This Week in Doctor WhoThis Week in Doctor Who

This Week in Doctor Who: Print Archive


Wednesday 13th April 2005



This Week In Doctor Who - April 13, 2005
(posted 13th Apr 2005, 12:04pm - TWIDW post #0297)
THIS WEEK IN DOCTOR WHO
April 13, 2005 - Vol 8, No 15
The weekly guide to Doctor Who broadcasts worldwide.
by Benjamin F. Elliott
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thisweekindoctorwho
More good UK ratings, Encouragement in Canada, Doctor Who on Thomson
Airlines. It's another good week, unless you're waiting for a
US
broadcast.
Saturday 16 April:
BBC One - 7PM - Doctor Who: Aliens Of London
BBC Three - 7:45PM + 3:25AM - Doctor Who Confidential: I Get A Side-
Kick Out Of You
Sunday 17 April:
BBC Three - 7PM - Doctor Who: Aliens Of London
BBC Three - 7:45PM - Doctor Who Confidential: I Get A Side-Kick Out
Of You
Tuesday 19 April:
CBC - 8PM - Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead
UK Overnight Ratings:
BBC 3 3 April - Doctor Who: The End Of The World (encore) - 402,980
average viewers (2.78% share)
BBC 1 9 April - Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead - 8,339,880 average
viewers (36.67% share)
BBC 3 9 April - Doctor Who Confidential: TARDIS Tales - 542,470
average viewers (3.62% share)
BBC 3 10 April - Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (encore) - 326,440
average viewers
BBC 3 10 April - Doctor Who Confidential: TARDIS Tales (encore) -
217,550 average viewers
UK Final Ratings
BBC 1 26 March - Doctor Who - Rose - 10.81 million viewers!
CBC Canada Ratings:
5 April - Doctor Who - Rose - 969,000 viewers. #2 in time slot. Top
rated CBC show of night.
--------------------------------------------------------
Outpost Gallifrey http://www.gallifreyone.com reports that the
Doctor Who UK premiere of Rose got 10.81 million viewers when video
recordings were counted in, according to BARB
http://www.barb.co.uk . This would mean that well over 800,000
viewers recorded the episode in addition to the original audience.
Barb will hopefully have final ratings for The End Of The World
tomorrow (14 April).
Overnight ratings for The Unquiet Dead on BBC One were about 8.34
million, higher than BBC One's coverage of the Grand National and
the Royal Wedding. This performance was mentioned on Monday on US TV
by Katie Couric on NBC's Today Show
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633 and Keith Olberman on MSNBC's
Countdown with Keith Olberman http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677 ,
with Keith mentioning that he'd rather see Doctor Who than a
royal
wedding. The BBC did a press release about it at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/drwho/2005/04/10/18419.shtml . Last
sentence omitted as it is a spoiler for Aliens Of London (April 16
episode):
"Unquiet Audience - 8.3 million makes episode three
Saturday's top
show.
"Episode Three of Doctor Who was another strong ratings scorer,
beating a Royal Wedding (6.2 million), a Grand National (7.3
million), and Casualty (8.0 million).
"The Welsh Zombies also saw off Georgie boys Ant and Dec (7.1
million), gaining a 36.7% per cent audience share.
"The programme followed the trend of previous weeks, and gained
over
a million viewers across the episode, starting at 7.7 and climbing
to 8.9.
"The scarier themes proved a hit with audiences - the Doctor Who
inbox was flooded with praise from parents gleefully reporting their
offspring still cowering behind various soft furnishings (and even a
pair of curtains)."
---------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Doctor Who's Canadian premiere got a solid 2nd place
in
the time period (Tuesday 5 April 8PM). It came in just below the top
20 ratings for Canada that week (no CBC http://www.cbc.ca/television
shows made the top 20). Numbers do not include anyone watching from
the US. The Doctor Who Information Network http://www.dwin.org
reported in their blog http://www.doctorwhoblog.com :
"April 07,2005 - FIRST RATE!

"The premiere of Doctor Who destroyed in the ratings on April the 5th. Doctor Who did extremely well on the CBC with over 989,000 viewers. Compared to the 9.9 million in the UK this number might seem small...but for Canadian television numbers, and for the CBC this is HUGE, and exactly where we wanted the show to come in at.

