Sci-fans.com Presents
Doctor Who: The TV Series (2005 to ?)
What this country really needs, right now, is a Doctor
Upcoming episodes showing on the Sci-Fi Channel:08/03/2007 9pm & 11pm (SEASON 3) EVOLUTION OF THE DALEKS - PT 2 Teaser & clip 08/10/2007 8pm & 11pm (SEASON 3) THE LAZARUS EXPERIMENT Lazarus BBC ad 08/17/2007 DOCTOR WHO (SEASON 1) marathon: 08:00 AM ROSE 09:00 AM ALIENS OF LONDON - PT 1 10:00 AM WORLD WAR THREE - PT 2 11:00 AM THE EMPTY CHILD - PT 1 12:00 PM THE DOCTOR DANCES - PT 2 01:00 PM BOOM TOWN 08/17/2007 8pm & 1am (SEASON 3) 42 (in space, falling into the Sun) 08/24/2007 8pm & 1am (SEASON 3) HUMAN NATURE - PT 1 Completely human, with no memory 08/31/2007 (no episode due to Stargate SG-1 marathon) 09/07/2007 8pm & 1am (SEASON 3) THE FAMILY OF BLOOD - PT 2 What happens next? 09/14/2007 8pm & 1am (SEASON 3) BLINK BBC promo 09/21/2007 8pm & 1am (SEASON 3) UTOPIA Not even Time Lords have come this far 09/28/2007 8pm & 1am (SEASON 3) THE SOUND OF DRUMS - PT 1 Master of the universe --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Daleks in Manhattan (click twice to play trailers) And then this, continued in part 2"What do you mean, creatures?" "I am your future" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3rd Season Episodes (original BBC broadcast dates)* The Runaway Bride
(can the Doctor get Donna to the church on time while dealing with Santa robots, an evil Empress and draining the Thames River dry? It's Christmas, 2006. As if downtown holiday shopping wasn't already crazy; tanks a lot). 65 tons of fun when Mr. Saxon orders them to fire on the alian spaceship! And you won't believe the sequel, coming next Christmas! Video ad for this episode
* Smith and Jones 31 March 2007
(Judoon on the Moon, the new Doctor gets a new companion). Wouldn't it be weird if you worked in a hospital and one day 2-legged rhinos transported the entire hospital to the Moon with you in it? Or are they the good guys? And watch out for the nice lady who wants your blood. Season 3 trailer. Radio Times calls them Brute Force, followed next issue by "Hell's Angels" (Blink)
* The Shakespeare Code 7 April 2007
(The play's the thing when the Tardis goes back to the 16th century) Is it safe? What if I step on a butterfly and change the human race? "Don't step on any butterflies then."
* Gridlock 14 April 2007
(Caught in a jam in New York of the far future, due to an invasion of giant crabs). The Doctor wants a look at the face of Boe, then Martha is abducted
*Daleks in Manhattan 21 April 2007
(New York invaded in 1930s, Orson Welles may decide to fictionalize it. By the by, Hooverville was actually built & filmed in Wales, but Daleks inside the Empire State Building were filmed on location. They've always looked like Art Deco monsters anyway). The American part of the cast includes Ryan Carnes (Desperate Housewives) as one of the Pig-men. Part 1 teaser & clip teasing part 2
* Evolution of the Daleks
(28 April 2007, the best humanoid monsters are CGI). What is it?
* The Lazarus Experiment (5 May 2007, didn't this mad scientist see The Fly?)
No episode broadcast 12 May due to the Eurovision Song Contest. We hope you'll support Scooch in their bid for Eurovision glory, and appreciate that seven days is only a handfull of heartbeats to a Time Lord. After some severe spreadsheet shuffling in Scheduling (try saying that fast) it's been decided that an early start for episode seven, Chris Chibnall's 42, wasn't a good idea.
* 42
(19 May 2007, The Doctor has 42 minutes to fix a starship falling into the Sun) See note at bottom of page.
* Human Nature (26 May 2007, how about a little fire, Scarecrow?)
The Doctor becomes fully human (part 1 of 2), pay attention to instruction 23. Story is based on Paul Cornell's highly acclaimed novel, Human Nature, originally published in May 1995. It was voted "Best Doctor Who Book Ever" by readers of Doctor Who Magazine.
* The Family of Blood
(2 June 2007, Part 2: the army of evil scarecrows advance on the children and The Family captures the Tardis)
*Blink (9 June 2007)
"Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away... Good luck." Who and company are sent decades back in time and are trapped in the past. Who sends notes to a Nancy Drew-type girl in our present time using photos, notes, even a personal appeal as an "Easter Egg" on a DVD she's playing. She and a friend must solve the mystery and rescue him from decades in the past. Not all the angel statues you see are created by a stone carver, some are live and deadly fallen angels as old as time. BBC promo. This episode adapted from a story you can read online in the Doctor Who Annual. Isn't this kind of how "Back To The Future 2" ended?
By the way, there is no truth to the rumor that Sally Sparrow had an ancestor named Jack Sparrow
*Utopia (16 June 2007)
"The call came from across the stars...Come To Utopia." In the distant future, survivors of the human race are scattered across the universe. "Not even Time Lords have come this far. We should leave." Well, maybe one other Time Lord has made it this far into the future. He likes to be called...The Master. Calling Captain Jack! This episode was actually continued from the TV series Torchwood, as you can see from this clip from "Torchwood: End Of Days."
