notes from outside

It was yet another midnight press release for Doctor Who fans in the UK, as confirmation from on high at the BBC came that the series is to be briefly rested and then return in all it’s glory. Ian Levine has been acting like a right pork chop on Outpost Gallifrey with boisterous declarations such as “Wasn’t it I, Ian Levine, who told you?”-which isn’t quite the case. Not for me at any rate.

After the Children In Need concert last year in Cardiff, word of this spread wide, and then died down. Someone I met who is somewhat connected to Upper Boat confirmed it for me last Christmas. It was the plan, according to them, to ‘rest’ the series for a year or so, coming out with the odd special on bank holidays and Christmas. In this way, Doctor Who could continue as the flagship show it had become for the BBC. Even if it ended, I was reminded, we had so much to remember and be grateful for during the two series which had already been transmitted, and the next was yet to come. Glass half full, got it.

In the months since, I’ve heard different versions, mostly panto melodrama from pork pie Ian Levine, but in the end, my source was right. It’s even better than that, actually, as you’ll read in the press release first appearing at the official site, then on bbc.co.uk, and in an offcial press release.

BBC reveals Doctor Who ‘gap year’

David Tennant’s appearance in the fifth series of Doctor Who looks uncertain after it was revealed there will be no new series in 2009.

The fourth series, starring Tennant, is due to hit TV screens next year, but the fifth will not be seen until 2010.

Instead, Tennant, will star in three Doctor Who specials, written by Russell T Davies, on BBC One in 2009.

A spokeswoman for Doctor Who said she was unable to comment whether Tennant would return for the 2010 series.

Tennant, 36, will reportedly play Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company from July to November next year, but this has not been confirmed by the RSC.

‘Best loved’

Series four, which went into production in July, will hit UK screens in spring 2008 with a special episode scheduled for Christmas 2008.

Comedian Catherine Tate is set to return to the Tardis for the complete 13-week run, reprising her role as Donna from the 2006 Christmas special.

Actress Freema Agyeman, who won praise for her portrayal of assistant Martha Jones, is also set to return during series four.

BBC Fiction controller Jane Tranter said: “Doctor Who is one of the BBC’s best loved and most successful dramas.

“Its journey over the past three series has been one of the most ambitious and exciting that we have had, and I’m delighted to be able to confirm not only three exciting specials for 2009, but a fifth series in 2010. ”

Menna Richards, controller of BBC Wales, said: “This announcement is marvellous news for all involved, and more importantly for the programme’s amazing fan base and audience.”

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/6976178.stm