Doctor Who '05 - perhaps October? (1 Viewer)

[Tony J Case]

I found this over on Outpost Gallifrey. Take this rumor as you will:


No mention anywhere if this is the R2 or R1 release. But since the BBC has shown that they can do simultaneous releases in both regions (the Lost in Time set), and the head of the R1 release has been heard to say that she wants to get the DVD out in the US as quickly as possible, this could be a very good sign for folks in America.

(And of course with rumors of the Beginnings boxed set around November, it's going to be a very merry christmas indeed)

 

[Jason Seaver]

Is this new series going to run on US TV before the DVD release? I know something akin to what happened with Red Dwarf 8 is too much to hope for (WENH in New Hampshire ran a marathon when only half the episodes had aired in the UK), but I'd think there would be some money to be had from Sci-Fi for it.

 

[Tony J Case]

So far the only broadcasters announced so far have been the BBC (of course), CBC in Canada and Prime TV in New Zealand. The US and Australian Broadcasters have yet to be announced - but it has been noted that PBS stations are rapidly losing the ability to show the 'classic' series of Doctor Who, and it's because the rights are tied into the new series.

They are not going to pull all rights to the classic Doctor Who series without a very good reason. So yes, Americans will see the show. It may not be the same day as the folks in Britain, Canada, or New Zealand (or, hopefully, Australian fans who are in the same boat as the Americans), but it will almost certainly be soon thereafter.

 

[Clay_E]

Last thing I heard was, apparently the NBC/Universal family were very interested in acquiring the new series for air on SciFi (or possibly Bravo), in a package which would also include broadcast windows for the original series as well.

Not sure if this is true or not - fingers crossed! I must say I'd have preferred a channel which would not feature commercial interruptions, but just so long as the series airs over here before too long (and the episodes aren't cut in any way), I'll be happy!

 

[David_Blackwell]

I hope the new series airs in the USA around the same time as in the UK. Can't wait for the DVDs of the new series. Now only if we could get a R1 release of the 1996 TV movie (with all of the extras from the R2 release).

 

[Tony J Case]

The release of the movie will probably never, ever happen. It's too 'small' of a release for universal to even consider, and of course no company will give up the rights to one of the shows willingly - even if it makes them no money in the meantime.

 

[Tony J Case]

Another tidbit from the UK about the series:



On that note, I saw the first episode last night - Oh dear lordy, the show was brilliant! Sure there were some dodgy moments of humor, but for the most part Rose was a great episode and a helluva start to the series.

 

[Malcolm Cleugh]

More good news is the extras for the DVD (rumoured year end boxset) are to be produced by the guys who do them for the original series DVDs. Was quoted by the DVD editor on the BBC Teletext service yesterday.

They have filmed loads of behind scenes stuff and interviews during filming. Hopefully these will be better than the standard gush piece.

 

[Rick P]

well, apparently SciFi has 'passed' on it.. but there is rumor that USA is considering it... (it was 'too family' for SciFi it seems).

 

[Howard Glenn]

I cant's wait to see the new season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


It's hard to believe after all these years we're being treated to brand new Who!!!!!!!!!...and for the first time ever in Widescreen!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


I was exteremly excited to hear Tom Baker talking about coming back as a new incarnation of the Master...of course this is not to be...but boy would that make for great t.v.!



America is a huge market, so hopefully they won't keep us waiting too long!



Howie

 

[Tony J Case]

Oh, here's one further bit of news on the set:


What Tardis packaging is, I couldnt begin to guess (A box set bigger on the inside than the out?) - but we're hearing rumors from several places now, so it looks like even if the US gets passed over for showing it, we'll get to see the new show by the end of the year.

And while there's no confirmation of this whatsoever, theres rumors for some sort of possible announcement about an American broadcaster in early April. Could there be hope on the horizon for the US?

 

[Tony J Case]

News! News! News!

NEW SERIES DVD RELEASES
DVD Release #1: May 16

Doctor Who is back. With his seemingly inexhaustible spirit of adventure, the Time Lord makes a welcome return, in his ninth incarnation, as he continues to travel space and time meeting friends and enemies, both old and new. Written by Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk, Bob And Rose, Second Coming, Casanova), the show stars Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. He is joined by Rose (Billie Piper), his new companion, who hopes to escape her unhappy life and prove her true worth. Contains three episodes. Rose - The Doctor and Rose meet and soon face trouble in the shape of the Autons. The End Of The World - The two travel to the year five billion where representatives from many different planets have gathered to commemorate the end of the world... The Unquiet Dead - Victorian Cardiff is their destination. Here they meet Charles Dickens as well as some spooky aliens.