"Doctor Who did not win the evenings rating's war across the board....it did, however, win for the network. Four shows on other major Canadian networks beat Doctor Who. They were American Idol (2,508,000) which was in the same time slot, The Amazing Race (3,140,000), Law And Order: SVU (1,294,000) and CTV National News (1,428,000). Three of those shows are big US productions, with an established following while the news is...THE NEWS! :)

"Put it another way Doctor Who DESTROYED House, Judging Amy, CBC's News, Jag, The Outer Limits, Blue Jays baseball, and a host of other programs in and around that time slot.

"So this fan is very happy indeed, and I'm sure the CBC is as well. Doctor Who won CBC's night, and reportedly did more than double what programming that slot normally gets on a Tuesday evening. On any day 989,000+ viewing the CBC is amazing... I can only think of Hockey getting better numbers than Doctor Who. And this number only reflects what the industry can measure...so I'm sure the numbers are even higher here in Canada, as well as in the UK."


BBC Worldwide announced 2 more Doctor Who broadcasters - Pay TV station Jimmy http://www.jimmy140.it (already known) and the Thomsonfly airline (!) http://thomson.co.uk . This was done at the eve of the MipTV http://www.miptv.com convention in Cannes (11 April through 15 April), where the BBC was expected to heavily pitch various TV productions, including Doctor Who.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/commercial/worldwidestories/pressrel

"Doctor Who takes to the skies with BBC Worldwide

"On the eve of MIPTV, BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has concluded two major deals for the brand new first series of Doctor Who, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper.

"Following a deal struck at this year's BBC Showcase, Thomsonfly (formerly Britannia Airways Ltd) will broadcast episode one of the new series to passengers from 1 May on each of its video-equipped planes, on all routes around the world.

"In Italy, the entertainment pay-TV channel Jimmy has added Doctor Who to a number of programmes recently licensed from BBC Worldwide including The Office, Little Britain and League Of Gentlemen.

"Russell T Davies, who has reinvented television's favourite two- hearted Time Lord for a new generation, said: `Doctor Who has a remarkable `fandom' but equally it's the new audience that I care about. Someone who has never heard of a TARDIS or a Dalek, whether in Toronto, Turin or Swansea, will be able to start with this new series, climb on board with The Doctor and Rose, and travel the whole of time and space.'

"Doctor Who is a co-production with CBC in Canada and has also been sold to Prime TV in New Zealand. The first episode was a major success for BBC ONE in the UK when 10.5 million viewers tuned into watch The Doctor's return on 26 March. The 43% audience share dominated the British television schedule.

"Fans of the world's longest running sci-fi television series can look forward to 13 brand new episodes in the first series, and the welcome return of time-honoured favourites, Daleks and the Doctor's TARDIS."


