, CA http://www.kteh.org/
DirecTV San Francisco Local 54/903
Dish Network San Francisco Local 8234
Sat 11PM PST The Sea Devils eps 5+6 of 6
The 3rd Doctor finds out where the devil the Sea Devils are, while Jo Grant and the Royal Navy prepare for The Invasion and a Fury From The Deep.

---

Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care.

Doctor Who is a BBC Trademark. Copyright 2002.