Doctor Who, Alien and Harry Potter Star John Hurt Has Died

John Hurt who played The War Doctor in the 50th Anniversary Special "The Day of The Doctor" has passed away at the age of 77. He is has been in tons of TV and movies most notable The Elephant Man, Alien, The Storyteller and three Harry Potter movies  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2.  You can read more about John Hurt at the links below.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38778145

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000457/#actor

http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/01/john_hurt_who_starred_in_eleph.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-hurt-dead-elephant-man-809521

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary DVD and Blu-ray Set

Rumored for months, it is now confirmed that there will be a limited edition 50th anniversary set for Doctor Who on both Blu-ray and DVD.  The sets will be limited to 6,000 blu-ray and 4,000 dvd and be available in the UK September 8.  The set will include -

Doctor Who Episodes

• The Name of the Doctor
• The Night of the Doctor
• The Day of the Doctor
• The Time of the Doctor

The Docu-drama

• An Adventure in Space & Time

And much more....

• The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
• Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide
• The Science of Doctor Who
• Doctor Who Proms 2013
• The Last Day
• The Day of the Doctor Readthrough
• The Day of the Doctor Cinema Intros
• Deleted Scenes
• Behind-the-Scenes action
• BBC America Documentary: Tales from the Tardis
• BBC America Documentary: Farewell to Matt Smith

Doctor Who - The Day of The Doctor Wins BAFTA Award

Doctor Who but more specifically The Day of The Doctor won the special fan vote BAFTA.   Doctor Who took home the Radio Times Audience Award but sadly An Adventure In Space and Time did not win anything at all.  Which was unfortunate as I thought AAISAT was marvelous and a true highlight of the 50th Anniversary celebration. 

Doctor Who - An Adventure In Space and Time and The Day of The Doctor Nominated For BAFTA TV Awards

The BAFTA TV awards (the UK's equivalent to the Emmy's) have announced its nominees and the two Doctor Who 50th Anniversary shows have both been nominated.  First An Adventure In Space and Time has been nominated in the Best Single Drama catagory.

Meanwhile Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special The Day of the Doctor has been nominated in the Radio Times Audience award.  You can go and vote for it Here.  The awards will be presented May 18th.

For a full list of BAFTA TV awards nominees follow the link below to the BAFTA website.
http://www.bafta.org/

Doctor Who and Adventure In Space and Time Earn BAFTA Nominations

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special and the 50th Anniversary Docu Drama An Adventure In Space and Time have both been nominated for a BAFTA Craft Award.  The Day of the Doctor was nominated in the Television Craft  Special, Visual & Graphic Effects in 2014 while An Adventure In Space and Time was nominated in three categories Costume Design, Make Up and Hair Design and Editing Fiction. The winners will be announced April 27th and you can read all the nominees at the Radio Times Website

Doctor Who - 50th Anniversary Collectors Edition DVD/Blu Ray

It looks like there is going to be a 50th Anniversary Collection on the way.  The BBFC have passed a bunch of VAM's for a forthcoming release.  The have cleared extras The Science of Doctor Who and The Ultimate Guide along with an extra that is around 8 minutes long.    I'm hoping the Fiveish Doctors will be part of this set along with a Blu Ray version of An Adventure In Space and Time.  More info will be reported once we learn more about this collection.
 

Doctor Who - The Day of The Doctor Blu Ray Review

The Day of The Doctor Blu Ray Review

The Day of The Doctor was a wonderful 50^th Anniversary special and now it is out on DVD and Blu Ray.  The Blu Ray and DVD have the exact same extras on it and if you’re looking for that Five Doctors Reboot then you are going to be disappointed. 

Now the main reason for buying this release is for the story itself and if you want to know what I thought of The Day of The Doctor you can do so by clicking on this link here.   The story of course looks really good in HD and the sound is really crisp also.   The quality of the special is in itself makes buying the Blu Ray worth it.   Now for the extras which for a bare bones release has quite a bit and some are worth getting.

Doctor's Final Regeneration (Spoilers)

by Ken Parker

Spoilers

Doctor Who can be confusing at times and while I would argue that it is better when it isn't, Steven Moffat and many fans disagree.  With "The Day of the Doctor" doing nothing to clear up the regeneration questions, Moffat had to make an official statement on where we stand right now.  Matt Smith is the final incarnation of the Doctor.  ok.... WHAT?

