Crossover

Ok, I wouldn't normally put somthing like this on both my personal blog and the Torchwood Institute...but...

David Maloney

Quite sad to see that classic Doctor Who director David Maloney has passed away.

When you consider that he directed classic and definitive Doctor Who stories like Genesis of the Daleks, The Deadly Assassin, and The Talons of Weng-Chiang he stands as one of the defining forces behind the series. Oh yeah, and he directed The War Games as well.

Galactica 3 and Who 2

Stories like this one in Cinescape are suggesting that Season 2 of Doctor Who is heading towards Sci Fi in October. There's been no official word from Sci Fi yet, but there seems to be a lot of gossip around that as a starting date, and well, something else should be airing new episodes the same time as Galactica. But as it's the same time frame as when the CBC will air the second series in Canada, it'd certainly be the ideal situation as far as the second series goes in this continent. I'm sure the staggered release dates made the Series 1 DVD sales more complicated.

(and I've always hoped that new Who and Galactica would be paired...)

Also, good news that we will finally see a new series soundtrack. I figured it was one of those things that was just a matter of time.

Crossing Over

In Paul Cornell's recent post on Doctor Who, as he mentions that the new Doctor Who is one of those shows "everyone watches" in the UK in contrast to a show that people that only watch their specific shows.

Of course, in the US it is quite the opposite, and Doctor Who is still very much a cult phenomena. People are watching it here at a variety of different times and through a variety of distribution methods. And the people that watched it on Sci Fi are hunting it out -- or perhaps are people that watch Sci Fi every friday night. The US equivalents of Jackie Tyler are a lot less likely to be watching Doctor Who.

Interestingly, The Digital Bits is reporting that the vanilla versions of Series 1 will be released in November. Considering all of the episodes are available in a boxed set with loads of extras, it really only makes sense if you're trying to sell something at a cheaper price point for people who might not know what they are buying the first time...

John Barrowman Interview

Here is a fairly recent interview with John Barrowman -- he talks a lot about Torchwood here, as well as what might happen in series three.

Amazon Sales Ranking

Just to follow up, the Amazon Sales Ranking for the First Series boxed set was #3 yesterday, and #2 today. Quite impressive.

I've also been told that the boxed set was sold out at least in one Best Buy. I don't know if that's just the one store, or how it is selling throughout the country. I'm hoping that it's a sign that it is selling well.

It's also my hope that if it sells well, we see DVD and cable distribution for both the first Tennant series as well as Torchwood sooner rather than later.

Freema Agyeman

Freema Agyeman will join David Tennant for the third series of Doctor Who.

It's a bit sad that the cast changes before each series officially reaches America, but such is life.

In general, most of the UK press (and even sites like Outpost Gallifrey) are filled with spoilers for the second half of series two.

And the DVD boxed set for series one is #4 for DVDs on Amazon.com today, on the day of its release. Fantastic! It's the highest DVD boxedset currently. and is also the most expensive on the top #25 (which may mean it doesn't sell as many items as it could..)

Russell T Davies Interview

Here's an interview with Russell T Davies from an American interviewer on the occasion of the DVD release. One of the things that's always interesting is to compare the positioning of Doctor Who in the US to what it is in the UK, and this gets into it a bit.

No Fair!

New Zealand gets Billboards. I want to see billboards!

Pretty cool stuff.

November Region 1 DVD Releases

TV Shows on DVD is reporting that November's US DVD releases will be The Hand of Fear and The Mark of the Rani. The Hand of Fear may be especially well timed if the 2006 episode School Reunion, where Sarah Jane Smith makes a return appearance, is airing in America in the October or November time period as is rumored. (And it will co-incide with its airing in Canada.)

Of course, before we get those two, in September we get The Web Planet and Inferno (tvshows on dvd article).

And on the Amazon.com dvd chart, the Series One boxedset is #10 for the day...

waiting for ten

In Matt Roush's column on tvguide.com he points out that the second series hasn't yet been picked up by Sci Fi, but that he "can't imagine it won't eventually happen".

I presume it is all a matter of cost...

Can it make top ten?

Right now, the First Series boxed set is #11 on Amazons's DVD chart. I imagine that's the highest Doctor Who has been on that chart before, and I know that I'd really like to see it break the top ten at some point.

I gather the boxed set is also now showing up at Best Buys and other stores as well, and other online retailers like WhoNA will get it to you as well.

I'm hopeful that the better Series 1 sells, the sooner we'll see series 2 here....