One of the highlights of the BBC Children in Need 2018 appeal show is footage featuring a young girl with the Doctor Who cast in the TARDIS set in Roath Lock Studios. The official description:
An incredible young girl who’s supported by BBC Children in Need gets the opportunity to visit the Doctor Who film set where she enters TARDIS and meets the entire cast before being surprised by the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker.
BBC Children in Need 2018 will air Friday, November 16, 7:30 to 10:00 p.m., with a 40-minute gap before it restarts at 10:40 p.m. and runs until 12:30 a.m. on BBC1.
During the gap, BBC2 will air Junior Mastermind for BBC Children in Need, which will start at 10:00 p.m. and finish at 10:40 p.m.
Doctor Who moves to earliest timeslot yet to make room for David Attenborough documentary
Jodie Whittaker’s first Doctor Who series will have its earliest timeslot yet for an upcoming story, with the Sunday 18th November episode Kerblam! set to air at 6.30pm.
So far this year Doctor Who has tended to air at or around 7.00pm on Sunday nights, with a couple of episodes landing at 6.55pm and the series’ first episode (which was around 12 minutes longer than usual) kicking off at 6.45pm.
But now the upcoming Pete McTighe-scripted episode Kerblam!, which guest stars Julie Hesmondhalgh and Lee Mack alongside regulars Whittaker, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill and Bradley Walsh, appears to be being shifted earlier to make room for the new David Attenborough nature documentary Dynasties, which will air from 8.00pm-9.00pm on Sunday nights from the same night.
Previously, Doctor Who and the following Strictly Come Dancing results show ran up until 8.30pm to lead into the half-hour comedy Still Open all Hours, but the longer runtime of Dynasties seems to have necessitated a backward jump for both programmes.
In the current schedule for November 18th the seventh episode of Doctor Who begins at 6.30pm, followed by the Strictly Come Dancing results show at 7.20pm (shifted from the later time of 7.50pm in earlier weeks) until 8.00pm.
Dynasties will then run for an hour before The Little Drummer Girl continues as usual at 9.00pm.
And given that Dynasties is set to run for five weeks (and Strictly continues until mid-December) it seems likely that the remaining three Who episodes in the series will continue to air at about 6.30pm until the finale on 9th December.
In other words, then, it’s high time we all adjust our clocks for our Doctor Who alarms – because after this Sunday’s episode (Vinay Patel’s Demons of the Punjab, which airs at 7.00pm) we’re going to need to tune in a little earlier.
New photos were released ahead of next Sunday’s episode of Doctor Who, Demons of the Punjab.
The official synopsis:
“What’s the point of having a mate with a time machine, if you can’t nip back and see your gran when she was younger?”
India, 1947. The Doctor and her friends arrive in the Punjab, as the country is being torn apart. While Yaz attempts to discover her grandmother’s hidden history, the Doctor discovers demons haunting the land. Who are they and what do they want?
Written by Vinay Patel. Directed by Jamie Childs.
Before we go to the new photos, there is an intriguing frame from the Demons of the Punjab next-time trailer on the BBC One official website which I came upon quite by accident when I paused the video. It’s not visible while the video is playing. Could this be a glimpse of one of the demons?
Demons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaShaheen Khan as Hasna, Demons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaDemons of the Punjab, BBC AmericaPrem’s (Shane Zaza) monkey pendant, Demons of the Punjab, BBC
The cast list for Demons of the Punjab names the demons as Almak and Kisar.
Demons of the Punjab airs on Sunday, November 11, 7:00 p.m. on BBC One and 8:00 p.m. on BBC America.
The Paternoster Gang returns to the world of Doctor Who for new Big Finish audio adventures
Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart and Dan Starkey return as Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax the Sontaran for their own audio adventures in The Paternoster Gang Heritage.
Set during Victorian London, the Paternoster Gang have finally been reunited. The much-loved characters created by Steven Moffat will return next year in a new set of audios from Big Finish Productions.
They will be facing the first electronic automated cars in London (very ahead of their time), hordes of zombies and ghost-like figures haunting Greenwich before their former selves have died…
Plus, they will have to cope with the capers of the Bloomsbury bunch! This intergalactic alien trio, comprising a Sontaran couple and their Silurian female servant, will be causing trouble in London – and this town isn’t big enough for two extraterrestrial gangs.
Catrin Stewart (Jenny), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra) and Dan Starkey (Strax the Sontaran)
The first Paternoster Gang adventure is being released as part of The 8th of Marchcelebratory box set (link). Four volumes arriving in 2019 and 2020 will follow, each containing three adventures, starting with Volume One, Heritage, in June 2019:
1.1 The Cars that ate London by Jonathan Morris
1.2 A Photograph to Remember by Roy Gill
1.3 The Ghosts of Greenwich by Paul Morris
You can pre-order these new Paternoster Gang releases from Big Finish individually or as a bundle. Visit Big Finish for more information and pricing.