Doctor Who - Behind The Lens: The Day of The Doctor (North American Friendly Version)

For those in the US and Canada who were not able to see this on November 23rd here is a North American friendly version of the making of The Day of The Doctor.

BBC Home Entertainment Announces Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor - Combo Pack & DVD December 10

DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR

Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD Available December 10

Street Date: December 10, 2013

Suggested Retail Price: DVD $24.98 ($30.98 in Canada)

Blu-ray 3D +Blu-ray + DVD $29.98 ($37.48 in Canada)

Length: Approx. 75 mins + bonus material / single disc DVD/ 2-disc BD combo pack

New York – December 2, 2013 – BBC Home Entertainment will release Doctor Who’s 50^th Anniversary Special, Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor, in a Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo pack or DVD on December 10, 2013.

Bonus features include:

• Doctor Who Explained – The entire 50-year history in one 50-minute special

• Two mini-episodes – “The Night of The Doctor” and “The Last Day”

• Behind-the-scenes featurette – Go behind the scenes at the Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary Special – on set and on location – featuring interviews with Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, David Tennant, Billie Piper and John Hurt. Steven Moffat gives insight into writing the episode, and it takes a look at the monsters that make a return for this very special event

• San Diego Comic-Con trailer of Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor

• Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary tribute teaser trailer 

Doctor Who earned the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama following a massive global campaign which saw the episode broadcast in 94 countries across 6 continents. The anniversary special broke ratings records: BBC AMERICA was the #1 cable network on Twitter on November 23, Doctor Who was #1 on Twitter in all of television, and the series set a record on Tumblr with the highest level of activity of any televised event ever, surpassing the Super Bowl and MTV’s Video Music Awards. And in addition to a theatrical simulcast in 11 markets on November 23^, BBC AMERICA and NCM Fathom Events presented Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor in RealD™3D in over 660 select movie theaters across the country on November 25. Overall Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor was No. 2 at the box office on November 25 and was Fathom’s most successful one-night event ever.

Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor, written by lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, sees the Doctors (Matt Smith and David Tennant) embark on their greatest adventure across space and time. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him. Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jenna Coleman, with Billie Piper and John Hurt, this is the event fans have been waiting for. The special also stars Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart, daughter of legendary Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth I.

Last seen as the Tenth Doctor on January 1, 2010, the special is the first time David Tennant has reprised his role. During his tenure as the Time Lord, Tennant appeared in three seasons as well as several specials. He was first revealed as the Doctor in the 2005 season finale, The Parting of the Ways. Meanwhile Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler for two seasons following the reboot in 2005, will appear in the show for the first time since featuring in David Tennant’s last episode, The End of Time in 2010. Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor is directed by Nick Hurran, executive produced by Steven Moffat, Faith Penhale and produced by Marcus Wilson.

Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor Review

by Ken Parker

Huge expectations for this 50^th Anniversary special and with some incredible Doctor Who events already experienced (An Adventure in Space and Time and the finding of two previously lost classic series) how can “The Day of the Doctor” fair for this fan who has been often critical of the series, especially of late.

The Day of the Doctor Catching Fire!!

There are reports online that the one day "The Day of the Doctor" was in the theaters in the US (Monday, November 25) that it beat out Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Other reports state that Doctor Who came in second.  Either way, pretty spectacular when you consider that "The Day of the Doctor" aired for free on TV that weekend.  This points out the dedication to the fans of Doctor Who for sure.

Of course, it was a Monday and it was the only day to see "The Day of the Doctor" so it certainly had an advantage but still....

Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor Reviewed in Podcast

Our Knights recorded a podcast review of The Day of the Doctor a short time after the episode aired on November 23, 2013.  We talked about the story and gave our opinions.  Thanks to Rob, Jeff, Ken and Annie for taking part - it was good to share the experience with them and all who showed up for the viewing.

Stay tuned for part 2 and 3 which has us discussing An Adventure in Space and Time, The Five(ish) Doctors and other anniversary happenings as well as some of our best Doctor Who memories.