Hopefully, the MipTV Convention http://www.miptv.com mentioned above
will result in more international sales for Doctor Who. Keep an eye
on the BBC Press Office http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice and C21
Media http://www.c21media.net over the next weeks - one or both will
report on any sales that occur. Current tally - UK, Canada, New
Zealand, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, and Thomson Airlines.
Doctor Who Confidential http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/confidential
on BBC Three adds a 3rd weekly broadcast this week - late Saturday
3:25AM. It already airs Saturdays and Sundays at 7:45PM.
ABC Australia http://www.abc.net.au/tv will fill out the hour that Doctor Who airs in with Very Little Britain, 15 minute portions of episodes of comedy Little Britain. Doctor Who is scheduled to begin in mid-May, day and time not yet announced. With Very Little Britain as part of the hour, it could indicate a later start time, as it is considered a fairly adult comedy. As of this writing ABC's advance listings go through 7 May - no new Who episodes on the schedule yet.
Six episode Radio drama "The Paradise Of Death" starring Jon
Pertwee
as Doctor Who will repeat weekly on BBC 7 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7
starting 24 April at 6PM and Midnight BST. Listeners in the UK can
get BBC 7 with digital radios or any digital TV setup. In and out of
the UK it can be heard through BBC 7's website with Windows Media
Player and RealPlayer, with listen again archives on RealPlayer.
MPT Maryland http://www.mpt.org indicates on their schedule that they will air the Key To Time stories starting this Saturday night. The last time these were on their schedule (September), they had to pull it at the last minute and go back to the start of the Patrick Troughton stories, as BBC Worldwide Americas http://www.bbcworldwideamericas.com was not allowing US Who affiliates to obtain additional stories to broadcast. As of this morning, The Ribos Operation is still in all TV listings. Crossing fingers for MPT. Though if they're now able to get Tom Baker stories again - what happened to the 23 Tom Baker stories before Key To Time?
Variations between UK and Canadian broadcast of "The End Of The
World": 1) Christopher Eccleston introduces the show for a second
week, with links probably recorded at the same time as the
Rose
links. 2) The clips from Rose that started the episode in
the UK
were omitted. 3) The "next week" sequence was omitted. 4) 4
commercial breaks (as expected). 5) Altered closing credits (as
expected). There were apparently clips from "Doctor Who
Confidential" running during the closing credits. There were no
music substitutions between the UK and Canadian broadcasts, for
those who worried about that matter.
Reminder to Canadian readers - BBC Kids http://www.bbckids.ca begins airing {p[Jon Pertwee}} stories this weekend. Late Saturdays and Sundays at 2AM EDT (11PM PDT). 3 to 4 episodes a weekend night. Tom Baker and Peter Davison stories continue to air late weeknights at the same time.
The new series section is being split this week. Stations in the
process of airing the stories right now will be in front, with
stations yet to begin and who have removed the show from the
schedule between seasons at the end of the column after stations
airing episodes from earlier eras.
Corrections and updates are welcome at thisweekindoctorwho-
owner@yahoogroups.com , TWIDW on AOL IM , and thebfe on Yahoo
Messenger. The listings:
BROADCASTS RELATED TO NEW SERIES:
New Series General Information:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/doctorwho
http://www.cbc.ca/doctorwho
http://www.gallifreyone.com
UK:
BBC One http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone
Saturday 7PM BST Doctor Who 1-04 Aliens of London
16:9 Widescreen Digital
14:9 Cropped Letterbox Analogue
Future Doctor Who Episodes:
23 April - 1-05 World War Three
30 April - 1-06 Dalek
7 May - 1-07 The Long Game
14 May - 1-08 Father's Day
21 May - 1-09 The Empty Child