* The Sound of Drums (23 June 2007)
The Master, having come to present-time Earth in the stolen Tardis (stranding the others in Utopia), decides to become Prime Minister. Today Britain, tomorrow, the world...you could say he's the perfect Anglo Saxon. Don't believe me? Check out his election website and vote for him. Or else. Still not sure? Perhaps this FAQ will tell you what you want to hear. Can they get the Tardis back in time to stop the Valiant and an invasion fleet of 6 billion robotic clones from space after Air Force One lands in London? The drum beat has started. Then, The Master orders the global killing to begin. If only the Doctor can MacGyver something like a new sonic screwdriver out of parts from Captain Jack's computer, there might be a chance (part 1 of 2) Here come the drums
* Last of the Time Lords (30 June 2007)
It is one year later. The Master controls Unit along with the rest of the world, if only Martha Jones with Torchwood can rescue Jack and The Doctor before she's herself captured... The drums. The call to war. Can't you hear it? A space drone warns all other civilizations to stay away because Sol 3 is now entering terminal extinction; planet Earth is closed
* Voyage Of The Damned (25 December 2007)
Hold on for an adventure of titanic proportions! Mr. Smith, meet Captain Smith (played by popular BBC actor Geoffrey Palmer). This story is practically unsinkable. The Doctor's companion in the episode will be Kylie Minogue, who plays Astrid, a waitress on The Titanic. Here's a photo of them. Note: the Doctor's companion from last Christmas, Donna, will not be seen until the final 30 seconds of this episode, probably promoting the next episode, "Planet Of The Ood."
* Planet of the Ood (Spring 2008). They're back - but will they be beastly? In Planet of the Ood, the Doctor and his new companion Donna will travel to a weird and wonderful alien planet, where she will meet the mysterious race for the first time. The episode will allow viewers to discover the origins of The Ood and why they behave the way they do – but will the Doctor be their friend or foe?
"We're delighted The Ood are making a welcome return to Doctor Who," said lead writer and Exec. Producer Russell T Davies. "They were last seen falling into a black hole back in Series Two and we think it's only fair for the viewers to find out what the Ood have to say for themselves! Donna is certainly in for a shock." It's a good thing the Doctor tried to get Donna to the church on time last December, or she would never have come on board the Tardis again this time. And yes, she will be the new companion for all 13 episodes in 2008. Guess married life didn't work out too well (specially since her not-so-loving groom became alien spider food). "I had a blast last Christmas and look forward to travelling again through time and space with that nice man from Gallifrey." Freema Agyeman who has played Martha Jones, The Doctor's companion throughout the critically acclaimed third series, will return to the show to join The Doctor and Donna mid series. "She'll actually be in a relationship by that point, so that part of her soul is fulfilled, so I think she'll look at her relationship with the Doctor with fresh eyes - older and much, much wiser. The last time they will have seen one another is after she's just saved the world, so she went out on a high. And then they meet up again... so I imagine that they'll be sizing each other up a bit!" Freema is also set to join the cast of Torchwood, where she will continue to play the character in three new episodes before returning to Doctor Who.
There have been many companions for the Doctor before,
3 died (their characters anyway) and one appeared topless with a dalek on the second page of London's newspaper in real life.
Trailer for Season 3 (Real Audio RAM) "Coming soon to BBC One"
Teaser for episode 5 of the animated series
Torchwood, a Doctor Who spinoff series, started on BBC in 2006 starring John Barrowman as his Doctor Who character Captain Jack. It is an adventure TV-series with a bit darker and more violent matrix. Montage of Torchwood TV series ads, coming soon to America:
BBC America will broadcast Torchwood in the U.S. on Saturdays, the same day they show "classic" episodes of Doctor Who. So far there are no plans to broadcast it on the SCIFI channel in the U.S."The rift has been opened - and time is splintering all over the world. As events spiral out of control, the Torchwood team are faced with fragments of their past - and terrifying visions of their future. Can Captain Jack save the world?"
Not to mention dealing with a Cyberwomen, and Mary the Alien
Season 4 of Doctor Who will be broadcast on BBC starting March, 2008
Please note:
if you are outside the United Kingdom, you may not be able to play Doctor Who teasers or trailers, and certainly not to link to them, so play them only in their own pages.Doctor Who (1996)
In this telefilm Americanization of the long-running British series Doctor Who, an alien time-traveler known as The Doctor chases an evil Time Lord called The Master to 1999 San Francisco — where (and when) the archfiend plans to plunge the Earth into the heart of a black hole. The Doctor is wounded by a street gang and taken to a hospital, where the surgeon is perplexed by his two hearts.
Paul McGann (Alien 3), Eric Roberts (Purgatory, SCI FI Pictures' Mindstorm) and Daphne Ashbrook (JAG) star.
