This week in Who

I've decided to change the title of these posts, because I'm not sure how much actual news I'll be able to write about from week to week-hope you all don't mind. :)

Series 2 (season 28) in the USA:
Fridays, 8pm EDT on the SciFi Channel <-note the new time!!!

Current episodes:
1. The Christmas Invasion (8:00pm EDT)
2. New Earth (9:30pm EDT)

Check out the episode pages for the new season-they have slideshows with images from the episodes. Pretty cool. :)

Doctor Who on BBC7:
Check out BBC7's Listen Again page to hear the 8th Doctor audios from Big Finish. Current epsiodes are available for one week after it originally airs.

Sunday, September 24th: Swords of Orion, part 1
Sunday, October 1st: Swords of Orion, part 2

from the SciFi Wire

SciFi Wire has an article about the Sarah Jane Adventures (which impressed me). There are quite a few details about it, like why K-9 won't be a feature in the regular series. However, I do question a couple of things in the article-it mentions that Yasmin Page will be playing Sarah's 13 year-old neice, Maria-I thought she was Sarah's next door neighbor. Also, the have the day that School Reunion airs wrong-it's October 13th (Friday), not the 11th (Wednesday). (well, that complaint is just me being picky. ;))

There is also an article with David Tennant discussing his role in Doctor Who. I think it's cool that while filming the Christmas Invasion he got notes from both Tom Baker and Peter Davidson (the Doctors he grew up watching) wishing him well.

I'm sure many of you have heard by now the controversy over the Guinness Book of World Records longest running science fiction series. While Doctor Who gets the record for the longest running science fiction series (over 600 episodes with 22 seasons between 1963-1984) Stargate SG:1 gets the record for longest running science fiction series (consecutive) (10 seasons, 203 episodes). According to the article linked above, the people at Guinness explained that SG:1 has had the most consecutive back-to-back episodes without a break since 1997.

I'm sure we all have our own opinions about this matter. See if you can guess mine from this: My question to Guinness is this-how long must a break be before the episodes are no longer considered consecutive and back-to-back? I mean, I really enjoy SG:1 and all, but they have breaks too. Sure there were long breaks between seasons 22, 23, and 24-but I've already taken that into account. Is the gap between the earlier seasons really that big? Oh, well-it's still the longest in terms of years-and Stargate has quite a few more to go before it catches up! LOL. ;)

TAFN,
Happy Who Watching!!!

Eighth Doctor on BBC7 and other news...

Hmm...perhaps I should have changed the title order to say Other news first-LOL....

Season 2 premieres on SciFi in one week! Yay!!!! I'm so excited. This also means I'll be back to my weekly posts during it's run-although I'm not sure how much extra news I'll be able to report on-time seems to be somewhat limited lately. Just look at how far behind I am now! ;)

For those who haven't visited SciFi lately, their Doctor Who site has been updated to include Season 2. A two and a half hour block has been scheduled for the Christmas Invaision and New Earth, starting at 8pm, EDT. After that Doctor Who will air in it's new timeslot-8pm, and will be followed by Battlestar Galactica at 9, and Threshold at 10. The SciFi wire also reports that the Season 2 dvds will be released on January 16th, 2007 (ooh, just missing my birthday!).

Also, BBC America will be airing the first season of Doctor Who starting November 21st at 10pm Eastern and Pacific.

More from the way-back file: I'm sure most of you have heard that Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen, will be staring in her own spinoff, the Sarah Jane Adventures, a children's program for CBBC. Here's the official press release from last week. Yay, Sarah Jane! ;)

Behind the Sofa reports that Torchwood will premiere on BBC 1 and BCC3 at 9pm on October 21st. Yay!

The Eighth Doctor on BBC7
This Sunday airs the first part of one of my favorite 8th Doctor audios, the Swords of Orion on BBC7 They will continue to run the stories from this series until mid-December, and then in January of 2007 will premiere a new series of 8th Doctor audios from Big Finish! He will have a new companion, Lucie Miller, played by Sheridan Smith. (that's good-although I seem to be in the minority here, I didn't really care for Charly-she just rubbed me the wrong way.)

The new titles are as follows:
-Blood Of The Daleks by Steve Lyons
-Horror Of Glam Rock by Paul Magrs
-Immortal Beloved by Jonathan Clements
-Phobos by Eddie Robson
-No More Lies by Paul Sutton, and
-Human Resources by Eddie Robson

I've really enjoyed the 8th Doctor audios, so I'm really looking forward to new stories in January!

