More BBC Promotion for #11

It really is nice to see that BBC America is putting together some nice things for the 11th Doctor launch on BBC America in a little over two weeks.

DOCTOR WHO STARS TO LAUNCH NEW SERIES IN NYC

I got this press release from BBC America -- I'm very jealous and wish I could go!

BBC AMERICA announced today the stars of its new Doctor Who series will make their first U.S. visit together to New York the week of April 12, ahead of the broadcast premiere on Saturday, April 17.

Launching the new era of the iconic series from BAFTA-winning writer Steven Moffat (Steven Spielberg's upcoming Tintin, Jekyll, Coupling), Matt Smith (The Doctor) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) will join Steven in New York for press interviews and a series of events. The launch kicks off on April 12, with a Paley Center for Media and BAFTA East Coast member screening and discussion moderated by Entertainment Weekly’s senior writer Clark Collis. On April 14, fans can join Matt, Karen and Steven at the Village East Cinema for the official premiere screening followed immediately by a Q&A moderated by USA Today’s pop culture columnist Whitney Matheson, author of the Pop Candy blog.



Wednesday, April 14

7:00 PM: A special premiere screening event of the new Doctor Who series, immediately followed by a Q&A with actors Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat at the Village East Cinema. The Q&A session will be moderated by USA Today’s Pop Culture Columnist Whitney Matheson, author of the Pop Candy blog. The event is open to the public and seating is on a first-come, first served basis on the day of the event. Facebook Event Page.

All of Time and Space...Follow Me

I'm very excited by the BBC America trailer... looks excellent. It's different from the previous era of Doctor Who -- but still very much recognizably Doctor Who. Should be great!

Series Fnarg trailer

Looks like everything is well in hand.

New Doctor Who Trailer

Kind of obviously designed for 3D!

Doctor Who success on BBC America

According to the Doctor Who News page The End of Time Part 2 set another record for BBC America, with about 1.47 million viewers across the three showings.

We've also seen The End of Time do well on iTunes, with both parts being in the top ten for the last day or two.

Even more promising than all of this is seeing that they're promoting the future of Doctor Who as well -- with the new series trailer prominently displayed promising new Doctor Who for us this spring, with the pages already getting updated with the new look.

I'll miss David Tennant as the Doctor -- but, well, Geronimo!

The Beginning

Our first look at the start of the next era of Doctor Who.

Closing the Window

I'm impressed about how quick Torchwood:Children of Earth is showing up on iTunes. And considering that it is showing up the day after it airs on BBC America -- which is only a couple of weeks after it aired in the UK -- I hope that this trend continues with the rest of the David Tennant specials and the new Matt Smith episodes in 2010.

Speaking of Matt Smith, my favorite collection of pictures from the first public days of shooting are at blogtorwho. There is something magical about seeing the show renew itself yet again....

And I'm really interested to hear what comes out of San Diego Comic C0n this weekend; as this will probably be the biggest promotional appearance Doctor Who has ever had in the US.

Thank You David Tennant

It's a year before we see his last story as the Doctor, but he is moving on at the end of 2009. I'd expected one more year, to be honest, but it'll be nice to see a reinvigorated series from scratch in 2010 as well.

Because that's how the series works...

Hanging Out With The Dream King

Unsurprisingly, the rumor that superstar Neil Gaiman might write for the 2010 series of Doctor Who is starting to make the rounds.

It's no secret that Neil is a fan of the series -- including the new series, and of new showrunner Steven Moffat's episodes in particular. So he's obviously on the short list of plausible writers for Doctor Who.

I figure it is one of those things that if it is meant to happen, it will -- but Neil is obviously a very busy individual, and he'd be difficult to work out a schedule on, especially given that he's primarily based in the US.

Would this be something to get excited about? You bet. Is it something that I can see happening? Sure. Less likely things in the history of Doctor Who have happened, after all.

But there is a long path until the episode gets in front of a camera -- and so even if he's a possible candidate to write an episode, there are a number of things that can make it fall through. It has happened in Doctor Who history many times in the past, after all.

Grand Moff

Well, it is official. Steven Moffat will be the new Doctor Who show runner.

And really, it could never be anyone else -- he's more than proven his capabilities with his previous Doctor Who contributions. With Curse of Fatal Death he managed the best televised Doctor Who of the 1990s without even having official status, and The Empty Child, Girl in the Fireplace, and Blink have all been highlights of the revived series.

It has been apparent that we were heading to the end of an era for some time now -- and it is a statement to Russell T Davies contribution to the series that his replacement is taking the same sort of recognition that a change of cast would have. Obviously, there are people that have had criticisms of Russell's era of the show -- but it is undeniable that he's made Doctor Who more successful than anyone could have reasonably managed.

Thanks to everyone involved with the current era of Doctor Who -- Russell, Phil, and Julie. It's been a fantastic run, and one everyone can and should be proud of.

And the best part is, we know that there will be great Doctor Who in the future -- it is a format bigger than any one person behind or in front of the camera. It's always capable of changing -- but still having that continuing thread.

Congratulations and good luck. The moment has been prepared for.

Russell T Davies Interview To Read

This interview with Russell T Davies has some interesting little spoilers and cameo reports that I'm sure will be very interesting to some of you.

The Future of Doctor Who is Secure

We've seen a little bit of a panic in some quarters as the BBC announces the future of Doctor Who.

But this shows a nice, solid, long-term commitment to Doctor Who -- I believe that we're now sitting very comfortably for a very solid position to be celebrating the series 50th anniversary in positive style in 2013. We don't know what the production team of 2010 will be like -- and that's several years away -- but Doctor Who isn't going away at all, with nearly as much in 2009 as there was in 1989 -- and a nice long term future.