28 May - 1-10 The Doctor Dances
4 June - 1-11 Boom Town
11 June - 1-12 "TBA"
18 June - 1-13 The Parting of the Ways
BBC Three http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree
Doctor Who Confidential http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/confidential/
Saturday & Sunday 7:45PM, Late Saturday 3:25AM BST DrWho
Confidential 1-04 "I Get A Side-Kick Out Of You"
Sunday 7PM BST Doctor Who 1-04 Aliens of London
16:9 Widescreen
Further Doctor Who Confidential Episodes:
23 April - 1-05 "Life On Earth"
30 April - 1-06 The Daleks
7 May - 1-07 The Dark Side
14 May - 1-08 "A Time And A Place"
21 May - 1-09 "FX"
28 May - 1-10 "The Weird Science Of Doctor Who"
4 June - 1-11 Unsung Heroes and Violent Death
11 June - 1-12 "The Cult Of Who"
18 June - 1-13 Finale
Doctor Who series repeats air Sundays 7PM after their BBC One
premieres.
BBC Online http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho
Doctor Who Confidential http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/confidential
1-01 "Back From The Future"
1-02 "Aliens: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
1-03 TARDIS Tales
1-04 "I Get A Side-Kick Out Of You" - online after BBC Three
premiere
Various Video Diaries and trailers.
BBC Radio Wales http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales
Monday 2 May - "Dr Who Back In Time" pt 3 (Dalek Nation)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/shows/doctorwhobackintime.shtml
CANADA:
CBC TV http://www.cbc.ca/television
http://www.cbc.ca/doctorwho
Tuesday 8PM (8:30PM Newfoundland) Doctor Who 1-03 "The Unquiet
Dead"
Aspect ratio unknown.
26 April - 1-04 Aliens of London
3 May - 1-05 World War Three
10 May - 1-06 Dalek
17 May - 1-07 The Long Game
24 May - 1-08 Father's Day
31 May - 1-09 The Empty Child
http://www.cbc.ca/planetofthedoctor
"The Planet Of The Doctor" exclusive 6 part CBC.CA documentary
Episode 1 online date TBA
OTHER TV/RADIO/INTERNET BROADCASTS:
UK:
BBC Online http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/classic.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/webcasts/realtime
"Real Time" - starring Colin Baker and the Cybermen. 6
episodes. The
Doctor and Evelyn Smythe research a temple that has been yanking
scientists out of time, bringing them face to face with the future
of the Cybermen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/webcasts/shada
Shada - starring Paul McGann and Lalla Ward. 6 episodes. A
retired
Time Lord in Cambridge needs the Doctor's help to recover a Time
Lord book before the corrupt scientist Skagra can find it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/webcasts/shalka
"The Scream Of The Shalka" - starring Richard E. Grant. 6
episode
story. The Shalka prepare to conquer the Earth from below. Can the
Doctor be convinced to save the day one last time?
BBC 7 http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7
"The Ghosts Of N-Space" - Sundays 6PM & Midnight BST from 24
April
UKTV Gold http://www.ukgold.tv http://www.onthebox.com/partner/otb
(All times 1 hour later on UKTV Gold + 1)
Saturday 7:05-9AM BST Meglos movie
Series 18, Episodes 5 through 8. Doctor: Tom Baker. Meglos steals the Doctor's identity for a big theft.
Sunday 7:05-9AM BST Full Circle movie
Series 18, Episodes 9 through 12. Doctor: Tom Baker. The Alzarians find their life going full circle. But what does that mean?
23 April State of Decay (7:05AM)
24 April Warriors' Gate (7AM)
30 April The Keeper of Traken (7AM)
1 May Logopolis (7AM)
7 May Castrovalva (7:05AM)
8 May Four To Doomsday (7:05AM)
14 May Kinda (7:05AM)
15 May The Visitation (7:05AM)
21 May Black Orchid (7AM)
22 May Earthshock (7AM)
28 May Time-Flight (7AM)
29 May Arc of Infinity (7AM)
AUSTRALIA:
ABC http://www.abc.net.au/tv
Thursday 6:03PM The Ribos Operation pt 4 of 4
Season 16, Episode 24. Doctor: Tom Baker.
The Graff Vynda-K hunts the Doctor, Romana, Garroff, and Unstoffe through the ice caves.
Monday 6:03PM The Pirate Planet pt 1 of 4
Tuesday 6:02PM The Pirate Planet pt 2 of 4
Wednesday 6:02PM The Pirate Planet pt 3 of 4