It was hoped that this movie would lead to a new tv or movie Dr. Who series on FOX, but didn't. The current head of tv programming for the BBC says she would like to see Dr. Who back in production as soon as "legal" problems are resolved (BBC owns all rights to the Dr. Who trademarks but not individual stories that they might want to refilm, rather than all-new storylines).At this time, all previous Dr. Who series (1963-89) are seen in the USA only on BBC America
The Doctor meets Amazing Grace in the operating room
Behind the scenes of the 1996 movie
The Doctor Who movie airs occasionally on the SciFi ChannelSeason One trailers Previous broadcasts 03/17/2006 9pm & 12am ROSE (1st episode of new series, starring Chris Eccleston) #101 03/19/2006 11:00 PM ROSE (wouldn't it be weird if mannequins come to life after hours?) 03/24/2006 08:00 PM ROSE 03/24/2006 9pm & 12am THE END OF THE WORLD #102 (murder in the future) 03/26/2006 12:00 AM THE END OF THE WORLD 03/31/2006 9pm & 12am THE UNQUIET DEAD #103 (Victorian zombies) 04/02/2006 11:00 PM ALIENS OF LONDON #104 - PT 1 04/07/2006 9pm & 3am WORLD WAR THREE - PT 2 04/09/2006 11:00 PM WORLD WAR THREE #105 - PT 2 04/14/2006 9pm & 12am DALEK (the new Doctor encounters a ruthless old enemy) 04/16/2006 11:00 PM DALEK #106 04/21/2006 9pm & 12am THE LONG GAME 04/23/2006 11:00 PM THE LONG GAME #107 04/28/2006 9pm & 12am FATHER'S DAY 04/30/2006 11:00 PM FATHER'S DAY (meet the Reapers) #108 05/05/2006 9pm & 12am THE EMPTY CHILD - PT 1 05/07/2006 11:00 PM THE EMPTY CHILD #109 - PT 1 (he could wish you into the cornfield) 05/12/2006 9pm & 12am THE DOCTOR DANCES - PT 2 05/14/2006 11:00 PM THE DOCTOR DANCES #110 - PT 2 (the zombie army is on the move) 05/19/2006 9pm & 12am BOOM TOWN 05/21/2006 12:00 AM BOOM TOWN #111 (no episode 5/26 due to a Godzilla movie marathon) 06/02/2006 9pm & 12am BAD WOLF #112 (part 1, you are the weakest link. You will be exterminated) 06/04/2006 11:00 PM BAD WOLF - PT 1 06/09/2006 9pm & 12am PARTING OF THE WAYS #113 (part 2, the Dalek mother ship reaches Earth and attacks) 06/11/2006 11:00 PM THE PARTING OF THE WAYS - PT 2 06/16/2006 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 PM ALIENS OF LONDON - PT 1 09:00 PM WORLD WAR THREE - PT 2 10:00 PM DALEK 11:00 PM THE LONG GAME 12:00 AM ALIENS OF LONDON - PT 1 01:00 AM WORLD WAR THREE - PT 2 02:00 AM DALEK 06/25/2006 11:00 PM FATHER'S DAY 07/05/2006 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM ROSE 09:00 AM THE END OF THE WORLD 10:00 AM THE UNQUIET DEAD 11:00 AM ALIENS OF LONDON - PT 1 12:00 PM WORLD WAR THREE - PT 2 01:00 PM DALEK 02:00 PM THE LONG GAME 03:00 PM FATHER'S DAY 07/16/2006 11:00 PM THE EMPTY CHILD - PT 1 07/23/2006 11:00 PM THE DOCTOR DANCES - PT 2 09/29/2006 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM DALEK 09:00 AM THE LONG GAME 10:00 AM FATHER'S DAY 11:00 AM THE EMPTY CHILD - PT 1 12:00 PM THE DOCTOR DANCES - PT 2 01:00 PM BOOM TOWN 02:00 PM BAD WOLF - PT 1 03:00 PM THE PARTING OF THE WAYS - PT 2 8pm & 10:30 The Christmas Invasion #200 (Season 2, episode 1) 9:30 & 12am New Earth #201 10/06/2006 8pm & 1am TOOTH AND CLAW #202 (Victorian werewolves of London) 10/13/2006 8pm & 12am SCHOOL REUNION #203 (K-9 vs. gargoyles) 10/20/2006 8pm & 12am THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE #204 (it has a killer smile) 10/27/2006 8pm & 12am RISE OF THE CYBERMEN #205 - PT 1 11/03/2006 8pm & 12am THE AGE OF STEEL #206 - PT 2 (resistance is futile) 11/10/2006 8pm & 12am THE IDIOT'S LANTERN #207 (it's 1953 and you need a TV) 11/17/2006 8pm & 12am THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET #208 (the ultimate evil is released from the pit) Part 1 11/30/2006 DOCTOR WHO (season 1) marathon: 08:00 AM ROSE 09:00 AM THE END OF THE WORLD 10:00 AM THE UNQUIET DEAD 11:00 AM ALIENS OF LONDON - PT 1 12:00 PM WORLD WAR THREE - PT 2 01:00 PM DALEK 02:00 PM THE LONG GAME 03:00 PM FATHER'S DAY 12/01/2006 8pm & 12am THE SATAN PIT #209 (the Beast is loose) Part 2 12/08/2006 8pm & 12am LOVE AND MONSTERS #210 (and you thought Spawn was scary) 12/15/2006 8pm & 12am FEAR HER #211 12/22/2006 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE 09:00 AM RISE OF THE CYBERMEN - PT 1 10:00 AM THE AGE OF STEEL - PT 2 11:00 AM THE IDIOT'S LANTERN 12:00 PM THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET 01:00 PM THE SATAN PIT 02:00 PM LOVE AND MONSTERS 03:00 PM FEAR HER 12/22/2006 8pm & 11pm ARMY OF GHOSTS #212 (special glasses prove that They Live) 12/22/2006 9pm & 12am DOOMSDAY #213 (last of 2nd new season, say goodbye to Rose Tyler) 12/25/2006 03:00 PM CHRISTMAS INVASION 01/12/2007 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM NEW EARTH 09:00 AM TOOTH AND CLAW 10:00 AM SCHOOL REUNION 11:00 AM THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE 12:00 PM RISE OF THE CYBERMEN - PT 1 01:00 PM THE AGE OF STEEL - PT 2 02:00 PM ARMY OF GHOSTS 03:00 PM DOOMSDAY (no broadcasts scheduled for February or April) 03/27/2007 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM THE EMPTY CHILD - PT 1 09:30 AM THE DOCTOR DANCES - PT 2 10:30 AM BOOM TOWN 11:30 AM BAD WOLF - PT 1 12:30 PM THE PARTING OF THE WAYS - PT 2 01:30 PM CHRISTMAS INVASION 