TAFN,

Romana's (long overdue) Season 2 Review

I did finish the season a few weeks ago-at the time, I had an excuse not to post one (I finished it right in the middle of the Feast of the Assumption-I was pretty busy with Italian band during that time) However, after that, I have no excuse-just plain lazy. I'm sorry!

Since I didn't do any reviews as I watched each episode, this entry may be a little long with commentary. ;)

10. Tooth and Claw On the bottom of most lists I've seen-for me, the biggest problem I had was the attitude that the Doctor and Rose seem to have throughout the episode-entirely too flippant for me. The werewolf was kind of creepy, though.

9. New Earth An okay start, I guess-it just kind of dragged a little.

8. Fear Her As Tom mentioned in his post-a stronger story than New Earth, but still a bit weak. When someone asks how I liked this epiosde, I usually reply with "Eh, it was okay, I guess."

7. Love and Monsters You either loved it or you hated it-not much room for middle ground...except when it comes to this particular review-I didn't hate it-I just thought it was a fluff piece that aired at the wrong point of the season-I think I would have enjoyed it better if it was in the middle of the season, rather than stuck near the end. This epsiode reminded me of Stargate's Citizen Joe-a story about the main character, told through the eyes of an average person-and how the adventures of Col. Jack O'Neill/the Doctor, directly affected Joe Spenser/Elton Pope.

6. The Idiot's Lantern Actually, I couldn't decide on the order of this and the previous episode-I think I changed it around several times before making a final decision. So, did the Wire's 'Feed me!' remind anyone else of the disembodied Great Architect Kroagnon's 'HUNGRY!' from Paradise Towers? Or have I just been watching entirely too much Doctor Who? ;)

5. The Impossible Planet/the Satan Pit This episode felt different than any other Doctor Who episode I have seen-different music, different atmosphere-and I really enjoyed it. The 'devil' being trapped in the core of the planet, who needed help to become free, reminded me of Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars. (and yes, I'm sure I would have felt the same way if I hadn't known that both characters were voiced by Gabriel Woolf). ;)

4. Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel Ahh, it was good to see my second favorite villians of all time return to Doctor Who-and it was interesting to see how the Cybermen originated in the parallel universe. Also, Mickey's character really grew on me as the series moved on-I liked how his character revolved from being a somewhat silly boyfriend to hero of the world. Hats off to Mickey!

3. Girl in the Fireplace Writer Stephen Moffat. 'nuff said. ;) Can't wait to see what he gives us in the third season!

2. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday OMG. WOW. That's all I said for several hours after watching these epiosdes. First of all, when that Dalek emerged from the sphere, the first thing I thought was, 'Hey! Who's been invading my childhood nightmares?!?!?!' I might have mentioned this before, but when I was little, I used to have nightmares that the Daleks and the Cybermen would invade my neighborhood at the same time. So when I saw the Cybermen forming in ordinary people's homes...WOW. Yeah. The second thing I thought was, "Cybermen vs. Daleks? SWEET!" I was totally blown away by this episode. Classic series nods(?) When the Cybermen pushed their way out of the plastic in Torchwood, I thought it was very reminicent of the Cybermen emerging from Tomb of the Cybermen.
...Hey, was that Sutekh's sarcaphagus in Torchwood? ;)

1. School Reunion If you haven't guessed, I'm a BIG fan of nostalgia. Big, big fan. I actually was debating on which order 1 and 2 would be-I had a hard time deciding, but in the end, School Reunion won out (it came down to which one I've watched the most since the original viewing-I don't wanna say how many times I've watched this epiosde. LOL.) ;) This was the episode I couldn't wait to see the most: Sarah Jane Smith (my favorite companion), K-9...need I say more? Anthony Stewart Head made an excellent creepy bad guy, and I loved the music. Watching this episode made me feel like a kid again-a kid who enjoyed watching Doctor Who with her family every Friday/Saturday night. I still get a silly grin after watching it. At Christmas, I showed my Mom this episode (out of order, and without my sister). I told her that we couldn't tell my sister that we had watched this episode, and she got this huge grin on her face and said, "You mean we get to watch this again?" LOL-my Mom is the coolest. Oh, and because I haven't said it in a while, Yay, Sarah Jane! :-D

and the Hugo goes to...

