Horror Channel, which is owned and operated by the CBS AMC Networks UK Channels Partnership, announced today that it is launching on the UK’s most-watched digital TV service, Freeview on Friday, 13th March. It will be available on Freeview channel number 70 and is currently carried on Sky channel 319, Freesat channel 138, and Virgin channel 149.

The launch will result in a 90% DTT coverage in the UK, makingHorror Channel available in 17 million Freeview homes*. Horror Channel is already the second largest free to air movie channel in cable and satellite homes**.

Recent Horror Channel premieres include Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, while iconic series such as the channel’s highest-rated series** classic Doctor Who and The Incredible Hulk remain firm favourites. The spring line-up will include the “Apocalypse Season” on Horror Channel with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terrorand Stephen King’s The Stand.

Tanya Gugenheim, Chief Business Development Officer, AMC Networks International – Zone said: “Horror Channel has become the third channel in the CBS AMC Channel portfolio to launch on Freeview within a year, joining CBS Reality and CBS Action and underscoring the demand for our content offering. The channel already boasts a loyal fan base, and we’re pleased to introduce it to a broader audience through Freeview.”

Horror Channel, which is owned and operated by the CBS AMC Networks UK Channels Partnership, announced today that it is launching on the UK’s most-watched digital TV service, Freeview on Friday, 13th March. It will be available on Freeview channel number 70 and is currently carried on Sky channel 319, Freesat channel 138, and Virgin channel 149.

The launch will result in a 90% DTT coverage in the UK, makingHorror Channel available in 17 million Freeview homes*. Horror Channel is already the second largest free to air movie channel in cable and satellite homes**.

Recent Horror Channel premieres include Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, while iconic series such as the channel’s highest-rated series** classic Doctor Who and The Incredible Hulk remain firm favourites. The spring line-up will include the “Apocalypse Season” on Horror Channel with Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terrorand Stephen King’s The Stand.

Tanya Gugenheim, Chief Business Development Officer, AMC Networks International – Zone said: “Horror Channel has become the third channel in the CBS AMC Channel portfolio to launch on Freeview within a year, joining CBS Reality and CBS Action and underscoring the demand for our content offering. The channel already boasts a loyal fan base, and we’re pleased to introduce it to a broader audience through Freeview.”

Guy North, Managing Director at Freeview said: “We’re excited to welcome another member of the CBS channel family to Freeview. Horror Channel will provide the bravest of our viewers with plenty of thrilling programmes alongside cult classics and fantasy favourites for the more faint-hearted.”

Mike Finchen, Director, Digital Terrestrial Television at Arqiva said: “We are delighted to welcome Horror Channel to the Freeview platform. Arqiva is committed to broadcasting a variety of content to offer viewers the best possible channel and programme choices – Horror Channel is a great addition.”

* there are 19 million (main and second set) Freeview homes in the UK as of March 2015, Freeview
** amongst Horror Channel’s key 16-44 age group, based on average 000s, day part 0900-2829, BARB-Tech Edge
** within the last 2 years – so far 3 million adults have tuned in to see Who on Horror, BARB-Tech Edge

Jenna Coleman planned to quit Doctor Who last year, the show’s chief writer Steven Moffat has said.

The actress was widely rumoured to be leaving her role as Clara Oswald after a cliff-hanger in the series eight finale, Death In Heaven.    “That was her last episode,” Moffat said. “Then she asked me if she could be in [the] Christmas [episode]. So I said, ‘OK, I’ll write you out in Christmas.'”    “She came to the read through and did the ‘write out’ version – and again changed her mind.”    “But the truth is I never wanted her to go. And with Last Christmas, I’d already written the alternative version where she stayed, and I preferred that version.     “Frankly, I didn’t want to lose her. She’s an amazing actress, and she never stops working to make Clara better.     “I was very happy to go the extra mile to make sure we could keep her.”    Jenna Coleman with Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi Coleman has starred alongside two Doctors – Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi   Coleman, who began her career in ITV soap Emmerdale, will now return for a third series as the Doctor’s companion.

Bernard Kay, the actor who played four roles in Doctor Who during a career spanning over 50 years, died December, 2014. He was known for his versatility and ability to bring both gravitas and vulnerability to an enormously wide range of characters.

After a couple of minor TV roles his big screen debut came in the first of the Carry On movies, Carry on Sergeant (1958), starring William Hartnell. His later films included David Lean’s Dr Zhivago (1965), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) and Steal this Movie (2000) but he’s principally remembered for his extensive television work. From the mid-50s he became a familiar face in British drama, appearing in countless hits ranging from Z Cars and Colditz to Jonathan Creek and Foyle’s War. He guested in cult classics such as The Avengers, Space: 1999, The Champions and the original version of Terry Nation’s Survivors and he played Richard Naismith in Russell T Davies’ Century Falls. But many Doctor Who fans remember Bernard Kay fondly for his roles in adventures involving the First, Second and Third Doctors.

In 1964 he found himself acting alongside William Hartnell (the First Doctor) once again in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, playing the hard-bitten but heroic Tyler in his Doctor Who debut. He returned to the show the following year, delivering a nuanced performance as Saladin, the Twelfth Century military leader in The Crusade. He played Detective Inspector Crossland in the Second Doctor adventure The Faceless Ones and finally appeared in one story shot in colour, the 1971 six-parter, Colony in Space. The photo above is taken from this adventure and shows him as Caldwell (left) with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor.

Bernard Kay had been a reporter in his youth and during his later years he returned to writing. The opening chapter of his autobiography came first in the New Writing Ventures awards in 2006 but he didn’t abandon acting, appearing in BBC series including Casualty: 1909 and Doctors.

You can watch him in action in a tense scene from The Faceless Ones.

Bernard Frederic Bemrose Kay, born February, 1928; died December, 2014.