03:00 PM NEW EARTH 05/30/2007 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM TOOTH AND CLAW 09:00 AM SCHOOL REUNION 10:00 AM THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE 11:00 AM RISE OF THE CYBERMEN - PT 1 12:00 PM THE AGE OF STEEL - PT 2 01:00 PM THE IDIOT'S LANTERN 02:00 PM THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET 03:00 PM THE SATAN PIT 06/08/2007 DOCTOR WHO marathon: 08:00 AM LOVE AND MONSTERS 09:00 AM FEAR HER 10:00 AM ARMY OF GHOSTS 11:00 AM DOOMSDAY 12:00 PM NEW EARTH 01:00 PM TOOTH AND CLAW 02:00 PM SCHOOL REUNION 03:00 PM THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE 07/06/2007 DOCTOR WHO (SEASON 2) marathon: 08:00 AM RISE OF THE CYBERMEN - PT 1 09:00 AM THE AGE OF STEEL - PT 2 10:00 AM THE IMPOSSIBLE PLANET 11:00 AM THE SATAN PIT 12:00 PM LOVE AND MONSTERS 01:00 PM FEAR HER 02:00 PM ARMY OF GHOSTS 03:00 PM DOOMSDAY 08pm & 11:30 (new SEASON 3) THE RUNAWAY BRIDE #214 ad for episode 09:30 & 1am SMITH AND JONES #301 ad for episode 07/13/2007 9pm & 11pm SHAKESPEARE CODE (boil, boil, & trouble with real witches) Shakespeare Code ad trailer 07/20/2007 9pm & 11pm GRIDLOCK Gridlock trailer 07/27/2007 9pm & 11pm (SEASON 3) DALEKS IN MANHATTAN - PT 1 Teaser & clip, it helps to have a human traitor --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Series 2 trailer (click twice to play trailers) Season 3 trailers
The episodes currently showing on the SCIFI channel aired 2005-2007 in England (the doctor dies in #13, but then regenerates for the 9th time)
Doctor Who first appeared 11-23-63 and ran 695 episodes until the last regular episode 12-6-89. The first six seasons were b/w, then went to color (or colour) with season seven in 1970. After the last episode in 1989, the Doctor did not appear again until a joint US-British TV-movie in May of 1996 intended to launch a new series on FOX that never materialized. The new movie was set three years in the future, on the eve of the new millennium, 12-30-99, which the evil Master plans to make quite memorable for Earth.
Doctor Who was first created by Sydney Newman, new head of drama for BBC and previous co-creator of The Avengers for British ABC-TV (no relation to the American Broadcasting Company, though ABC in America did broadcast the Avengers in the US). He wanted a children’s show that would be educational, so all history portrayed in episodes had to be accurate and the science fiction had to be based on actual science. He also wanted no “bug-eyed monsters,” so the Daleks were created – an alien lifeform enclosed inside mobile high-tech cyber-armor. The first of eight Doctors (William Hartnell) was a rather forbidding, grouchy Edwardian eccentric, who takes his granddaughter and her two teachers to “100,000 BC” where stone age tribes are dealing with the discovery of fire in a 5-episode story.
Next came the 7-episode story “The Daleks” aka “The Mutants,” later remade as a feature film starring Peter Cushing of Star Wars, who also starred in a 1966 feature film sequel “Daleks, Invasion Earth 2150,” released in the U.S. as simply “Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.” since Americans had not seen the TV-series. The Daleks, or Dals, were mutants from a nuclear war fighting the physically perfect Thals on the planet Skaro and determined to wipe out all life forms accept themselves, “Exterminate!” Later a second, contradictory history of the Daleks was created, in which they had been created by a mad scientist named Davros who turned them on his own people after the Doctor went back in time and convinced the Skaro government to end Davros’ evil experiments because the Daleks would one day take over the universe and wipe out all life (Doctor Who was only partially successful, wiping out most but not all of the Daleks as they were being created). Davros designed the Daleks to be motivated by hate without conscience, realizing too late that they would eventually consider Davros himself to be an inferior life form and kill him. The first version of the Daleks seems to have been inspired by the H G Wells story The Time Machine (without the cannibalism), while the second version was eventually copied as the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica (1970s version).
The Doctor himself had a rocky relationship with his home planet of Gallifrey, located in the constellation of Kasterborns. The Gallifreyans discovered time travel using a device called TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), and made many other scientific discoveries, which they gave to a developing civilization on planet Minyos. But the Minyans used the knowledge to destroy each other in nuclear wars, so the Time Lords of Gallifrey instituted a strict hands-off policy as observers of other civilizations, something like Star Trek’s “Prime Directive.” A few Time Lords disagreed and became renegades: K’Anpo, who lived on Earth as a Tibetan monk; Drax, who used his knowledge to build a supercomputer on another planet; the evil and power-mad Master; and The Doctor, who rejected the non-intervention laws and believed the Time Lords “should use their powers to right the injustices in the Universe.”