Just in case you haven't heard yet (although I suspect most of you already have...), Doctor Who the Empty Child/the Doctor Dances, won the Hugo award for Short Dramatic Presentation.

Congrats to Steven Moffat!!

And what's really cool-the runners up were Dalek written by Robert Shearman and Father's Day written by Paul Cornell.

Check out Paul's reaction to the 'sweep' at his blog, Paul Cornell's House of Awkwardness. :)

It's official, series 2 in the US

The SciFi Channel and BBC Worldwide Americas have confirmed that Doctor Who will return to the U.S. in September 2006.

Of course, many had already guessed this would happen, but it's still good to hear the "official" world. Yay!! Here's to Series 2 being a huge success to the SciFi Channel as Series 1 was. *cheers*

More news on series 3:
Filming for the Christmas special, the Runaway Bride has been completed and filming for Series 3 has just gotten underway. Also, apparently this year the Doctor will have a new suit. :)

Outpost Gallifrey also has more on the US debut and series 3 updates.

Also from Outpost Gallifrey, a short update on the rumored Sarah Jane Smith Investigates spinoff. Apparently they are only going to film one episode before launching it in a series-and it might air on New Years Day. (from the August 5th Tardis Report)

Update, 2:05pm: SciFi Wire is now reporting the debut of series 2. Cool! :)

Doctor Who News Brief: More rumors about series 2

For those who haven't heard or seen it yet, SciFi has the schedule up for september: http://www.scifi.com/schedulebot/index.php3?date=29-SEP-2006&feed_req.

Actually, that's the schedule for Friday September 29th. Starting at 8am, there is an 8-hour Doctor Who marathon, starting with Dalek and ending with the Parting of the Ways. Then Doctor Who is scheduled in the 9 and 10pm timeslots, with no episode listing. Rumor has it that series two will premiere that night. (I say rumor because as of the writing of this entry, it hasn't been confirmed by the SciFi channel, or the BBC)

Some speculation as to how it might be aired: 9pm-an extrememly edited Christmas Invasion, followed by New Earth or, New Earth at 9pm, followed by Tooth and Claw.

I wouldn't put it past SciFi to extend the Christmas Invasion to an hour and a half (with commericals)-after all, both Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica have had 90 minute episodes-why not Doctor Who as well? :)

In any case, if these rumors/speculations are true-it's good news for Who fans here in the U.S.!

(Special thanks to Don from the Ohio-Type 40-thanks for passing on the info from the thisweekindoctorwho Yahoo group!)

Doctor Who News Brief: Sarah Jane Investigates?

According to Outpost Gallifrey [see August 1st news], Ariel, the BBC's in-house newsletter, released information suggesting the identity of the second Doctor Who spin-off. Sarah Jane Investigates will bring back Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Not much else has been said about the series-like when this will happen (if the rumors turn out to be true) or whether or not it will also bring back K-9 (who has his own series currently in development.) Stay tuned to Outpost Gallifrey for more information as it develops.

As a Sarah Jane Smith fan, I kind of like the idea of her having her own series...it sounds interesting...just as long as they do a good job!!!

Tom's Season 2 Review

Well, I finally have the time to sit down and put my thoughts together on Series 2. Overall, it was quite good, with more gloss than Series 1 but lacking its cohesion. David Tennent was erratic at times, but like most new Doctors settled into the role as the season progressed. The character of Rose was a little annoying this year, but that's down to how she was written rather than Billie Piper's performance, which was top notch yet again. She'll be missed, but it is time to move on.

As for the individual stories, I will rank them bottom-to-top as I did with my mid-season review. Also, two-parters are counted as one story. Remember, what follows is my opinion on these stories; if your opinion differs please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment.

10)Tooth & Claw- I know this is a popular story, but I found it a bit of a mess. And the pre-credit sequence is just embarrassing.

9)New Earth- A weak and pointless story that goes nowhere. The ending's not too bad, though.

8)Fear Her- Another weak story but a bit stronger than New Earth. Not bad as such, but lacked any real punch.

7)The Idiot's Lantern- A shame that this blog's namesake wasn't better, but so it goes. Definately gets points for attention to detail, but knock a few off for a silly villian.

6)The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit- Another fan favorite that I don't rank as high. A strong basic plot that is nearly ruined by too many holes, but the pluses definately outweigh the minuses.

5)Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel- Too much running around in the first part, but ends strongly. Seems better after watching Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.

