Australian pay TV debut

[Theta Sigma]

Just found out that UKTV will be showing the new series from the beginning in October:
http://uktv.com.au/faq.asp
"Q. Are there plans to screen Doctor Who?
A. Yes, UKTV will be screening the new series of Doctor Who in October this year."

 

[Theta Sigma]

Outpost Gallifrey finally reports about it on its News Page:
"UKTV Australia has added the following to their FAQ page: "Are there any plans to screen Doctor Who? Yes, UKTV will be screening the new series of Doctor Who in October this year." We're assuming for now that they mean the 13 Christopher Eccleston episodes from 2005. This would be the second showing of the episodes in Australia (well, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, maybe more - UKTV likes multiple airings). To date they have aired one time on ABC TV."

 

[Theta Sigma]

Got the Optus guide for October in the mail yesterday and found out when the current Doctor Who will start on UKTV. It will start on Sunday October 1 at 8:30pm and finishes at 10pm, presumably Rose & End of the World being shown back to back. It will then be repeated on Saturday October 7 7pm. From Sunday October 8 single episodes will be shown which is then repeated in the following Saturdays at 6:30pm.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Last night during a break of The Professionals, saw the UKTV ad of the series. With the taglines, "An old friend gets a new face" and "Invasion Begins" the ad featured clips from the first six episodes. It was pretty well done.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Saw the UKTV debut of the series last night with Rose & End of the World being shown back to back and to my surprise it was given an M rating. Isn't this suppose to be a family show? However that was not the only surprise as UKTV did not show all of it. This happened when Rose ran into the TARDIS at the end of "Rose" and then there was a break but when it came back on it was with the shot of Platform One.
This meant that the following was missing from the transmission:
- Next Time trailer for The End of The World.
- End credits for Rose.
- Teaser sequence for The End of The World.
- Title sequence for The End of The World.

Also missing was the producer and director's credit for The End of The World.

Quite unfortunate for people seeing these episodes for the first time.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Found out from the Optus guide that UKTV will have a 2005 season marathon on New Year's Eve from 12pm to 10:30pm. What a nice way to spend the end of the year.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Just letting people know that the Christmas Invasion and Series 2 will be shown in UKTV this year as I found out from an ad after Father Ted last night. The ad which was about new shows coming this year also included Hustle which will make its UKTV debut and features Love & Monsters guest star Marc Warren. Incidentally I recently been seeing Warren in State of Play on the ABC.

 

[Theta Sigma]

I have found out from Optus Magazine that there will be a Doctor Who marathon for the 2005 and 2006 seasons on the Queen's Birthday weekend.

The 2005 season starts at midday on Saturday June 9 & the 2005 Christmas special The Christmas Invasion followed by the 2006 season starts at the same time on the following day Sunday June 10.

As well as showing the episodes of the series, UKTV is also showing the cutdown 15 minute versions of Doctor Who Confidential. Each Confidential episode will be shown following from its corresponding Doctor Who episode.

The marathon for The Christmas Invasion & the 2006 season marks the first time these episodes would have been shown on UKTV. The screening of the Cutdown versions of Doctor Who Confidential will mark the first time ever that Doctor Who Confidential has ever been shown on Australian television.

 

[Majestic]

Thanks for posting this I may tune in for some of it.

 

[Theta Sigma]

You're Welcome.

News of Confidential's debut on Australian TV and the marathon has now been reported at Outpost Gallifrey and posted by Adam Kirk and thanks to him for acknowledging me in the report as it was the first time that I have been mentioned there.

 

[Theta Sigma]

I saw an ad for the upcoming marathon during a break for Jonathan Creek. It was promoted as the Doctor Who Weekend and all I can say is that the ad looks spectacular.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Latest update:
UKTV will start the series again from Rose on Tuesday July 3 at 7:30pm. Repeats will be on Sundays from July 8 at 6pm.

 

[Theta Sigma]

For whatever reason according to the Optus December Guide, UKTV will not be showing the individual screenings of season 32 in the said month. This means that the last individual screening UKTV will have for now is The Impossible Planet this coming Tuesday November 27 and Sunday December 2 in its usual slots.

This comes just as Torchwood will debut at UKTV on Tuesday December 11 8:30pm (which I had already mentioned in the Torchwood thread). This means that if UKTV had continued with the Doctor Who screening in December, Torchwood would have debut after Love and Monsters.

In any case the timing of the Torchwood debut is disjointing with UKTV individual Doctor Who screening as the Torchwood series opener Everything Changes takes place after Doomsday the finale of Doctor Who season 32.

Question is why not show the rest of the episodes of Doctor Who season 32 (on an individual basis) before showing Torchwood.

