This Week in Doctor Who: Print Archive
Wednesday 9th October 2002
This Week In Doctor Who - October 9, 2002 (posted 9th Oct 2002, 11:39am - TWIDW post #0123) |
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THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO - October 9, 2002 by Benjamin F. Elliott Vol 5, No 41 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho http://www.topica.com/lists/twidwtalk thisweekindoctorwho-subscribe@yahoogroups.com twidwtalk-subscribe@... |
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Welcome to the weekly guide to Doctor Who broadcasts around the world. |
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NEW STATION: WSKG 46 Binghamton, NY http://www.wskg.com/ began airing Doctor Who on Saturday, October 5 at 11:30PM. 1 episode per week, starting with Robot episode 1. Binghamton is one of the smaller TV markets, straddling the border between New York and Pennsylvania, with viewers on both sides. TWIDW welcomes WSKG to the Doctor Who community. If you live in that area, you might want to send WSKG an e-mail or letter thanking them for adding the show. |
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STATION THAT PASSED US BY: I learned yesterday that a TV station in Europe began and stopped airing Doctor Who without my ever covering it. ART Europe, part of an Arabic programming package in Europe on Sky Digital, aired a couple of Doctor Who stories a while back. They aired select stories where Arabic soundtracks were available. ART Europe programming is widescreen, so the top and bottom of the image of the Doctor Who episodes was chopped off to make it fit the 16x9 aspect ratio. Supposedly they have stopped airing Doctor Who. A search of the ART website http://www.art-tv.net/ found nothing that I could identify as Doctor Who on any of their channels in the next week. It would be interesting to know if anyone remembers exactly which episodes aired and in what timeslots they appeared. Apparently the Arabic TV package was free to air when the Doctor Who episodes were airing, though they are scrambled now. The programming package includes Al-Jazeera, the famous/infamous Arabic News Network which has gotten much attention in the past 13 months. Variants of this programming package are offered in the United States and Australia. I have no idea if this means that Arabic Doctor Who episodes could turn up on US and Australian TV screens or not. |
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NOT SO LIVE FROM NEW YORK: On March 16, 2002, Ian McKellan (Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings movies) guest-hosted Saturday Night Live (2001-2002 season, show 15). One of the segments involved a cable access Comic Book show, where Ian McKellan showed up as "the best Doctor Who impersonator in town". E!, a US Cable/Satellite network, is premiering the 60 minute version of this edition of Saturday Night Live today, October 9, at 7PM Eastern/Pacific Time. E! is likely to repeat the 2001-2002 SNL shows repeatedly in the next few weeks in various time slots, and I believe they also air in Canada on a network. I don't know if the "Doctor Who" segment made the cut from 90 minutes to 60 minutes. If it didn't make the cut, then keep an eye on NBC. NBC has not (to my knowledge) rerun this edition of SNL yet, so it will probably appear uncut in the Saturday 11:30PM Eastern/Pacific slot in the next few months, giving the SNL crew a week off from doing a live program. TWIDW will give an alert the week that NBC reruns the full SNL show with the Doctor Who related skit, but given the high number of times E! will air the edited rerun I am not planning at this time to list E! repeats in the weekly column. If it was a full fledged Doctor Who parody like Curse Of Fatal Death I might view it differently. But the combination of E!'s airing schedule and the fact that it's not really a Doctor Who feature as such lead me to think that one reference of the E! premiere and one reference the week of the NBC rerun is enough. |
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BBC KIDS CYCLES BACK: BBC Kids http://www.bbckids.ca/ has been premiering new to them Doctor Who stories in late night on the weekends for the last several weeks. The last new story in the current batch - Logopolis - airs late Saturday October 12. The late night airings return to the start of the {p{TomBaker} era with Robot late October 13th. BBC Kids has now (in some time slot or another) aired all 172 Tom Baker episodes in just over 11 months. American fans remember ruefully that it took BBC America 26 months to premiere the 66 Tom Baker episodes they aired. BBC Kids viewers who cannot stay up quite so late are seeing the latter Tom Baker episodes now in the weeknight time slots. I wonder if they plan to order the Peter Davison episodes as well. |