DVD Release #2: June 13
Doctor Who is back. With his seemingly inexhaustible spirit of adventure, the Time Lord makes a welcome return, in his ninth incarnation, as he continues to travel space and time meeting friends and enemies, both old and new. Written by Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk, Bob And Rose, Second Coming, Casanova), the show stars Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. He is joined by Rose (Billie Piper), his new companion, who hopes to escape her unhappy life and prove her true worth. Contains three episodes: Aliens Of London, World War Three and Dalek.

These are presumably the bare bones releases that have been mentioned. Hopefuly with a date nailed down in the UK, that a US announcement is forthcoming.

For those of you keeping score at home, by May 16th, the series will be up to episode 8 and the 12th episode by the time the second disc is out. We're probably looking at mid july and early Aug for the release date of last couple of discs and the remaining 7 episodes.

 

[Deb Walsh]

If the show is passed by the networks, I'd be very surprised if WENH did not find some way to carry it. They've got a long history of going after shows that their core audience wants. When the BBC was doing the Tripods series back in the '80s, WENH was actually broadcasting it two full weeks in advance of the BBC. And they were the first US station to carry many of the Peter Davison Doctor Who serials. Channel 11 has got to be one of the primary things I miss about living outside Boston! :>

This week has featured a lot of UK television and radio activity surrounding the new Who debut. The new series starts tomorrow night. The long wait is finally over.

And based on some of the earlier packaging done on Who sets (VHS mostly) in the UK, I'd suspect that "TARDIS Packaging" means the discs will come in a TARDIS-shaped box or tin. The BBC has been very creative in some of its packaging with Doctor Who video and DVD releases - my bas-relief Cyberman tin is still one of the prides of my collection. :>

 

[andrew markworthy]

Something of an understatement. For weeks we've had programmes about the new series and last weekend one of the BBC channels ran an entire Dr Who evening with documentaries, etc. I can't escape the hype at work because a colleague in his spare time has been following the Dr Who film crews around (they have been filming the series a few miles from where I live and work) and reporting on the activities to a sci-fi magazine.

 

[Greig Forbes]

And after all the hype that seemed to go on forever, the show finally aired tonight and was...

..pretty great. Very enjoyable stuff for kids and grown-ups.

 

[PhilipG]

Yeah, I really enjoyed it too. It had its share of minor problems (visit some Doctor Who forums to laugh at how insanely nitpicky some fans can be) but nothing serious, and it was a gazillion times better than the 1996 McGann movie.

Loved the zippy incidental music too. The only serious issue I have with the new series is that self-contained 50min episodes don't allow for much depth. But maybe we'll get some multi-parters at some point in the future.

 

[andrew markworthy]

We do. Regard last night's episode as simply the scene-setter. The inside information is that some of the later episodes are a lot better and with some great cliff-hangers.

Things I liked in the new series: a much-needed sense of humour; hints that the Dr is fallible and that the good/evil divide isn't going to be the simplistic black/white issue is often was in earlier series; much better special effects; the episode wasn't set in a gravel pit in Essex. Things I didn't like: not v. keen on the new assistant (though I should add that I've never really got over Elisabeth Sladen's departure :frowning: - heck, she could make John Pertwee hamming it up bearable).

 

[PhilipG]

What are you talking about - Billie Piper was great! Best companion in ages, though admittedly that's not saying much!

 

[andrew markworthy]

Alas, my heart belongs to Elisabeth.

 

[DavidofLondon]

Well at least the best companion in the last 9 years ....

Actually I quite liked Billie thought she showed the right balance of ability to convincingly say "What is it Doctor" without sounding like an idiot.

Also doesn't look like their planning on making her a screamer. Which is nice I don't think a modern audience would really find the sort of screamers they used to put in the TARDIS believable.

Spotted one nasty continuity error while watching the show. When the Doctor and Billie run across the bridge we see them with the camera on their left. To their right are two London Buses. Cut to a camera on their right looking across the road at them. The buses have vanished. Cust back to the camera on their left and mysteriously the buses are back ... Only saw that because in the documentary on BBC3 we saw how much the director wanted to get a bus in shot saw when looking at the bus I thought how odd it should appear and disappear like that.