To do this, he stole an old TARDIS type 40, Mark I model, intended to house a team of scientists to survey distant galaxies before the non-intervention laws. The TARDIS has a chameleon circuit which surveys the landscape and alters the exterior to resemble surroundings. Since the first Doctor landed in 1963 London, it made the TARDIS look like a British Metropolitan Telephone Box. But then the chameleon circuit shorted out, locking the Doctor’s TARDIS in this external image permenantly. The first British Police Telephone Box was brought over from America in 1929, and by 1930 they were being built in London. By 1953, there were 685 of them, but they were phased out starting in 1969. They were 2.7362 meters high (over 8 feet) to the top of the flashing light, and large enough inside to house both a free public phone and a small lock-up for criminals.The TARDIS, on the other hand, is huge inside due to the fact that it is in another dimension. The rooms inside include a full laboratory and costumes for various time periods of various planets (though the Doctor’s Earth clothes did not seem designed to blend in with a crowd). The TARDIS computer is tuned to the Doctor’s brainwaves so that he can summon it at will. The sign on the outside reads, “Police Telephone. Free For Use Of Public. Advice And Assistance Obtainable Immediately. Officers & Cars Respond To Urgent Calls. Pull To Open.”
The TARDIS drive system makes it dematerialize from the real universe and reassemble in the time vortex of the fifth dimension for travel to any time and place. The interior of the TARDIS looked roughly the same throughout the BBC TV-series, but was completely redone for the 1996 movie to look like something designed by Jules Verne. As a live-action TV-series, Doctor Who used models only occasionally, for an alien spaceship or the surface of a planet being landed on, far less than with a TV-series like Thunderbirds.But is it art? When William Hartnell became too ill to continue working in a TV-series, he was replaced by actor Patrick Troughton and it was explained that Gallifreyans can regenerate up to 12 times, changing appearance and personality. Troughton was eventually regenerated into the flamboyant Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, the introspective Peter Davison, the brash Colin Baker, and the final original Doctor Who, Sylvester McCoy (transforming at the start of the 1996 movie into Paul McGann).
(yes that is John Cleese in a cameo role)
The Doctor was eventually arrested and returned to Gallifrey for meddling in time. The prosecutor wanted him killed by dematerialization, but instead he was banished to 20th Century London, and the TARDIS dematerialization circuit shut off. Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stowart, with whom the Doctor had worked before, hired him to the new United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT) and assigned him the name Doctor John Smith. The Doctor was eventually forgiven (after a black hole endangered Gallifrey and the Doctor returned to save the day), and the Time Lords created a secret organization on Gallifrey called the Celestial Intervention Agency (CIA).
The Doctor used a lot of gadgets over the years but his most useful was something he called the Sonic Screwdriver (the actual Gallifreyan word doesn’t translate). It is actually a multifunction tool that works by generating ultrasonic impulses. The resulting vibrations can manipulate any mechanical device, including locks.
The Daleks seemed like the ultimate threat to the universe, but it turned out that they had an equally-matched enemy that they had not been able to defeat for centuries – the Movellans. Like the Daleks, the Movellans were robots with no emotions or morality, but they were built to resemble beautiful women, using ten-thousand million artificial nerves in order to duplicate every human bodily function. This new mechanical android race was later copied for the 2003 remake of “Battlestar Galactica,” in which the robotic Cylons were replaced by beautiful killer androids. Like the Daleks, the Movellans had originally been created by humanoids then got out of control, like the androids in Westworld.
The Doctor Who TV-series lasted 26 years, but even the BBC pays attention to ratings. In 1979, the series had 14,500,000 viewers for “City Of Death,” reaching 16,100,000 by episode four. But by season 26, there were only about three million viewers, and the series was cancelled. There have been rumors since then, and even Steven Spielberg was said to be interested at one point. In 1996, Rupert Murdock’s FOX network aired a new Doctor Who movie made by BBC at a cost of $3,000,000. It had 9,000,000 viewers in Britain but FOX failed to order a follow-up TV-series for America, and BBC did not made any either, though rumors of a new TV-series continue and the head of BBC programs says she is a Doctor Who fan. Reruns of Doctor Who episodes air on BBC-America, if you can find one of the few cable companies that carry it. The current BBC series started in 2005 and reruns on the SCIFI channel in America. It averages around 6,000,000 viewers in Britain.
Doctor Who is available on video, on DVD
And whilst you're there, don't forget to pick up a Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyDoctor Who was originally created as a historically educational TV-series. This American copy, 21 hour-episodes on NBC 10/82 to 7/83, actually stayed more true to that original premise but failed to attract enough of an audience for a second season. Phineas Bogg (Jon-Erik Hexum) is a time traveler sent to Earth to correct the time stream. But his time travel device (disguised to look like a pocket watch) malfunctions, and he crashes into the Manhattan bedroom of Jeffrey Jones (Meeno Peluce). Jeffrey’s dog destroys Bogg’s instruction book, and he remembers almost nothing about Earth history, so he doesn’t know what’s wrong in order to correct it. Fortunately, Jeffrey is a history buff, so together they help Lewis & Clark, prevent Gen. MacArthur from getting killed in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, make sure baby Moses doesn’t drown, suggest to the Wright Brothers that they build a flying machine, prevent Teddy Roosevelt’s assassination, etc. Voyagers (1982-83)
Eventually, like Doctor Who, Bogg is arrested and sent back to his home planet for trial (this time for making his identity known to Jeffrey and taking him along on adventures). At the end of each episode, Jeffrey would suggest that viewers go to the public library to learn about the time period visited that week. Like Who, one storyline was devoted to Marco Polo, and like the earlier American TV-series Time Tunnel, there was an episode in which they ended up on the Titanic. The final episode was “Arthur Conan Doyle & Nellie Bly.”