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SATELLITE SHIFTING: Dish Network http://www.dishnetwork.com/ has activated a new satellite intended to help them offer local stations. Over the next couple of weeks Dish will be adding local markets and moving markets around on the satellites. More of the stations will be switching from national offerings to spot beams. If any Who affiliates are added late in the week I'll send out an update - otherwise any changes will be covered next week. Colorado Springs, CO is apparently the next local market to get its channels on Dish Network. There is a Doctor Who affiliate in Colorado Springs, but K32EO http://www.kbdi.org/ is a low power repeater of KBDI. Since it is low power and a full power PBS is already available, it is unlikely to be offered on satellite. |
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With Digital TV sets increasing in sales, local Digital TV stations popping up on some cable systems, and stations rushing to get their digital assignments on the air before FCC deadlines, it's time to begin paying attention to digital TV. Beginning this week, TWIDW will list all the digital assignments that a US Doctor Who affiliate has. Digital stations not yet on air will be in brackets, like this - (25). When there is no note indicating the status of the station, then it is reportedly on air, but I don't know if they are offering a simulcast of the analog programming (like Doctor Who) on the digital station yet or not. All the current Doctor Who affiliates in America are non-commercial stations, who have a May 1, 2003 deadline to get their digital stations on air. The FCC's current plans will have analog stations go off the air at the end of 2006 or when 85% of the local TV market can see the digital stations, whichever comes second. All TVs that are 36 inches or bigger must have digital tuners by 2004, while TVs 13 inches or bigger aren't required to have digital tuners till 2007. I think Adric would have a problem with that math - it would be possible to sell analog-only TVs after the point when analog might be turned off. Oh well. |
While I try to keep the column up to date, I do sometimes miss late changes to schedules. If you see TWIDW's information getting out of synch with what your local station is actually airing, let me know ASAP. |
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Additions and corrections are welcome at thisweekindoctorwho-owner@yahoogroups.com , bfelliott@... , bfelliott3 on AOL IM, or thebfe on Yahoo Messenger. And now, the listings: |
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/ Real Time - Firstrun Doctor Who Audio Drama. Colin Baker, Cybermen. 6 episode story produced by Big Finish. Illustrations by Lee Sullivan for fans with fast internet connections. Requires version of RealPlayer to see/hear. |
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Fri 7PM EDT (6PM CDT) Interstellar Transmissions http://www.interstellartransmissions.com WWNN AM1470 Pompano Beach/Boca Raton, FL (Miami/West Palm Beach, FL) http://www.wnnhealthtalkradio.com WBYU AM1450 New Orleans, LA http://www.bayou1450.com Joey Reynolds' weekly radio show for sci-fi news and interviews, broadcast live over the internet on all 3 websites listed above. Doctor Who news usually discussed during the broadcast. This week - open phones at 1-888-565-1470. So the obvious way to make Doctor Who a topic this week is to call in yourself. Looking ahead - Lalla Ward, the second Romana on Doctor Who, is listed as a guest for the November 22nd program, which is the same week as Doctor Who's 39th anniversary. |
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UK Gold http://www.onthebox.com/partner/otb http://www.telewest.co.uk/flextech/ukgold.htm Late Fri 1:35-3:25AM, Sat 7:10-9AM BST Time-Flight movie Tegan finally gets to Heathrow Airport. Someone's stealing Concordes, and the 5th Doctor thinks that this is sinister. Late Sat 1-2:50AM, Sun 7:10-9AM BST Arc of Infinity movie A renegade attempts to bond with the 5th Doctor's body, in a daring plan to cross over from the Anti-Matter Universe to the regular universe. Maxil: Colin Baker, before he was cast as the 6th Doctor. |