4)Love and Monsters- Most fans have this one at the bottom of their lists, but for me it was pure fun. The ending feels tampered with, but otherwise a nice change of pace.

3)School Reunion- I was afraid that this one might not live up to the hype, but there was no reason to be worried. Sarah Jane, K-9, and Anthony Stewart Head. Enough said.

2)Army of Ghosts/Doomsday- I though last year's finale was the be-all-end-all of DW, but apparently not. Army of Ghosts was the best first episode of the 3 two-parters and Doomsday was edge-of-your-seat excitement beginning to end.

1) Girl in the Fireplace- For me, DW is all about the writing and this one trumps them all in that department. Hats off to Stephen Moffat.

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday Review (Slightly Spoilerish, Perhaps)

From our British Correspondent

Probably no 2 episodes of Doctor Who have ever been asked to do as much as these, the closing story of series 2. Not only does it tie in with the earlier Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel 2-parter, it also brings to a close the 27 episode story of Rose Tyler. And it does both (and a great deal more) with great style.

Army of Ghosts sets the story up with the introduction of the mysterious titular ghosts and an even stranger sphere housed in the basement of much referred-to Torchwood. By the cliffhanger the ghosts have revealed their true form and the sphere opens and out comes... well that would be spoiling what is probably the best cliffhanger since episode 3 of The Caves of Androzani back in 1984. Army of Ghosts is also the strongest part-1-of-2 episode yet of the six we've seen so far in the new series.

By the end of Army of Ghosts, you realize that Doomsday must be crammed full and wonder if it can pull off what it needs to in 45 minutes. Well, it takes closer to 47 minutes but amazingly gets the job done. Without giving anything away for those out there who have yet to see it, let's just say that this episode has pretty much everything but the kitchen sink, with moments that will have fans talking for years to come. If there is any complaint, it is that some elements seem to cater a bit too much to the fans, but it's done in such a brilliant way that the average viewer will enjoy it just as much as us Whovians. Hats off to Russell T Davies for managing to top last year's finale.

And now the long wait for Christmas.

Doctor Who news

Hello fellow Whovians!
It's been awhile since I last posted-I'm sorry-I didn't have much time while I was away to be online. Too much goes on at my sister's to tie up the phone line for very long. LOL.

Series One (season 27) in the USA:(recap)

Current episode:
Series 1 has finished it's current run. *patiently awaiting news on when series two will air...*
SciFi will air The Empty Child on Sunday, July 16th at 11pm.
The Doctor Dances will air the following week (the 23rd) also at 11pm.
I don't see Doctor Who in anywhere in the schedule for August-boo!

Previous episodes:
13. The Parting of the Ways
12. Bad Wolf
11. Boom Town
10. The Doctor Dances
9. The Empty Child
8. Father's Day
7.The Long Game
6.Dalek
5.World War III
4.Aliens of London
3.The Unquiet Dead
2.The End of the World
1.Rose

Series Two (season 28) in the UK: (recap)

Current episode: Series 2 has finished it's current run on the BBC. Doctor Who will return in December with the Christmas special, the Runaway Bride. Note: If you click on the link, there is a possible spoiler if you haven't seen the end of series 2.

Previous episodes:
13. Doomsday
12. Army of Ghosts
11. Fear Her
10. Love & Monsters
9. The Satan Pit
8. The Impossible Planet
7. The Idiot's Lantern
6. The Age of Steel
5. The Rise of the Cybermen
4. The Girl in the Fireplace
3.School Reunion
2.Tooth and Claw
1. New Earth

Season 1 now on dvd! As of today, the first series was #9 in Amazon's dvd sales. I saw it as high as #3-but I've only been online since Monday-did anyone else notice if it was higher? I hope this bodes well for us who would like to see series 2 come to SciFi. :)

Speaking of dvds, the Fourth Doctor story, the Hand of Fear and the Sixth Doctor story, the Mark of the Rani will be coming to dvd on November 7th. I like this apparent trend of the dvds coming out in Britain, and then shortly after coming out on this side of the pond. Grant it, it would be much cooler if they came out at the same time, but waiting a few months is better than waiting a year or more. I hope this means the Invasion will follow shortly. :) :)

BBC7 will start a repeat season of the Eighth Doctoraudios, starting this Sunday (July 16th) with Shada. Also included are Storm Warning, Sword of Orion, The Stones of Venice, Invaders from Mars and The Chimes of Midnight. These stories will run through August 27th.

TAFN-still trying to catch up!!