Episode 7 (above) is called ‘Kerblam!’, and here’s the official synopsis:
“‘Delivery for the Doctor!’ A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor, leading her, Graham, Yaz and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy’s largest retailer: Kerblam!“
Broadchurch actress Hesmondhalgh and Would I Lie to You? comedian Lee Mack guest star.
It’s the first Doctor Who script written by Pete McTighe and is directed by Jennifer Perrott, who also oversaw this weekend’s episode ‘The Tsuranga Conundrum’.
Episode 8 of Doctor Who Series 11 that Joy Wilkinson wrote is titled The Witchfinders.
Here is the official synopsis and cast list, according to an official BBC press release:
The Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz arrive in 17th century Lancashire and become embroiled in a witch trial, run by the local landowner. As fear stalks the land, the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But is there something even more dangerous at work? Can the Doctor and friends keep the people of Bilehurst Cragg safe from all the forces that are massing in the land?
Guest starring Siobhan Finneran and Alan Cumming. Written by Joy Wilkinson. Directed by Sallie Aprahamian.
Alan Cumming as King James 1, BBCSiobhan Finneran, BBC
In addition to the official cast list, Julian Kay and Tricia Kelly also guest star in The Witchfinders.
Among the publications covering the filming were The News, Portsmouth who covered filming in Gosport and the Daily Mail with coverage of Monmouth filming near Treowen Estate.
Another location used for filming The Witchfinders was a wetland area in Cowbridge used for filming a scene depicting the drowning of accused witches.
Alan Cumming revealed that he will play King James 1 in an episode of Doctor Who. King James personally supervised the torture of accused witches and wrote Daemonologie, a dissertation on black magic.
Wilkinson previously described the episode she wrote to Doctor Who Magazine as “dark, funny, squelchy”.
Why squelchy? Well, for one thing there was some very muddy location filming, according to director Sallie Aprahamian in Doctor Who Magazine:
“The weather was not kind to us on one of the episodes – howling rain storms, snow, lots of mud and bright sunshine, sometimes within minutes of each other. The cast and crew were amazing, working on through with good humour and craft. That’s how Doctor Whomagic sometimes has to happen.”
And there is a character called a Mud Witch in Aprahamian’s filming block.
Tom Spilsbury has just tweeted that BARB has revealed consolidated figures for Doctor Who Episode 4, Arachnids in the UK. After seven days, it was seen by 8.22 million (7.97m on televisions and 0.25m on other devices), making it fourth for the week behind two Strictly episodes and Great British Bake Off.
All programmes have 28 day viewing figures available on the BARB website once 28 days have passed since they were transmitted. And they're simply that – viewing figures.
Doctor Who: The Tsuranga Conundrum was watched by 6.12 million viewers, a share of 29.5% of the total TV audience, according to unofficial overnight figures.
The rating makes Doctor Who the second highest rated programme for the Sunday and the 6th for the week ending 4th November.
Sunday’s ratings for all programmes were slightly down on last week, probably because of the large number of firework displays around the country marking Bonfire Night. Highest for the day was the Strictly Come Dancing – Results Show which had 8.83 million viewers, with the BBC Drama The Little Drummer Girl had 3.82 million.
ITV peaked with 4.12 million watching The X Factor while, against Doctor Who, The Chase: Celebrity Special had 3.74 million viewers.
Saturdays Strictly Come Dancing topped the week with 9.46 million, while Channel 4 achieved one of its best every ratings, coming third for the week with 7.51 million watching The Great British Bake Off. Monday’s two editions of Coronation Street took 4th and 5th places.
A “mini-episode” of animated Doctor Who will feature in the Missing, Believed Wiped 25th anniversary event on Saturday 15th December.
This newly announced mini-episode based on episode 1 of The Wheel in Space is produced by Charles Norton and directed by Anne Marie Walsh who will introduce the BFI Southbank screening, will be included on a future BBC DVD release next year.
According to the press release, “We’re thrilled to announce the premiere of the much anticipated Doctor Who animated mini-episode based on the now lost first part of the 1968 Doctor Who story, ‘The Wheel in Space’, starring Patrick Troughton. We are delighted to be joined by a number of special guests including the Indiana Jones of lost archival television Philip Morris, who will be presenting some of the rare television gems he’s recently unearthed, including missing episodes of Morecambe and Wise, Sid James’s sitcom Citizen James and children’s television favourite Basil Brush including the only surviving live performance of The Kinks performing their hit Days. Pop star and songwriter Vince Hill looks back over his distinguished 60+ year career in music plus we also feature a rare performances by Aretha Franklin on British television.”
Missing Believed Wiped has been spearheaded by Dick Fiddy, BFI Archive Television Programmer, commenting on this milestone he says, “Over the last 25 years our events have showcased some of the most important finds to have been located and returned to official archives. Tracking down these ‘lost’ treasures has been a joint effort between the BFI, many individuals and organisations. One of our most impressive discoveries in recent years consisted of 100 hours of very important missing single UK plays, including the 1965 version of Orwell’s 1984, and now held by the BFI National Archive. Such finds energise the quest and inspire us to continue the search to plug more gaps in the British television archives.