Homechoice http://www.homechoice.co.uk Video On Demand. Now playing: Robot all 4 pts The Ark In Space all 4 pts The Sontaran Experiment both pts Please, Homechoice. Add some more stories. These are the only Doctor Who stories you have offered for months. |
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POLAND: |
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BBC Kids http://www.bbckids.ca Weeknights 7:30PM, 10:30PM, 2AM, 4AM EDT (4:30PM, 7:30PM, 11PM, 1AM PDT) Wed-Thu The Horns of Nimon pts 3 - 4 of 4 The 4th Doctor, Romana, and Soldeed learn the truth behind the Nimon plan for "The Great Journey Of Life". Fri The Leisure Hive pt 1 of 4 For Friday only, BBC Kids indicates that the 7:30PM airing will start at 7:32, and the 10:30PM airing will start at 10:31 (EDT). The 4th Doctor and Romana decide to go to the planet Argolis for a restful vacation. Late Sat 2AM EDT (1AM CDT, Mid MDT, 11PM PDT, 3AM ADT, 3:30AM Newfoundland) Logopolis all 4 pts New story to BBC Kids. With a premonition of doom, the 4th Doctor faces the Master one last time in a high stakes battle for the future of the Universe itself. Late Sun 2AM EDT (1AM CDT, Mid MDT, 11PM PDT, 3AM ADT, 3:30AM Newfoundland) Robot all 4 pts Just regenerated, the 4th Doctor helps UNIT solve a mystery. Information needed for a Doomsday Weapon has been stolen, apparently by a being of superhuman strength. Mon-Tue The Leisure Hive pts 2 - 3 of 4 The Doctor is suspected of murder, and a scientific experiment goes terribly wrong. |
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NHPTV New Hampshire http://www.nhptv.org analog 11,49,52 digital 57,48,(49) - not on digital schedule yet Thu 11:30PM, Late Sat Mid EDT Attack of the Cybermen 4 pt version, pts 1+2 The 6th Doctor finally fixes the Chameleon Circuit in the TARDIS, hoping to be rid of the Blue Box look for good. Meanwhile, the Cybermen are at work on Earth in 1985, one year before Mondas, their home planet, had arrived here and destroyed itself. |
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WCNY/W59AU Syracuse/Utica, NY http://www.wcny.org analog 24,59 digital (25) - coming this fall Sun 5:30PM EDT Planet of Evil pt 2 of 4 The planet will not let the rescue party leave the planet - not while any anti-matter is on the ship. |
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**NEW AFFILIATE** WSKG Binghamton, NY http://www.wskg.com analog 46 digital (42) - under construction Sat 11:30PM EDT Robot pt 2 of 4 Sarah discovers that Professor Kettlewell's biggest (literally!) scientific project is not quite as dismantled as advertised. |
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WQED/WQEX Pittsburgh, PA http://www.wqed.org analog 13,16 digital 38-1,(26) DirecTV 13,947 Dish 8136,13 Late Sat Mid EDT Snakedance pt 2 of 4 Tegan has been taken over by the Mara, and only the 5th Doctor and Nyssa can save her. |
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WYBE Philadelphia, PA http://www.wybe.org analog 35 digital (34) - coming November 2002 DirecTV 35,909 Dish 8162,35 Sat 11PM EDT The Sun Makers pt 4 of 4 The humans decide to free themselves from the control of The Company, and the 4th Doctor must make certain the Company has no chance to retaliate. Sat 11:30PM EDT Underworld pt 1 of 4 A ship of exhausted zealots seeks another ship which holds the material to rebuild their race. This is the story of the people on that ship. Fortunately, the story forgets those people as often as possible, as their characters are incredibly boring. Leela, K9, and the Doctor are the ones carrying this adventure. |
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MPT Maryland http://www.mpt.org analog 22,67,28,31,62,36 digital 42,(29),(62),(44),(28),(56) - simulcast of analog begins in 2003 DirecTV 22,980 Late Sat Mid EDT The Power of Kroll movie (actually The Armageddon Factor) K9 does not appear in this story, but John Leeson (voice of K9) appears as a human in this story. A rig on a Moon and some meddlesome natives both manage to awaken a monsterous squid, whose reaction to things it doesn't understand is to eat them. In the melee, the 4th Doctor and Romana search for the 5th segment of The Key To Time. |
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WCET Cincinnati, OH http://www.wcet.org analog 48 digital (34) - under construction DirecTV 48,909 Dish 8356,48 Sat 11PM EDT Enlightenment pts 1+2 of 4 Turlough desparately tries to get free from the influence of the Black Guardian. But the Black Guardian is not willing to let Turlough leave so easily. One or the other is going to break under the strain, and I don't think the Black Guardian is under the strain. |