All the episodes of the Doctor Who season 32 had been shown before on UKTV from the marathon on the Queen's Birthday weekend earlier in the year but surely not everyone (who hadn't seen it before) would have been able to watch all of it in the one weekend.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Checked with the Optus Guide and season 32 will resume screening on UKTV at the usual time on Tuesday January 8 with The Satan Pit. The resumption of the Doctor Who screening on Tuesdays will be followed by Torchwood at 8:30pm (with Very Little Britain being sandwiched in between).

Showing Doctor Who and Torchwood back to back is like Sci Fi showing the Star Trek shows back to back. All related shows being shown together.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Found out from Optus Magazine that Doctor Who Confidential has been scheduled on UKTV on Tuesdays to Fridays starting on this Friday May 2 6:45am and ending on Tuesday May 20 and they have been scheduled without the corresponding Doctor Who series in sight.

 

[Theta Sigma]

After seeing Afterlife on UKTV hours ago, found out from an ad that like last year there will be again a Doctor Who Marathon this coming Queen's Birthday Weekend on June 7 and 8. From the clips shown it will be from season 33 and presumably The Runaway Bride as well.

 

[Theta Sigma]

I have now have details about the Doctor Who Marathon on the Queen's Birthday Weekend on UKTV which I got from the June issue of Optus Magazine.

Saturday June 7 will begin with the 2005 Christmas Special The Christmas Invasion at 9am followed by the season 32 episodes and finish off at 11pm.

Sunday June 8 will begin at 9am with the 2006 Christmas Special The Runaway Bride followed by the season 33 episodes and finish off at 11pm.

Like the marathon on the last Queen's Birthday weekend last year, the cutdown version of the Doctor Who Confidential episodes will be shown after their corresponding Doctor Who episodes.

For The Runaway Bride, the season 33 episodes as well as their corresponding Doctor Who Confidential episodes this will be the first time they will be shown on UKTV.

In addition to this UKTV is providing during the marathon the Ultimate Doctor Who Interactive Experience courtesy of the red button on the remote.

For the period of June 1-8 Optus Magazine has given the Doctor Who Weekend, the Pick of the Week.

 

[Theta Sigma]

The Doctor Who marathon is now on and the Ultimate Doctor Who Interactive Experience is the following:
Competition
Trivia
Video Extras

I don't know what the prizes are for the competition because to enter is the cost of a local call.

The trivia is 10 random questions about Doctor Who. One of the questions is quite amusing as it asked (with the correct answer of course being 3.)
John Simm (Saxon) also stars in which UKTV drama?
1. Life On Metelis III
2. Life On Skaro
3. Life On Mars
4. Life On Gallifrey

The Video Extras consists of the following:
The Eccleston Era - The first and last Eccleston episodes and the corresponding Confidential episodes

The Infinite Quest - The animated adventure of the Tenth Doctor and Martha. This marks the first time that it has ever been shown on Australian television. This could indicate a proper screening on UKTV in future.

Resistance Is Useless - Old documentary on the classic series with clips from it. It features the narrator Steve Sheen wearing an anorak. Doctor Who fans weren't very pleased with the anorak as that is unwanted image of Doctor Who fans in general. The documentary was originally broadcast on January 3 1992. This means that Paul McGann is unrepresented in the marathon. UKTV could at least have included the 1996 TV movie as an extra as well.

All the extras run on a loop which means that people who not seen The Infinite Quest before would have to jump at the exact time that it starts without knowing what happens later on.

 

[Majestic]

Any news on when S34 (S4 new series) will be shown on Australian TV? Last time I checked with the ABC website there was still no date on it.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Posted details about it here:
Voyage of the Damned and Doctor Who Season 34 on Australian ABC1 - Majestic Sci-Fi Central

 

[Theta Sigma]

For the screening of the season 33 finale Last of the Time Lords on the UKTV marathon it showed the edited shorter version instead of the full version of 51 minutes.

What's missing, as far as I can tell, from the edited version are the following:
- The warning against coming to Earth at the beginning.
- Martha and Milligan getting into the truck at the beach at night after meeting each other there. It cuts off after Milligan said it was too late to save the world.
- The Doctor coming out of his tent which says "Dog".
- The leadup to the escape attempt at 3pm is cut to just one second to 3.
- The Master letting the Doctor know about knowing about Martha's location.
- Francine holding a gun to the Master before being talked out of it by the Doctor.
- Martha giving Professor Docherty flowers and giving Milligan a call.

The episodes from The Runaway Bride to Last of the Time Lords will be shown again on UKTV this time individually on a weekly basis from Tuesday July 1 7:30pm

 

[Theta Sigma]

Found out from the UKTV newsletter that the 2007 Christmas special will be on UKTV on September 29.

 

[Theta Sigma]

Season 34 on UKTV -

From the UKTV newsletter:
"Doctor Who Weekend (PG)
October 3-4
Join the Doctor for a weekend packed full of adventures in time and space as he returns with his new companion Donna Noble - played by award-winning comedienne Catherine Tate. Also making special appearances this season are former companions Rose and Martha and the mysterious Captain Jack."