- GallifreyNewsBase: Waters of Mars - Confirmed Canadian Date Waters of Mars - Confirmed Canadian Date

The Waters of Mars will come to Canadian Television on Saturday 19th December when it premiers on SPACE at 9pm ET. This is the same date the special will be shown in the US on BBC America.

The final two specials are expected to be shown over the Christmas holiday.

The Waters of Mars is now scheduled in most of the English speaking world with premiers confirmed in Australia, Canada and The United States, all less than 6 weeks after the special has premièred in the United Kingdom.

The Doctor is in, and the countdown is on! David Tennant’s final four adventures as the Tenth Time Lord unfold exclusively on SPACE. The second of four high-octane specials, Doctor Who: The Waters of MarS premieres Saturday, December 19 at 9 p.m. ET.

To kick-start the event, 24 hours prior, SPACE is re-airing DOCTOR WHO: PLANET OF THE DEAD. SPACE fans laid claim to the esteemed DOCTOR WHO franchise when this first installment reached nearly half a million viewers earlier in the year. Cited as the most successful and longest running sci-fi series in the world, the latest DOCTOR WHO specials are also available on-demand at www.spacecast.com.

After 900 years of phone booth travel the Tenth incarnation of the Doctor is tidying up the Tardis for the Eleventh Time Lord’s residency. In one of Tennant’s most thrilling adventures yet, Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars tracks the Doctor and his companion Adelaide (Lindsay Duncan), as they face terror on the Red Planet. Peter O’Brien (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) guest stars as Ed, Adelaide’s second-in-command at the base.

The final two DOCTOR WHO specials starring David Tennant as the iconic Time Lord are scheduled to premiere over the holidays.

DOCTOR WHO: The Waters of Mars is written by Russell T Davies (Torchwood, Queer as Folk) and Phil Ford and directed by Graeme Harper. Davies and Julie Gardner (TORCHWOOD, LIFE ON MARS) serve as executive producers.

SPACE is Canada’s national science fiction, speculation and fantasy channel. Offering the finest in genre programming, viewers need not look further for their fix of the paranormal, edgy, scary, creepy and fun! SPACE is the station for all those who dare to challenge their imagination. SPACE is owned by CTV Limited, a division of CTVglobemedia, Canada's premier multi-media company.

- GallifreyNewsBase: Timothy Bateson (1926-2009) Timothy Bateson (1926-2009)

The Guardian newspaper in the UK has published an obituary for actor Timothy Bateson, who died in September at the age of 83. Bateson enjoyed an acting career stretching from the 1940s to the present decade, and in 1955 appeared in the first London production of the play "Waiting for Godot". He appeared in Doctor Who only once, in the 1978 serial The Ribos Operation, where he portrayed Binro the Heretic. In this role he took part in the scene where Binro explains that be believes there are other planets and other stars; this is frequently regarded as one of the most memorable scenes from Doctor Who, most recently acclaimed as such in Doctor Who Magazine's "200 Golden Moments" special edition. The serial, along with the others in the 1978 "Key to Time" series, is due to be re-released on DVD next week, following its previous limited edition issue.



Image courtesy of the Doctor Who Image Archive

- GallifreyNewsBase: Ambassadors DVD Commentary Ambassadors DVD Commentary

Speaking at the Missing in Action convention, the actor Nicholas Courtney reported that he has just recorded a commentary for the seventh season story The Ambassadors of Death, alongside other members of cast and crew including Terrance Dicks, Peter Halliday and Derek Ware.

It should be remembered that commentaries are often recorded way in advance of DVD release (years in some cases!), so this is no indication that the story is currently scheduled to appear in the shops soon!

Restoration Team member Steve Roberts recently discussed the colour recovery process at a talk for the Doctor Who Information Network, during which he reported that recovery work hadn't been undertaken on the story at that point.