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WYIN Gary, IN (Chicago, IL) http://www.chicagowho.com http://www.wyin.tv analog 56 digital (17) - under construction Sat 11PM CDT Resurrection of the Daleks 4 pt version, pts 3+4 Looks like WYIN pre-empted Doctor Who recently and the schedule was pushed back a week. Either that, or the website is wrong and pts 1+2 of Planet of Fire are airing here. |
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WILL Urbana, IL http://www.will.uiuc.edu analog 12 digital (33) - under construction Sat 11:41PM CDT The Ribos Operation pt 1 of 4 The 4th Doctor and Romana begin their partnership with the search for the 1st segment of The Key To Time. On the planet Ribos, two con men try to scam a powerful warlord into buying a planet they don't own. |
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KAWE/KAWB Bemidji/Brainerd, MN http://www.lakelandptv.org analog 9,22 digital (18),(28) - under construction Sat 8PM, Sun 11PM CDT The Seeds of Doom pt 1 of 6 Two seed pods of devastating power are found in the Antarctic, attracting the attention of the Doctor and associates of a power-mad plant lover. |
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IPTV Iowa http://www.sffn.com http://www.iptv.org analog 11,12,21,24,27,32,32,36,36 digital 50-1,(45),(25),(18),(28),(33),(35),(35),(34) Sat 11:35PM CDT Dragonfire pts 2+3 of 3 The 7th Doctor and Sabalom Glitz search for treasure guarded by a dragon, while Mel and Ace get to know each other better. This is *not* the beginning of a beautiful friendship. |
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KERA/K44FI Dallas/Wichita Falls, TX http://www.kera.org analog 13,44 digital 14-1 DirecTV 13,889 Dish 8406,13 Late Fri 12:20AM CDT The Ribos Operation movie See WILL for details. |
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KBDI/K32EO Denver/Colorado Springs, CO http://www.kbdi.org analog 12,32 digital (38) - under construction DirecTV 12,910 Dish 8211,12 Late Fri 12:30AM MDT Vengeance on Varos 4 pt version, pts 3+4? Death and politics on the planet Varos. Sat 11PM MDT The Mark of the Rani 4 pt version, pts 1+2? Question marks are in place because these are the episodes that should be airing. KBDI's website seems to view Vengeance on Varos as a 6 parter, with The Mark of the Rani starting next week. So I can't be fully sure of which episodes are airing. In good news, I think this is the first time in months that KBDI has Doctor Who listed for a full month without a single pre-emption for a pledge drive or an auction. » it was Vengeance on Varos pts 1+2 and 3+4. |
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KUED/KUES Salt Lake City/Richfield, UT http://www.kued.org analog 7,19 digital 42-1,(19) DirecTV 7,982 Dish 8536,7 Sat 11PM MDT Destiny of the Daleks pt 1 of 4 KUED is airing stories in production order, which is why this story is airing out of order. Newly regenerated, Romana helps the Doctor explore a radiation-riddled planet which the Doctor finds disturbingly familiar. |
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KBTC/KCKA/K65BU 28,15,65 Tacoma/Centralia/Grays River, WA http://www.kbtc.org analog 28,15,65 digital (27),(19) - under construction DirecTV 12,910 Dish 8620,28 Sat 7PM, Late Sat 12:30AM PDT The Twin Dilemma pts 1+2 of 4 The new 6th Doctor suffers a nervous breakdown, turning him into a raving lunatic. This is a difficult problem for Peri, who has to deal with him. This could be a good thing for an old friend of the Doctor's, who is engaged in a bit of kidnapping for a dark purpose. |
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KTEH/KCAH San Jose/Watsonville, CA http://www.kteh.org analog 54,25 digital (50),(58) - under construction DirecTV 54,903 Sun 11PM PDT The Time Warrior pts 3+4 of 4 Sarah begins to trust the 3rd Doctor, as a Sontaran learns just how difficult it is to match wits with the Doctor. |
CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA: |
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Uniseries http://www.uniseries.com.ar Sun 9:30AM, 9:30PM, Mon 4:30AM "" 1 episode The 4th Doctor and Leela are in action. English with Spanish subtitles. |
Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care. Doctor Who is a BBC Trademark. Copyright 2002. |
