Everybody’s gearing up for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, which is now a scant two weeks away, but BBC America wants you to know that “The Day of the Doctor” won’t be the only bit of Time Lord entertainment that week – not by a long shot. The cable network is actually devoting just about its entire week’s worth of programming from Monday, November 18th, through Sunday, November 24th to The Doctor. That, traditionally-non-sports fans, is 7 days of Doctor Who, and a lot of it is brand new! Let’s do the rundown, shall we?
Monday November 18th
A marathon of The Doctors Revisited specials from the First Doctor through the Tenth Doctor. 9:00am-9:00pm ET
The U.S. premiere of Doctor Who: Tales from the TARDIS, in which stars and staff from over the course of 50 years speak about their time on the show and their experiences journeying through the cosmos. Will include Matt Smith, David Tennant, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Jenna Coleman, Karen Gillan, Freema Agyeman, William Russell, and Steven Moffat. 9:00pm-10:00pm ET
The U.S. premiere of The Science of Doctor Who with Brian Cox. Not the actor Brian Cox, who will be in An Adventure in Space and Time, mind you, but Professor Brian Cox. Just think of it as “Dr. Brain Cox.” He’ll take you through the conceptual science behind the amazing things the Doctor does. Likely he will also tell you none of it is possible in real life, but that’s the fun of imagination.
Tuesday November 19th
The Ninth Doctor Marathon. 10:00am-11:00pm ET
Wednesday November 20th
The Tenth Doctor Marathon. 2:00am-11:00pm ET
Thursday November 21st
The Eleventh Doctor Marathon Part I. 9:00am-11:00pm ET
Friday November 22nd
The Eleventh Doctor Marathon Part II. 9:00am-8:00pm ET
The U.S. Premiere of Doctor Who Explained which was shown in Asia a few months back and is basically a starter kit for people not familiar with the show, exploring the history and cultural impact. All the same bods talk as the last one. 8:00pm-9:00pm ET
The U.S. Premiere of An Adventure in Space and Time, the docudrama following the creation and shooting of Doctor Who in the early-’60s through the William Hartnell days. 9:00pm ET
Saturday November 23rd
The Eleventh Doctor Marathon Part III. 1:00am-2:00pm ET
Global Simulcast of Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor.” This is the big one, kiddos! The Eleventh and Tenth Doctors team up with whichever Doctor John Hurt turns out to be to do something that will tear apart the fabric of what we all thought we knew about the character we’ve loved for so long. Matt Smith, David Tennant, and Jenna Coleman, with Billie Piper and John Hurt. It’ll be awesome, no doubt about it. Commercial free. 2:50pm ET
Here’s an exclusive, very small clip from the show.
Encore Presentation of Doctor Who – “The Day of the Doctor.” Not simulcast and with commercials, probably. This will have exclusive interviews with Smith and Tennant during the broadcast and will be followed by the premiere of the new fantasy program Atlantis. 7:00pm ET.
The U.S. premiere of The Graham Norton Show episode featuring both Matt Smith and David Tennant. 10:00pm ET
Sunday November 24th
The Matt Smith Countdown. The Top 11 Eleventh Doctor episodes as voted on by YOU, or at least people like you. 9:00am-8:00pm ET
Premiere of the Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited special featuring the Eleventh Doctor. Cast, crew, and celebrity fans discuss the Eleventh Doctor and his time aboard the TARDIS, which will nearly be at an end by that time. 8:00pm-10:30pm ET
—
And there you have it! Literally, if you turn on BBC America that week, there’ll be Doctor Who stuff to watch. I hope you’re excited because I sure as hell am. And be sure to use the hashtag #SaveTheDay. The Doctor said to do that.
BBC America added 25 minutes of commercials to the Christmas Day premiere of “Time Of The Doctor,” lengthening it from 60 to 85 minutes and rendering it unwatchable.
That’s 41.6% additional time, in commercials.
Here in the US, BBC America had so many commercials (some right in the middle of a scene) it spoiled the storyline of the episode.
I wish I had count of exactly how many commercial there were. It would have been nice if BBC America would have broadcast it without commercial interruptions or at least had an intermission where the commercial were placed.
Hashtags on kittens! They’d all disappeared by 2014 a bizarre incident with a chicken put an end to them all. If there are still kittens in 2014, the Doctor and I will be having a conversation…
ohhh I have soooo many boners for this.
Tom Baker & David Tennant on one screen!
No screen can contain this!
I am so excited for Doctor Who!!!Huge fan of both Matt Smith and David Tennant!!!They are the best doctorsEVER
Ditto.
I so can’t wait, I wish I had BBC America so I could watch this week long extraviganza. 🙁 Will have to try and… acquire… the specials.