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Fewer Doctor Who Episodes In 2012
There will be fewer Doctor Who episodes in 2012 because of writer Steven Moffat's commitments to BBC One drama Sherlock, the channel's controller has said.
Danny Cohen told a Derbyshire media conference that Moffat "needs enough time to get that done and then start work on the next series of Doctor Who".
That meant there would be "not as many" episodes of Doctor Who, he added.
But Moffat later wrote on Twitter that scheduling of Doctor Who had "nothing to do with Sherlock".
Doctor Who is one of the BBC's flagship shows. The series typically runs for 13 episodes every year.
Last week the BBC announced that they were filming 14 new Doctor Who episodes, including a Christmas special, to be broadcast from next year.
But Cohen said that not all of the commissioned stories would be transmitted in 2012.
"There will be some episodes, but there won't be a full series, so we won't have a 13-part run," he told the audience at The Church and Media Conference.
Moffat is one of BBC One's key writers, who oversees all Doctor Who episodes.
He is also one of Sherlock's executive producers, and is currently writing one of the show's three new episodes.
"There's only so many hours a day he can be awake," Cohen said, referring to Moffat's workload.
"The man has to sleep and eat, and he's got a family."
Both programmes attract high viewing figures and between them received five nominations at May's TV Bafta's, with Sherlock winning two prizes.
"Steven Moffat is the creative driving force behind Doctor Who. He also, rather magically at the same time, created and got to air Sherlock. So we have to get that balance right," Mr Cohen said.
"There'll be more episodes again in 2013, for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. So that's a big year."
The remaining six episodes of the current series will air on BBC One later this year.
Matt Baker Is Missing Meg
Matt Baker is mourning pet dog Meg who became familiar to viewers through appearances in Blue Peter, Countryfile and Crufts coverage.
Meg, who was 11 years old, even made an appearance on Radio 4's The Archers and was seen on screen when the One Show presenter took part in Strictly Come Dancing last year.
Border collie Meg appeared on the show alongside Baker for five years. She was the eighth dog on the BBC One series and appeared with other show dogs Mabel and Lucy.
The presenter had been brought up on a farm and was keen to have his own pet on screen. She first joined in February 2001 as a nine-week old pup and also appeared with six other presenters during her time on the children's show.
Assignments included a barking part in The Archers, competing in a sheep dog trial and passing a police sniffer dog challenge.
After leaving the show when Baker moved on, she joined him on his later shows such as Crufts and Countryfile.
He said: "I felt as soon as we met she was something special, and it wasn't just her recognisable triangular ears. I never dreamt she would turn out to be my most faithful friend.
"Not only did she bring happiness to millions of children and dog lovers as a brilliant Blue Peter dog, always getting far more fan mail than me, she was an action hero, full of fun and always had play at heart."
Holding Out For A Hero
ITV has commissioned a new series of Holding Out For A Hero to be broadcast on ITV1 later this year.
The studio based gameshow, hosted by Gethin Jones will feature contestants playing to change somebody else’s life rather than their own.
Three selfless contestants nominate a deserving hero and compete to win money for their cause. Whatever money they win will be handed over to their hero, who before the show had no idea someone had decided to play for them.
Gethin Jones said: "I can't wait to get started on this brand new series, Holding Out For A Hero gives someone the opportunity to win a life changing amount of money – not for themselves – but for someone else. They will have to play clever, take the pressure, and most importantly - hold their nerve!”
BBC Must Apologise To Primark
The BBC must apologise to Primark over a scene in a Panorama documentary showing boys in a Bangalore clothing workshop, the BBC Trust says.
The trust said it was "more likely than not" that a scene, which showed the boys "testing the stitching" on Primark clothes, was "not genuine".
It also apologised to Primark and the audience for a "rare lapse in quality".
Journalist Dan McDougall, who filmed the footage, said the finding was "unjust" and "flawed".
The trust stressed that Panorama found evidence that Primark was "contravening its own ethical guidelines".
Primark sacked three Indian suppliers after a six-month Panorama investigation found they had sub-contracted smaller firms and clothes had been worked on by children.
The Panorama documentary, shown on BBC One in June 2008, included undercover footage of three boys in a Bangalore workshop "testing" Primark brown vest tops to make sure that sequins would not fall off.