The following year Jon-Erik Hexum starred in the detective series “Cover Up” on CBS, but nobody impressed on him that a gun loaded with blanks (wax bullets fired by gunpowder) can be lethal at close range. He was playing Russian Roulette with one when it went off, the wax bullet killing him instantly. Cover Up co-starred Jennifer O’Neill, who told Focus On The Family that she had nine miscarriages after getting an abortion, and has become a pro-life activist. If I run across any other tragic stuff about famous people so the rest of us can feel better about our insignificant little lives, I’ll be sure to post it.
Where would you travel in the TARDIS?
Click here to hear Dr. Who movie themesong againOr here for the Dr. Who tv-series themesong
Mrs. Peel, we're needed - The Avengers
This website has been approved by the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), not to be confused with the United Network Command for Law Enforcement (UNCLE)
Official website in the US ... Episode guide (starting in 2005, episode description & cast)
SciFi Channel U.K. does not have Doctor Who
But the BBC website has one even better, as well as one for the classic Doctor Who series
Gallery of all 9 Doctors, companions, & monsters
Inside the Tardis
Episode guide (1963-96)
Episode guide for 2005, for 2006, for 2007 (with audio and video. Note to U.S. visitors: clips and trailers will play only on each episode's page, do not attempt to link to the videoclip as they will not play off of the BBC website)
Online Dr. Who webcast: Shada by Douglas Adams: The answer to the ultimate question to life, the universe and everything, is 42. Episode One
Who News (BBC)
Listen to the new Blake's 7 radio series online, 3 new broadcasts per week from BritainTom Baker as Puddleglum resists the evil power of the Green Witch in
Chronicles Of Narnia part 4: The Silver Chair (1990, BBC)
This season's notes from BBC.com:
* Landing the titular role on Doctor Who has made David Tennant a household name around the world, but many fans also associate him with another role: Barty Crouch Junior in the big-screen blockbuster Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Then in 1996, when he was just 25, Tennant joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. His turn as Touchstone in As You Like It was praised as the most memorable in years. He was also applauded for his Jack Lane in The Herbal Bed, his leading role in Romeo and Juliet, and his portrayals of Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors (for which he received a a 2000 Ian Charleson Award nomination for Best classical actor under 30) and Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals. Tennant is now a respected classical stage actor and has added to his awards with the 2005 Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland Best Male Performance, as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger; a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award nomination for Best Actor for Lobby Hero; and a Theatre Management Association Best Actor Award for The Glass Menagerie. He also appeared in a number of British films and co-starred in BBC4's acclaimed live telefilm of The Quatermass Experiment in April 2005. And his Casanova was a triumph, described by the Observer as "a perfect fusion of Brad Pitt and Michael Palin"
* BILLIE PIPER (Rose Tyler) was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, in the West of England, on September 22, 1982. With her first release, "Because We Want To," in 1998, the 15-year-old Piper became the youngest solo artist to debut at #1 in the U.K. singles charts. The follow-up single, "Girlfriend," also shot to #1, making Piper the first U.K. female solo artist to have two #1 hits in the same year since Cilla Black in 1964. Piper's first album, Honey to the B, was released in 1998; it quickly went platinum and earned her the nickname "Pop Princess." More recently, Piper has forged a career as an actress and won acclaim for her roles in the BBC One productions Canterbury Tales (a modern adaptation of "The Miller's Tale") and Bella and the Boys. She also played the part of Hero in the BBC's 2005 reworking of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. In 2004, she played her first leading role in a feature, The Calcium Kid, opposite Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean). The following year, she appeared in the horror film Spirit Trap, with Dougray Scott and Emilia Fox.
* JOHN BARROWMAN (Captain Jack) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but was raised in Joliet, Ill. Among Barrowman's many theater credits are A Few Good Men, Love's Labour's Lost, Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard, Miss Saigon and The Phantom of the Opera. Barrowman can soon be seen in The Producers: The Movie Musical (2005). After a season on Doctor Who, he will soon be playing Captain Jack in Torchwood in 2006.
* For filming of Runaway Bride, Catherine Tate had to use assumed name while staying in hotels near location filming as she is well known as the star of BBC's comedy program The Catherine Tate Show and Wild West
* In the episode "Smith & Jones" you may notice a poster on the wall that reads, "Vote Saxon," a clue to the final 2-part episode of the season. The Doctor first used the pseudonym John Smith in The Wheel in Space and has adopted it occasionally ever since. When he was shot in the 1996 movie, his rescuer didn't know his name and put John Smith on the ambulance form. However, the name was first heard in the series in the first ever episode, An Unearthly Child - popular beat combo John Smith and the Common Men could be heard playing on the radio. The actress who plays the vampire lady was herself a victim in a previous Doctor Who episode: Anne Reid appeared in the 1989 story The Curse of Fenric; she played the ill-fated Nurse Crane, who had the blood sucked out of her!
* 42, according to The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything. Douglas Adams, the author, was both a writer and script editor on the classic series of Doctor Who. 42 minutes is the approximate length of a standard episode of Doctor Who (minus titles and credits). 42 is the age that Russell T Davies reached when Series 1 of Doctor Who began in 2005. The first Doctor Who story that current Director Graham Harper worked on was nearly 42 years ago, when he was a floor assistant on The Power of the Daleks. 42 was the age at which Elvis Presley died. 42 minutes was the length of The Beatles' last live gig, performed on the roof of their Apple Records HQ. This episode's premier in Britain was pushed back one week for coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest.
* "Allons-y!", a phrase much favoured by the Doctor of late, is French for "Let's go!" Actress Adjoa Andoh (Francine Jones) first appeared in Doctor Who under heavy make-up as the chief Cat Nun, Sister Jatt in New Earth.
* Mark Gatiss, who played Dr. Lazarus, has been a fan of Doctor Who all his life. He wrote The Unquiet Dead and The Idiot's Lantern, as well as a number of other Doctor Who books and audio adventures.
* On average, the Empire State Building is struck by lightning a hundred times each year. Due to efficient lighting conductors and other precautionary measures, the vast majority of strikes occur without incident - unless, of course, there's additional solar flare activity and a Time Lord clutching onto the mast.
* Three major theatre productions have featured the Daleks over the years: Curse of the Daleks (1965), Seven Keys to Doomsday (1974) and The Ultimate Adventure (1989)
* The look of Ma and Pa (the characters who are attacked at the start of the episode Gridlock) is based on the figures in the famous painting by Grant Wood, American Gothic. Gridlock is the 727th episode of Doctor Who. This breaks the record held by the various series in the Star Trek franchise. They amassed a combined total of 726 episodes between them. It takes four days to make one Cat Nun prosthetic, and each can only be used once. A new face was needed for every new filming day.
* The Globe Theatre in Southwark was fitted out with specially fireproofed Welsh straw for location filming of The Shakespeare Code. Bedlam first admitted the mentally ill in 1403. It still exists today as the Bethlam Royal Hospital of London, and is the oldest psychiatric hospital in the world. It no longer has cells, straw or sadistic jailers. The Shakespeare Code was filmed in an exact duplicate of the Globe theatre. The original Globe theatre was destroyed by fire in 1613. The New Globe Theatre was completed in 1997. Its creation was instigated by the late Sam Wanamaker. Sam was the father of Zoë Wanamaker, who played Cassandra in The End of the World and New Earth. The title may refer to a popular movie last year, The Da Vince Code.
* In the episode "Blink," the doctor only appears in a few scenes--in the early years of the classic series there were episodes where he didn't appear at all! The Doctor is entirely absent from The Keys of Marinus parts 3 and 4, Mission to the Unknown and The Massacre parts 2 and 3. On average, it takes between 300-400 milliseconds to blink. Depending on the circumstances, a human blinks between 3 and 30 times a minute. If confronted by a Weeping Angel, the time endured without blinking can be increased significantly.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was first broadcast in 1969 - the year that the Doctor, Martha and Billy were transported to by the Weeping Angels.
In addition to the Weeping Angels, the Doctor has encountered a number of other creatures which are nearly as old as the universe itself. These include the Carrionites (The Shakespeare Code), the Racnoss (The Runaway Bride), and Fenric (The Curse of Fenric). Not one of them has been friendly.
* Human Nature/The Family Of Blood is a movie-length 2-part episode. Tom Baker once co-wrote a screenplay "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman" a tale of killer scarecrows, a giant game of pinball, the Daleks, and, Vincent Price
* In Utopia, the troubled Professor Yana hears the words and laughter of earlier incarnations of The Master. The Doctor has now encountered six versions of The Master. The actors who have played him are:
Master No. One - Roger Delgado (1971-73)
Master No. Two - Peter Pratt (1976) and Geoffrey Beevers (1981)
Master No. Three - Anthony Ainley (1981-1989)
Master No. Four - Eric Roberts (1996)
Master No. Five - Sir Derek Jacobi (2007)
Master No. Six - John Simm (2007)
For completists, however, Gordon Tipple played 'The Old Master' in the 1996 TV Movie, appearing very briefly in the pre-titles sequence and without dialogue. It is possible that he also played Master #3.
* In The Sound Of Drums, when the Master introduces Martha to her captive family, he does so in the style of the fondly remembered show This is Your Life. This will be the second US President that the Doctor has seen killed-- a photo seen in "Rose" implies that he also witnessed the assassination of JFK in 1963. Nostradamas predicted that three Antichrists would attempt to take over the world. The first would be French (Napoleon), the second German (Hitler), and the third is yet to come..."Peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully" is very similar to a famous line spoken by the Master in Logopolis: 'People of the Universe, please attend carefully.' The Master may be an insane psychopath, but you can't fault his manners. You are my Voodoo Child
By a strange coincidence (since these episodes had been planned all season), Tony Blair stepped down and was replaced as Prime Minister between Part 1 and 2 of this episode
* In part 2, Last Of The Time Lords, the song that The Master is singing along to on the deck of his flagship Valiant is I Can't Decide by the Scissor Sisters
Full steam ahead to new season 4, just watch out for icebergs!
Doctor Who is available on video
* The first episode of every new series of Doctor Who since Remembrance of the Daleks in 1988 has featured a view of Earth from space.
* While all creatures from past series could turn up again, that doesn't include the Zarbi--they would be too scary in color. Producers Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson (Julie also produces Torchwood) were interviewed in Doctor Who Magazine in February, 2007. David Tennant asked them, "Are the Zarbi coming back?"