- GallifreyNewsBase: Sarah Jane Adventures – Appreciation index Sarah Jane Adventures – Appreciation index

Both parts of The Eternity Trap received an AI score of 86. The score is again way above the average score for Children's drama. The scores were one of the highest on BBC One on either Thursday or Friday with only New Tricks scoring higher.

- GallifreyNewsBase: Alan Chuntz 1927-2009 Alan Chuntz 1927-2009

The actor and stuntman Alan Chuntz has died at the age of 81. Chuntz appeared in at least 15 stories from the classic series. He was a member of HAVOC, the team that provided much of the stunt work for the programme. He played Omega's champion in The Three Doctors and had a rare speaking role as the Chauffeur in The Seeds of Doom.

As well as his work on Doctor Who, Chuntz was a regular face on British Television in the seventies appearing in series such as Z Cars, Some Mothers Do Ave Em, The Avengers, The Persuaders, The Onedin Line, Hazel and Minder.

• The Invasion - Stuntman
• The Seeds Of Death -Technician
• The Ambassadors Of Death - Soldier
• Inferno - Soldier
• Terror Of The Autons - Stuntman
• The Mind Of Evil - Prisoner
• The Sea Devils - Stuntman
• The Three Doctors - Omega's Champion
• The Green Death - Security Guard
• Planet Of The Spiders - Stuntman
• Genesis Of The Daleks - Kaled Guard
• Revenge Of The Cybermen - Stuntman
• The Seeds Of Doom - Chauffeur
• The Face Of Evil - Stuntman
• The Talons Of Weng-Chiang - Stuntman
• State Of Decay - Guard
• The Visitation - Stuntman

- GallifreyNewsBase: Doctor Who Adventures 140 Doctor Who Adventures 140

This weeks Doctor Who Adventures magazine is packed with top scares from swooping Reapers to the destructive Toclafane. Everything you need to know about monsters that fly.

The story guide is all about an explosive Cyberman clash. And to find out how well you know robot dog K-9, with the quick quiz.

Also there is a look at the Fifth Doctor. What did he wear and how long was he the Doctor?

- GallifreyNewsBase: Sarah Jane Ratings - Friday Sarah Jane Ratings - Friday

Part Two of The Eternity Trap, was watched by 0.8 million viewers, with an audience share of 6.6%.

The series, which is rating well above the average for the time slot, has received a slight legacy boast following the appearance of David Tennant in the series last week.

Final figures will be out in around two weeks time.

- GallifreyNewsBase: North America - DVD Update North America - DVD Update

March 2nd sees the Dalek War box set come to North America with the release of the two third Doctor stories Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks.

Starring Jon Pertwee as The Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant, the set includes the recently restored episode three of Planet of the Daleks, now in colour for the first time in 30 years.

Frontier in Space features a commentary with Katy Manning, as well as producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks.

Extras Include:

• Perfect Scenario: Lost Frontier
• The Space War, the making of the story
• Roger Delgado: The Master, a biography of actor Roger Delgado
• Stripped for Action: The Third Doctor's comic book adventures

Planet of the Daleks also features a commentary with Manning, Letts and Dicks and also includes Prentis Hancock who played Vaber and Tim Preece who played Codal.

Extras Include:

• Perfect Scenario: The End of Dreams
• The Rumble in the Jungle, the making of the story.
• Multi-colourisation, a look at the colour restoration of episode three.
• Stripped for Action: focuses on the Daleks
• Blue Peter.

Also released on this day is the special edition of the seventh Doctor story, Remembrance of the Daleks.

First shown in 1988 the story stars Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor  and Sophie Aldred as Ace.

The story was first released on DVD in 2002. This special edition has a audio commentary by actors Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred as well as a number of documentaries about the programme.

