More Doctor Who Theme Nights Planned
Doctor Downloaded
Red-faced BBC1 chiefs have been forced to download episode 1 of the new series from the Internet - because the corporation's own copy has been worn out through over-playing.
The admission came as the channel prepares for the high profile launch of the series. A source explains: "It's all a bit embarrassing, really. We were doing a last minute check of the programme before transmission and we discovered that the picture's gone all fuzzy in parts".
He went on to say that the problem had been caused by "Constant re-playing of certain clips. Trouble is, there's been so many bloody programmes wanting to show a bit of the new Doctor Who that the tape's simply worn out. You know, like when you were at school and there was a porn video doing the rounds. The bit where the Doctor says 'Run for your life!' and then the building blows up has got these white lines scrolling down the screen all the way through. And the clip where he's blathering on to Rose about how they're floating through space has got some terrible distortion on the sound. Mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing."
In related news, the episode leak has been traced to Canada (although some leeks were also traced back to Wales). The person responsible is rumoured to have been eaten by a large plastic sofa.
Doctor Who DVD Details
BBC Worldwide have announced details of a lavish 10-disc DVD box set which will be released two days after they've sucked every last penny out of the vanilla releases.
While the first three discs will consist of all thirteen episodes of the new series, discs 4-10 will feature a wealth of exclusive behind the scenes material including an unedited compilation of all the interviews where Christopher Eccleston has a chip on his shoulder about how 'the earlier Doctors spoke with received pronunciation' (90 minutes), Russell T Davies telling us he 'doesn't care about aliens on Planet Zog' (3 hours), and Billie Piper going on about how it's 'a love story and you really want them to get together.' (several days).
There will also be clips from news and current affairs programmes featuring lazy journalists 'arriving' in the TARDIS, constant references by presenters to 'hiding behind the sofa' and plenty of 'Daleks can't go up the stairs' gags. A special bonus disc will feature a continuous loop of Jeremy Paxman dematerialising.