BBC AMERICA's Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor Delivers Record Ratings

BBC AMERICA’S DOCTOR WHO 50^TH SPECIAL DELIVERS RATINGS AND SOCIAL MEDIA RECORDS

#1 HIGHEST RATED TELECAST EVER FOR BBC AMERICA

#1 TELEVISION SHOW ON TWITTER

#1 TELEVISION EVENT EVER ON TUMBLR

DOCTOR WHO SETS FATHOM EVENTS THEATRICAL RECORD

DOCTOR WHO GLOBAL SIMULCAST SETS GUINNESS WORLD RECORD

ATLANTIS DELIVERS HIGHEST RATED SERIES PREMIERE EVER ON SUPERNATURAL SATURDAY

New York – November 25, 2013 – BBC AMERICA’s Doctor Who and new Supernatural Saturday series Atlantis broke records on Saturday, November 23. Doctor Who’s 50^th Anniversary special, Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, delivered 3.6 million viewers in L+SD for the daytime simulcast and primetime encore. On Saturday, BBC AMERICA was the #1 cable network on Twitter, Doctor Who was #1 on Twitter in all of television and the series set a record on Tumblr with the highest level of activity of any televised event ever, surpassing the Super Bowl and MTV’s Video Music Awards.

Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor global simulcast on BBC AMERICA at 2:50pm ET delivered the channel its best telecast ever in L+SD, 2.4 million total viewers and 1.2 million among A25-54. In addition to its premiere on BBC AMERICA, the channel presented sold-out RealD™3D simulcast screenings in eleven cities for eleven Doctors on Saturday. 

Doctor Who earned the Guinness World Record for the largest ever simulcast of a TV drama following a massive global campaign which saw the episode broadcast in 94 countries across 6 continents.

 

“The fan response on-air, in social media and in theaters across the country has been nothing short of incredible. The 50^th Anniversary of this extraordinary program has cemented its iconic status for millions of American viewers and we can't wait for the Christmas Special,” said Perry Simon, General Manager for BBC AMERICA.

BBC AMERICA’s new fantasy series, Atlantis, delivered the highest rated series premiere ever for Supernatural Saturday with 838,000 total viewers. From the creators of Merlin and Misfits, the 13-part series airing Saturdays at 9:00pm ET, brings to life the vast store of Greek myths and legends re-imagined for a new generation. 

Doctor Who’s 50^th Anniversary celebration continues tonight (11/25) with BBC AMERICA and NCM Fathom Events presenting RealD™3D screenings in over 660 select movie theaters across the US. Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor is NCM Fathom Event’s most successful one-night event to date, with record-breaking pre-sales of 175,000+ tickets and the highest web traffic in FathomEvents.com history. Theaters are sold out across the country from New York to Los Angeles; Chicago to Orlando; and Dallas to Seattle, among many more markets. 

  
Additional key successes include:

· Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor is the #1 season and episode on iTunes and #1 episode on Amazon’s television chart within 24 hours of release.

· #1 most downloaded episode of 2013 for BBC Worldwide on iTunes (based on first day of sale).

· In social media, BBC AMERICA ranked as the #1 entertainment network in U.S. cable for the week.

· On Tumblr, there were 14.5 million views of BBC AMERICA’s Doctor Who Tumblr on November 23.

· On Twitter, Doctor Who overall generated a total of 1.83 million tweets, topping everything on cable for the week.

 

· On GetGlue, Doctor Who recorded the most activity ever for a single show smashing the previous record held by Breaking Bad.

 

· On November 23, BBCAmerica.com had its best day ever with over 1.375 million global page views. BBCAmerica.com and its Anglophenia blog had its best week ever in page views and uniques.

Doctor Who: The Day of The Doctor will be available as a Blu-ray combo pack or DVD on Tuesday, December 10. Written by lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor stars the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, companion Jenna Coleman, with Billie Piper and John Hurt.

This Christmas, BBC AMERICA will premiere Matt Smith’s final episode, Doctor Who’s Christmas Special, where Smith’s Eleventh Doctor will regenerate into the next Doctor played by Peter Capaldi. 

Sources:

Trendrr.TV. Tumblr Analytics. Union Metrics.

Nielsen Media Research, L+SD

Doctor Who - The Day of The Doctor Review (Spoilers)

 

Doctor Who: 

The Day of The Doctor  

By Steven Moffat

“Gallifrey Falls No More.”

