Tuesday, 10 September 2013

BBC Announces Schedule for 50th Anniversary Celebrations

The BBC have announced details on the 50th Anniversary schedule. It includes the following:

  • BBC Two lecture by Professor Brian Cox (he appeared in The Power of Three) on the science behind Doctor Who
    • This will be to an audience of celebrity guests and members of the public from the lecture hall of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. It is an hour long
  • An Adventure in Space and Time docudrama, pictured right. This docudrama is 90 minutes long, and will tell the story of the genesis of Doctor Who.
    • Written by Mark Gatiss, the drama stars David Bradley (the Harry Potter films); Brian Cox (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity), Jessica Raine (Call The Midwife) and Sacha Dhawan (History Boys, Last Tango In Halifax).
  • BBC Four will re-run An Unearthly Child in restored format
  • The Culture Show, BBC Two's flagship arts programme, will run an episode called "Me, You and Doctor Who", with lifelong fan Matthew Sweet exploring the cultural significance of the BBC's longest running TV drama.
    •  Put simply, Doctor Who matters. He’ll examine how the show has become a cultural force in its own right and tell the stories of some of the unsung cultural heroes, who pioneered its innovative music, design and storytelling. It is an hour long.
  • CBBC will show a special episode of 12 Again.
    • Bringing together CBBC’s super-fan Chris Johnson, impressionist Jon Culshaw, Tommy Knight (Luke Smith), Warwick Davis (Porridge), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra), Dan Starkey (Strax) Louise Jameson (Leela) and the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, to share their memories of watching TV’s top Time Lord when they were young. It is 30 minutes long.
  • Blue Peter will launch a new competition. Aimed at viewers 6-14, it will give viewers a chance to dream up a new gadget that will become a part of the series.
  • Blue Peter will have two live Doctor Who specials which we will see presenters Barney, Lindsey and Radzi joined by aliens and monsters, with viewers challenging Matt Smith to answer their Doctor Who questions. 
  • BBC Three will launch "Doctor Who: Monsters and Villains Weekend" that countdowns to the top Doctor Who Monster. 
  • BBC Three will also show Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide will introduce the new fans and viewers to the show. Third time lucky, eh?
  • A further BBC Three commission to be announced later this year which "will see the celebrations finish with a bang".
That's for TV, but what about Radio?

  •  A 90-minute documentary on BBC Radio 2 will ask "Who Is The Doctor?" - using newly-recorded interviews and exclusive archive material to find an answer
  • In The Blagger’s Guide To Doctor Who, David Quantick will give the iconic Doctor the Blagger’s treatment. He’ll be finding out the answers to questions such as, why do Americans think Tom Baker is still Doctor Who? How many Doctors have there really been? Were the Daleks really named after an encyclopaedia?
  • Graham Norton will present his weekly Radio 2 show live from the Doctor Who Celebration in London. It is 3 hours long and is Saturday 23 November at 10am.
  • Radio 1 willlook at the genre of music known as "Time Lord Rock" in a 60 minute documentary.
  • Radio 4 Extra will present a 3-hour special on "Who Made Who?" to look at the world that inspired the TV series.

Danny Cohen, Director BBC Television said: "It's an astonishing achievement for a drama to reach its 50th anniversary.

"I'd like to thank every person - on both sides of the camera - who has been involved with its creative journey over so many years."

Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer on Doctor Who said: "50 years has turned Doctor Who from a television show into a cultural landmark. Personally I can't wait to see what it becomes after a hundred."

And as previously posted, the 50th is to be named "The Day of the Doctor" and to be 75-minutes long.

We will, as ever, try to get all these up.

1 comment:

James Hornby said...

I was hoping for more in-universe stuff.