Season 16, Episodes 5 through 7. Doctor: Tom Baker.
A planet where it doesn't belong causes trouble for the Doctor, Romana, and K9.
25 April The Stones of Blood
2 May The Androids of Tara
CANADA:
BBC Kids http://www.bbckids.ca
Daily 2AM EDT (11PM PDT) - 2 episodes weekdays, full stories weekends
Wednesday Frontios pts 1+2 of 4
Thursday Frontios pts 3+4 of 4

Season 20, Episodes 7 through 10. Doctor: Peter Davison.
At the end of time, on a planet at the end of space, the grubby end of humanity seems near. But then the TARDIS lands. Will its crew be their saviours, or is it already too late?
Friday Planet of Fire pts 1+2 of 4
Season 21, Episodes 13 through 14. Doctor: Peter Davison.
Kamelion finds himself under an evil influence at the same time that Turlough is keeping secrets. The Doctor finds these distractions a problem. American student Peri Brown finds herself in the TARDIS.
Saturday Spearhead From Space all 4 eps BBC Kids premiere
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's life gets more complex when his old friend the Doctor reappears - with a new face and personality. Is this fanciful twit capable of helping stop an alien invasion? The Brigadier's mustache is dubious, but there's no time to get someone else.
Season 7, Episodes 1 through 4. Doctor: Jon Pertwee.
Sunday Doctor Who And The Silurians eps 1,2,3,4 BBC Kids premiere
Color-restored version. First time this version has aired on a Canadian station - SPACE ordered the Black & White version before this one became available in North America. The 3rd Doctor, Liz, and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart investigate power failures at an experimental underground Nuclear Plant. When the Doctor spots a dinosaur, things get more complex.
Season 7, Episodes 5 through 8. Doctor: Jon Pertwee.
Monday Planet of Fire pts 3+4 of 4
Season 21, Episodes 15 through 16. Doctor: Peter Davison.
Tuesday The Caves of Androzani pts 1+2 of 4
Season 21, Episodes 17 through 18. Doctor: Peter Davison.
The Doctor and Peri find terror and death sentences on Androzani Minor.
21 April Destiny of the Daleks
23 & 24 April Pre-empted by Hitch-hiker's Guide To The Galaxy
25 April City of Death
27 April The Creature from the Pit
29 April Nightmare of Eden
30 April Doctor Who And The Silurians eps 5,6,7 BBC Kids premiere
1 May Inferno eps 1,2,3 BBC Kids premiere
USA:
American Who http://www.americanwho.net
Current Episode:
http://www.interstellartransmissions.com/amwho/amwhomidmarch.mp3
Patrick Troughton tribute. Interviews with many of the people who
knew the actor who was the 2nd Doctor.
Upcoming Episode:
4/15 - Jessica Carney, 30 years after the passing of her grandfather
William Hartnell (last new show of season, reruns till September)
Sci-Fi Overdrive http://www.scifioverdrive.com
on Lifestyle Talk Radio (LTR) http://www.lifestyletalkradio.com
and Business Talk Radio (BTR) http://www.businesstalkradio.net
LTR Late Friday Midnight-2AM EDT (9-11PM PDT, 5-7AM BST, 2-4PM AEST)
Live LTR Stream http://www.warpradio.com/popTuner.asp?id=14175
BTR Late Sun/Early Mon 1-4AM EDT (10PM-1AM PDT, 6-9AM BST, 3-5PM
AEST)
Live BTR Stream http://www.warpradio.com/popTuner.asp?id=14085
Saturday 8-11PM EST (5-8PM PDT) http://www.krradio.com (repeat of
previous week's episode, online audio stream)
Hour 1 - News & Comment. Hour 2 - Andrew Chaikin, author, "A Man
on
the Moon", on the Apollo 13 mission (35 years ago this week).
Hour
3 - BTR only. Jacob McMurray, Sr Curator, Science Fiction Museum in
Seattle; and Arnold T. Blumberg, co-editor of "Howe's
Transcendental
Toybox", on the Doctor Who BBC PR debacle re: Christopher
Eccleston
not being in series 2.
Starz! Movie Pack - Mystery http://www.starz.com
"Doctor Who" 1996 TV Movie
Thursday 6:50AM EDT Eastern Feed / PDT Western Feed
Thursday 21 April 7:40AM EDT Eastern Feed / PDT Western Feed
The Master is given a lousy choice of bodies to steal after escaping
from the wounded Doctor. Stars Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, and
some random guy from Mad TV.
MPT Maryland http://www.mpt.org
analog 22, 67, 31, 28, 62, 36
digital 22-2 (42-2), 67-2 (29-2), 31-2 (44-2), 28-2 (56-2), 62-2 (28-2), 36-2 (54-2)
DC/Hagerstown, Baltimore DirecTV 22,980
Baltimore Dish 22,8736
Late Saturday 12:05-1:40AM EDT The Ribos Operation? movie
Season 16, Episodes 1 through 4. Doctor: Tom Baker.
The Doctor is given a lousy choice by the White Guardian.
23 April The Pirate Planet (12:05AM)
IPTV Iowa http://www.sffn.com/ http://www.iptv.org
analog 11, 32, 27, 12, 21, 24, 32, 36, 36
digital 11-2 (50-2), 32-2 (35-2), 27-2 (28-2), 45, 25, 18, 33, 35, 34
Des Moines DirecTV 11,474
Des Moines Dish 11,9116
Cedar Rapids DirecTV 12
Cedar Rapids Dish 12,9161
Omaha DirecTV 32
Omaha Dish 32,9146
Sioux City Dish 27,7195
Quad Cities DirecTV 36
Quad Cities Dish 36,7607 (not yet available)
Saturday 11:35PM CDT Mawdryn Undead pts 1+2
Season 20, Episodes 9 through 10. Doctor: Peter Davison.
Turlough is given a lousy choice by the Black Guardian.
23 April Mawdryn Undead pts 3+4
30 April Terminus pts 1+2
KUED/KUEW-DT/KUES-DT Salt Lake City/St. George/Richfield, UT
http://www.kued.org
analog 7
digital 7-1 (42-1), 18-1, 19-1
Salt Lake City DirecTV 7,982
Salt Lake City Dish 7,8536
Saturday 11:30PM MDT Kinda pt 2 of 4
Season 19, Episode 10. Doctor: Peter Davison. Tegan is given a lousy choice by the Mara.
23 April Kinda pt 3
30 April Kinda pt 4
Purchased New Series But Not Airing Yet:
Thomsonfly Airways http://www.thomson.co.uk
Rose on in-flight movie systems from 1 May
AUSTRALIA:
ABC http://www.abc.net.au/tv
Doctor Who premiere Mid-May.
16:9 Digital; Analogue Apsect ratio unknown.
NEW ZEALAND:
Prime TV http://www.primetv.co.nz http://nzdwfc.tetrap.com
Doctor Who premiere TBA.
NETHERLANDS:
Nederland 3 http://portal.omroep.nl/ned3
Doctor Who premiere 2006?
ITALY:
Jimmy http://www.jimmy140.it
Doctor Who premiere TBA.
Thanks for reading. Until next week, take care.
Doctor Who is a BBC Trademark. Copyright 2005.