1—There will be a CANADIAN REGION 1 DVD RELEASE of the Chirstopher Eccleston 1st series!
This is proof that there must be a higher being watching out over us…or else I’m repaying karma for BUYING the British Region 2 Doctor Who discs!
According to a BBC press release, BBC Worldwide Canada has concluded a raft of programming deals and ventures with major networks at this year’s MIPCOM conference including a “major licensing deal with CBC Television for the second series of the latest Doctor Who adventures following the critical success of the first series. The deal includes a Christmas special, hosted by Billie Piper exclusively for CBC viewers that air on Boxing Day. The new 13 part adventure is currently filming in Wales and is due to air on CBC in 2006.”
Noted within the press release is the fact that “BBC Video is planning to release series one on DVD in February 2006.” Outpost Gallifrey has checked with BBC Video today and has been told that they will be releasing the Series One Boxed Set in Canada on February 14.
This is absolutely terrific news — I didn’t even know that there was a BBC Worlwide Canada, separate from BBC Worldwide Americas! But the implications of this move are also rather stunning, as Steve Manfred explains at his Doctor Who VHS & DVD website:
Traditionally, BBC WA has treated the Canadian and US markets as one single entity and marketed the Doctor Who range of video and other merchandise to both at the same time. The broadcast contract situation with the new series of Doctor Who has caused this policy to be re-examined. The CBC in Canada has already run the entire series twice, while no US network has even yet declared an intention to buy and run the series. Because of this new split, BBC Worldwide Americas has decided to divide the markets and sub-contract the distribution of Doctor Who items in Canada to a company called Buzzworthy. (I say �items� because the deal includes the distribution of toys and othermerchandise, not just the DVDs.)
I’m deliriously happy…not only because we’re going to get the Doctor Who Series 1 box set on a reasonable date, but also due to the fact that Canadians no longer have to be slaves to the American entertainment overlords. For too long they’ve dictated what we can and can’t purchase…it’s time to reap our own rewards for investing in the new Doctor Who series. Leave the American corporate morons — who won’t purchase and broadcast the series — to their own devices.
2—TORCHWOOD: Only the SECOND DOCTOR WHO SPIN-OFF series in over 40 years!
In a stunning announcement on Monday (including a BBC press release), BBC Television announced a new television series spun off from Doctor Who to be aired next year on BBC Three. Torchwood, a thirteen-part drama/sci-fi hybrid, will be executive produced by Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner — the executive producers of Doctor Who currently — and will star John Barrowman, who reprises his role as Captain Jack Harkness from the first Doctor Who series earlier this year. Said to have an “organic link” to Doctor Who, Davies says that “Torchwood is a British sci-fi paranoid thriller, a cop show with a sense of humour. It’s dark, wild and sexy, it’s the X Files meets This Life. It’s a stand-alone series for adult audiences which will have its own unique identity. I have just begun working on the scripts with a team of writers and cannot wait to see the results.”
You can get more information & updates by visiting Outpost Gallifrey…but suffice to say, this is beyond extraordinary! It sound exciting, funny, and sexy…and post-watershed, there will no doubt be lots of surprises for those of us who are already stunned by the boundary-pushing Doctor Who has been doing in its new format. John Barrowman is simply a delight to watch on-screen…and with the right cast, and another magnificent set of writers (including PJ Hammond, creator of Sapphire and Steel!), this will certainly be another feather in Russell T. Davies’ cap.
My only hope is that the CBC embraces this show as it did Doctor Who — it sounds like yet another quality program that deserves exposure on a public broadcaster. But that’s a wish for another day…meanwhile, I have The Christmas Invasion to look forward to on December 26th, and a beautiful DVD box set to tide me over until David Tennant takes the helm of Doctor Who series 2 in the spring.
Geek heaven has never been so wonderful!