• Back to School: "Making Of" documentary (32 mins)
• Remembrances: Influences and references to earlier Doctor Who adventures (15 mins)
• Davros Connections: In-depth look at the history of the Daleks' creator (43 mins)
• Extended and Deleted Scenes (12 mins)
• Outtakes (4 mins)
• Multi-Angle Sequences (2 mins)
• Isolated Music Option
• Trailers and Continuities (5 mins)
• Photo Gallery (8 mins)
• Easter egg
• DVD-ROM material: Radio Times listings
• Production Notes Subtitle Option

- GallifreyNewsBase: Sarah Jane Ratings - Thursday Sarah Jane Ratings - Thursday

The Eternity Trap, was watched by 0.9 million viewers, with an audience share of 7.3%.

The rating is once more much higher than usual for this slot on BBC One, which has an average of 0.4 million.

- GallifreyNewsBase: Time, Unincorporated 2 Coming from Mad Norwegian Time, Unincorporated 2 Coming from Mad Norwegian

Mad Norwegian Press has announced that Time, Unincorporated 2, the second in a series of fanzine article collections, will see print in May 2010. Previously titled "Classic Series Cornucopia," Volume 2 will actually see print under the title "Writings on the Classic Series," while the forthcoming Volume 3 will be "Writings on the New Series." Volume 2 of this series contains nearly 75 essays that examine every era of the classic Doctor Who series that ran from 1963-1989, as well as the FOX TV movie (1996). The essays stem from a wide array of venerable fanzines such as Enlightenment, Shockeye’s Kitchen, Burnt Toast, Faze, Dark Circus, The Whostorian and more. Collectively, the essays derived from these sources form one of the most diverse compilations of Doctor Who writing ever produced. As a bonus, ten of the essays were written exclusively for this volume by the likes of Matt Jones (Doctor Who, Torchwood), Simon Guerrier (The Slitheen Excursion), Pyr Books editorial director Lou Anders, and Jim Sangster (TV Heaven).

- GallifreyNewsBase: Web Planet Online Web Planet Online

BBC Worldwide has done a deal with MSN Video to supply classic episodes of Doctor Who online. The stories are available free on the MSN website. The series is starting with the 1965 William Hartnell story, The Web Planet.

New episodes will be added on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10th November.

Video may not be available outside the United Kingdom.

- GallifreyNewsBase: Never Mind The Buzzcocks Special Never Mind The Buzzcocks Special

Photo by Phil Jupitus
posted on YFrog

Comedian Phil Jupitus has announced a Doctor Who Special edition of the comedy panel music show Never Mind The Buzzcocks, which will feature David Tennant as the guest presenter; the show will also sees Bernard Cribbins on Phil's own team, alongside presenter Jo Whiley, whilst Noel Fielding's team will have Catherine Tate with singer Jamie Cullum.

No broadcast date has been announced as yet, though it is expected to be in the week leading up to Christmas Day.

(announced by Phil Jupitus on twitter)

- GallifreyNewsBase: Dreamland Broadcast Date Dreamland Broadcast Date

The BBC Press Office have released details for the broadcast of the animated Doctor Who adventure Dreamland. Episode One will premiere on Saturday 21st November on the BBC's Red Button service, and the subsequent five episodes each day thereafter. The episodes will be available all day on Sky and Virgin, with a limited service on Freeview. The episodes will also be available from the BBC's Doctor Who website, which will be enhanced by a brand new comic reader application.

- GallifreyNewsBase: Tennant wins NBC role Tennant wins NBC role

David Tennant is to make his US television debut when he plays the title character in a hour long pilot for NBC called Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.

Tennant plays Rex Alexander, a top Chicago lawyer who begins suffering panic attacks and takes up coaching clients to represent themselves in court.

Written by Andrew Leeds and David Lampson the pilot is directed by David Semel, who directed the pilots for "Heroes" and "Life". The project has been in development for two years with casting for the lead actor taking place over several months until Tennant clinched the role in August.

Tennant will hope to follow the success of another established British TV actor with virtually no American TV experience, Hugh Laurie, as the lead on Fox's medical drama "House."