The trust, investigating a complaint by the clothing firm that the scene was not genuine, examined original tapes and witness evidence.
Discrepancies included the use of large needles on intricate stitching, and the fact that there were no other Primark tops other than the three being worked on by the boys, the trust said in its report.
Alison Hastings, chair of the trust's editorial standards committee, said the BBC's investigative journalism was "rightly held in very high regard" adding, "for more than 50 years Panorama has made a very significant contribution to that".
But the programme failed to meet the required "highest standards of accuracy", she said.
"While it's important to recognise that the programme did find evidence elsewhere that Primark was contravening its own ethical guidelines, there were still serious failings in the making of the programme," she added.
Primark welcomed the ruling saying millions of people had been "deceived by Panorama".
"Viewers who watched the programme, shoppers who were then fed the lie, sourcing experts who believed the lie, teachers and pupils who viewed the programme in lessons, have all been badly let down," a spokesman said.
But Dan McDougall said he "vigorously" rejected the ruling saying it was "deeply damaging to independent investigative journalism".
"In the BBC Trust's own words, there is not 'one piece of irrefutable and conclusive evidence' to support the allegation that the sequence in the programme had been staged," he added.
Ralf Little Writes Sitcom
Ralf Little has written a new sitcom for Sky One, set in a Weston-super-Mare cafe.
Sky has ordered six half-hour episodes of The Cafe, to air from October The series will be directed by Royle Family co-star and co-writer Craig Cash and made by his production company Jellylegs.
Little also stars in the show as the resort’s ‘prodigal son’ – who returns home after making his fortune in London, and tries to rekindle his romance with his childhood sweetheart, the daughter of the cafe owner Carol. Sky calls it a ‘naturalistic, honest portrayal of typical British family life’.
The series goes into production this month.
Michelle Terry, an actress from Weston-super-Mare who appeared in last year’s BBC One pilot Reunited, the co-wrote the series. She also has a role in the show alongside June Watson, Ellie Haddington, David Troughton, Marcia Warren and comedy veteran Brian Murphy.
We're Still Together, Lucas Says
Little Britain's Matt Lucas has reassured fans he is still working with David Walliams after reports the pair had gone their separate ways.
They are currently working on different projects with Lucas appearing in west end musical Les Miserables and Walliams presenting a panel show, called Wall of Fame, on Sky 1.
But Lucas told followers on his Twitter account: “Some Tweeters assuming that because we are doing our own shows at the moment, me and Dave have split up. Sorry to tell you we haven’t!”
The pair’s spoof airport documentary Come Fly With Me debuted on the BBC at Christmas and the corporation said another series is planned.
BBC Concern Over Tajikistan Reporter[/b]
The BBC has expressed concern over the detention of its reporter in Tajikistan, Urinboy Usmonov.
Usmonov, who has worked for the BBC Central Asian Service for the last 10 years, was reported missing by his family on June 13 when he failed to return home after work. On June 14, after increasingly desperate searches by family and work colleagues, Usmonov appeared at his home accompanied by members of the Tajik security services. His family reported that he appeared to have been beaten up.
A search was conducted of his home by the officers and he was then taken away. He has been denied access to his family since then.
The BBC now understands that Usmonov has been accused of having links to the Hizbi Tahrir party – an Islamic organisation which is banned in Tajikistan. Whilst he has reported on the judicial trials and activities of the Hizbi Tahrir party in Tajikistan at the request of the BBC, the BBC said it has no reason to believe these allegations.
The corporation has demanded that Usmonov is released with immediate effect.
Matt Lucas and David Walliams Call Time
Matt Lucas and David Walliams have called time on their professional partnership, according to newspaper reports
The comedy duo are to part company after more than two decades of performing together and make separate new shows for the BBC, according to the papers.
While the pair had originally planned to write a second series of spoof show Come Fly With Me, Walliams is now reportedly developing his first comedy without Lucas, in which he will portray a stressed-out classroom teacher.
Meanwhile, 37-year-old Lucas will return to his former role in Les Miserables in London's West End theatre district before fronting BBC One's The Matt Lucas Awards, which will see him dole out a series of alternative accolades.
waveguide.co.uk
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