It is finally here.  Doctor Who’s 50^th Anniversary special has finally aired and we finally get to see what John Hurt’s Doctor is all about.  All the speculation and hypothesis that have been going on since “The Name of The Doctor” have been at a fever pitch and the debates and discussions have heated up on social media over the course of the summer and fall can now end.  We have our answers at last. “The Day of The Doctor” has happened and we have all seen it but was it what we expected? Was it worthy of the hype?  Will it go down in anniversary fame as “The Three Doctors” and “The Five Doctors” before it or did it crash and burn and disappoint like the 25^th anniversary story “The Silver Nemesis” and nothing for the 30^th and 40^th?   Well it sure did not disappoint as “The Day of The Doctor” turned out to be my favorite anniversary story ever.

I usually write my reviews right after I watch the episode.  Except if it is a two part story then I wait till the whole story airs and review it at one time.  “The Day of The Doctor” was the exception as I’m writing this after I have watched it for a second time.  After watching it there was a lot of discussion with my friends at the party and I knew that I would need some time to recover from the euphoria of watching it.   I was pretty jazzed up and really excited for what I had just seen and my emotions were all over the place that it would be better to write this later when I was thinking normally.  Or in my case as normal as I think most of the time, well, some of the time I guess.

Doctor Who - Day of The Doctor Deleted Scene

Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor Makes Guinness World Record

The largest simulcast of a TV drama was undertaken on November 23, 2013 with the broadcast of Doctor Who - The Day of the Doctor.  With 94 countries over 6 continents, the show was seen by millions and don't forget all the cinemas around the world that showed it in 3-D!!

Moffat is presented with the Guinness Award

Source: http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/guinness-world-record-for-the-day-of-the-doctor

Doctor Who - Matt Smith On "The Day of The Doctor"

Source: BBC Media Centre

Stepping back in to the TARDIS for his penultimate ride, Matt Smith takes on the role of the Doctor in his greatest adventure yet. Here he talks about being part of the epic 50th adventure.

What is it like starring in the 50th anniversary special, one of the biggest years for the show?
It’s a thrill to be in the 50th anniversary. I feel very proud to be part of it and it’s a credit to everyone who started the show back in the 60s that it’s come this far. It’s a great format and a great idea.

‘The Day Of The Doctor’ marks the return of David Tennant and Billie Piper, and we get the revelation of John Hurt’s Doctor. What was it like working alongside them all?
It was a joy to work with David, Billie and John Hurt. I’ve worked with Billie before and I’d obviously seen all of David’s work, especially as the Doctor. He’s a brilliant actor and a brilliant Doctor. It’s quite strange, I always sort of get that surreal thing of looking at David and thinking, ‘Oh my God, there’s Doctor Who’. And John is acting royalty. Another wonderful Doctor and again, a good bloke. I think looking back over my tenure on this show, one of the great privileges has been the quality of actors that you get to work with.

Doctor Who - David Tennant On "The Day of The Doctor"

Source: BBC Media Centre

Last seen in his pin stripe suit and trainers in 2010, David Tennant returns as the 10th Doctor in the 50th anniversary special. Here he talks about rivalry between the Doctors and coming back to the show.

What is it like being part of the 50th in one of the biggest years for the show?
It’s very exciting to be around for the big celebration episode. I think since I left, the expectation had been that I’d end up in this special, because there is a precedent for old Doctors coming back for a visit around the anniversary time. I was thrilled because it’s a huge thing for Doctor Who and it’s a huge thing for television in general. So few shows run beyond a few series and 50 years’ worth is quite a legacy, so I’m very honoured to be part of that.

Doctor Who - Jenna Coleman On "The Day of The Doctor"

Source: BBC Media Centre

Back in the TARDIS, Jenna stars as companion to the Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith. Having met more Doctors than any other companion, this time she comes face to face with more than one Doctor at once.

What is it like starring in the 50th special, one of the biggest years for the show?
It’s fantastic. I feel really spoilt to be honest and lucky to be in the show in the first place, but also to have come in at this time. Whilst we were filming it felt very celebratory and special. Working with David, Billie and John, I feel really pleased to be part of the whole thing.

What was it like working with David and Billie, was there any competiveness between the different Doctors and companions?
I think there’s a competitiveness in them that kind of brings out the best in the Doctor. You see it on set that they are so totally different Doctors, but they just complement each other. They make fun of each other mercilessly.