TWIDW Update - Encore's Mystery Channel Gets 1996 Doctor Who Movie
(posted 23rd May 2004, 4:57am - TWIDW post #0228)

Just spotted on the Outpost Gallifrey http://www.gallifreyone.com forums and
confirmed on the Starz! website http://www.starz.com that the 1996 Doctor
Who Movie will be airing in the Starz/Encore suite of premium channels in
the US starting in June. This probably means that the US Sci-Fi Channel's
rights to the movie have expired.

So far, there are 9 broadcasts scheduled on the "Mystery" channel, and 3
broadcasts scheduled on "MOVIEplex". Here are the scheduled airdates and
times. If you have one or both of these channels, remember to determine
which Feed(s) you have access to and adjust for local time.

Thursday 3 June 9:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Thursday 3 June 4:45PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 7:30AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Wednesday 9 June 3:20PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Sunday 13 June 11:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 7:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 8:45AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 4:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Friday 18 June 5:50PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Friday 18 June 11:10PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery
Late Friday 18 June 12:10AM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - MOVIEplex
Tuesday 29 June 2:40PM EDT East Feed / PDT West Feed - Mystery

It looks like the movie's primary homes will be the Mystery Channel and
MOVIEplex.. Beyond them, the relevant channels they might air it on in the
future are Starz!/Starz! HD, Encore/Encore HD, Starz! Theater, Starz!
Cinema, Action, Love Stories (stretching a little there), and the Starz
OnDemand service. I'm fairly certain it will never air on Black Starz!,
Starz! Kids, Starz! Family, Westerns, True Stories, and WAM! Not all
channels are available with all providers - no sign of MOVIEplex on DirecTV,
Dish Network, or VOOM.

The Starz & Encore Channels tend to be commercial-free, uncut programming,
and no crushing of the end credits. For people who have these channels, it
will probably be the best that the Doctor Who movie has looked in the USA to
date. If you don't have that suite of channels and you kept meaning to see
Doctor Who the next time Sci-Fi ran it, you are probably out of luck for a
while.

Benjamin Elliott - This Week In Doctor Who