"The Zarbi were in a story [The Web Planet] in like 1965 or something," Phil explains. "They were great big giant ants, which were actually ballet dancers in black tights, with a fibreglass ant on top of them. They would look rather marvellous in colour, it's true to say, but I can exclusively reveal that we are not going to be bringing back the Zarbi, I'm sorry David. He's lobbied hard for them, but we just think they're going to be too frightening for young children." Perhaps they could feature in Torchwood? "Yes, I'll take them!" pipes up Julie. "Phil, hand me your Zarbi!"
* You haven't seen the last of Sarah Jane Smith. Russell T Davies has created The Sarah Jane Adventures, a brand new spin-off series for CBBC, which already carries the animated Doctor Who TV-series. Set in present-day West London, the programme stars Elisabeth Sladen, continuing her much-loved role as Sarah Jane Smith. Yasmin Paige will join her as Sarah's 13-year-old neighbour Maria. A 60-minute special which will be broadcast in early 2007, with a series following later in the year. In the special, Sarah and Maria form an unlikely alliance to fight evil alien forces at work in Britain, and against the scheming Ms Wormwood, played by Samantha Bond. "I left Sarah Jane but she never left me," said Elisabeth. "I can't wait to return to Cardiff (where filming is based) to find out what's going to happen to her next." "Children's TV has a fine history of fantasy thrillers," added Russell T Davies. "I loved them as a kid, and they were the very first things I ever wrote. So it's brilliant to return to such a vivid and imaginative area of television." Filming on the special, written by Russell and Gareth Roberts, begins October 2006. It will be directed by Colin Teague and produced by Susie Liggat. The full series goes into production in spring 2007.
* Behind the scenes of Doctor Who while shooting the final episode of 2nd season (part 1 of 3) about a war between Daleks and the Cyberman...whoever wins, we lose
* Sometimes filming a Doctor Who episode is like herding cats (Fear Her)
* How to recreate the Titanic stopping for a little ice (behind the scenes)
* Time Tunnel clip: Captain Smith (Michael Rennie) asks the time travelers if he will go down with the Titanic
Satellite TV For Pc! Elite Edition. Now Includes Unlimited Movies, Music, MP3s, Games, & TV Shows! Improved Technology! 600x Faster. WORKS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD: U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, India, Russia, etc. Connect To A Whole New World Of Online Entertainment. Click Here!Doctor Who, 1963-2006 in 5 minutes
Now in colour
Here's to another 43 years
Check out the new Judoon on the Moon musicvideo, nice tune but you can't dance to it, so Here's a different tune while recapping what happened on the Moon, without words
I Need A Hero
Or would you rather hear the new Doctor Who themesong for 2006 (full orchestra, if it's still there)
Top 10 BBC Programs in England as of 7/07
(source: www.Radiotimes.com)(in case your're interested, a 12-month subscription to Radiotimes magazine to a U.S. address would be £180.00)
- Heroes
- Cape Wrath
- Coast
- Doctor Who
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
- Jekyll
- Bones
- Life on Mars
- Dexter
- Brothers and Sisters
See if your favorite person, TV series or Monster movie description above © Bill Laidlaw. All Rights Reserved. USA, Earth Prime
motion picture is available:
The final episode of 2007 will be filmed in July
(actual BBC promo with additional Titanic movie footage added)
Barnabus Collins will bring Dark Shadows to Turner Classic Movies sometime in August
Back to MonsterVision or www.Sci-fans.com
Some of the above information plagiarized in different wording from “The Doctor Who Technical Manual” by Mark Harris, Random House, 1983
Some other info lifted from “The Sci-Fi Channel Encyclopedia of TV Science Fiction” by Roger Fulton & John Betancourt, Warner Books Inc., reprinted from Boxtree Ltd, Macmillan Pubs, Ltd, London. The rest of the disjointed narrative appears to be mine. Oh dear, I seem to have misplaced my jellybeans.
This fan website is not connected in any way with the SCIFI channel. If you buy anything from Amazon.com using the links here, they pay 4% commission, but there were no sales for the last 30 days. At this rate, this website may soon cease to exist. If you are not American, here is our link to the Amazon.co.uk website
"Oil an emergency? It's about time the people on this planet of yours realized that to be dependant on a mineral slime just doesn't make sense." Doctor Who (Tom Baker)
Attack of the Graske
So, you've seen every adventure so far and you're down to the bottom of this page. What now? I know, why not join the Doctor for an all-new adventure filmed specifically to be seen on your computer and available nowhere else? Click here. It's Christmas and the demonic Graske are taking over by kidnapping people and replacing them with possessed look-alikes called changlings. The Doctor can't leave the Tardis so you'll have to help. Don't worry, he will show you what to do. Then we'll head for their home planet aboard the Tardis to free the prisoners. Episode credits will be at the end as usual. You may have to scroll down a bit at the start to find "click here" to start the video if you have a smallish videoscreen.
How many people does it take to change a light bulb in a large corporation?
Nobody knows. Policy is still being written, a "new skill" day needs to be scheduled, a pro needs to be hired to teach proper installation, OSHA rules need to be checked, the task needs to be properly delegated to the appropriate union, and of course there has to be a budget approval for the change.
Don't believe me? The 5 step process at the BBC
John Cleese once quoted a BBC executive as saying the organization would be much more efficient if they didn't have to put on programmes.
Legalcrap for this website
Trivia question: which of these new Doctor Who novels, if any, is based on a 2008 episode of the TV-series?
