Thursday, January 04, 2007

Doing It For The Kids

As reported over at Torchwood.TV the latest issue of DWM (or Doctor Who Magazine to you and me) has hit news-stands everywhere, and features a mammoth behind the scenes feature on "The Runaway Bride" as well as the Torchwood finale - and the Sarah Jane Adventures pilot too!

The magazine goes behind the scenes on the development of "Invasion of the Bane" and reveals that the episode went from first draft script to filming in an agonising five weeks (normally, it's anywhere between two and three months). Gareth Roberts and Russell T Davies are amongst those who are interviewed about their involement with the series - as is, naturally, Sarah Jane Smith herself, alias Elisabeth Sladen!

Sladen's given a full page interview, where she reveals - amongst others - that BBC Head of Fiction, Jane Tranter, absolutely loves the series (join the club!). Sladen also talks about how she was approached to star in the series (yes, it's time to roll out that "I thought it was gonna be Torchwood!" story all over again...) and how much she's enjoyed appearing in the series so far. Oh, and it's a relief to know that the children actors on Sarah Jane (as DWM so lovingly calls it) don't exhaust Sladen one bit - "I absolutely adore them."

Elsewhere, in Gallifrey Guardiam's news section, it's revealed exactly who will be writing the series proper of SJA - set to hit our screens later in the year. Russell T Davies is down to write one of the two part adventures (work commitments permitting); whereas his co-creator, Gareth Roberts, will be scripting two complete stories (so, four episodes in total).

Another writer, Phil Ford, is set to pen one two-part adventure. Ford has recently written for the new CGI Captain Scarlet series, and for the dramas "Bad Girls", "Footballer's Wives" and the twice weekly soap, "The Bill". The writer of the series' last two-part adventure has yet to be revealled.

Finally, DWM confirms what Sarah-Jane.TV has known for a while now; filming on the series begins around mid April, for transmission on BBC One later in the year.

Doctor Who Magazine issue 378 is out now, priced £3.99. To read about the magazine's Torchwood coverage, click here.

No comments: