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New Torchwood Date, Red Nose video

Starz has announced that the air date for Torchwood: Miracle Day will be July 8th, 2011. On that day we will get to see the premiere episode of season 4, which will get a 10 episode run. That run will bracketed by season 6 of Doctor Who on BBC America, which starts the first half of the season on April 23 and breaks a few weeks before Torchwood starts. After Torchwood runs, Who returns! I wish I could say that we will be getting Sarah Jane Adventures after that, but I don’t believe they have run in the US since season 1; I have had to wait for the DVDs to see them.

But you can see this year’s Red Nose Day Doctor Who episodes online; enjoy!

Doctor Who returns

Doctor Who returns to BBC America with season 6 on April 23rd. Of course, this Friday, March 18th, The Doctor, Amy and Rory will be showing up for Red Nose Day in an all new adventure. Folks on this side of the Atlantic may have to wait until the DVD comes out to see it, but they have put The Curse of Fatal Death online for viewing even in this country. That was the Steven Moffat written episode from 1999’s Red Nose Day which starred Rowan Atkinson as The Doctor, at least at first.

The Doctor for Red Nose Day 2011

Under the tag line Do something funny for money, the annual charity event Red Nose Day is coming around in the UK again on the 18th. Also known as Comic Relief, this gets a full day of support and special programing from the BBC on several of their channels, including BBC 3, BBC Radio 1, and BBC Radio 3. While you still can’t watch their streaming video feed in North America (I keep waiting for their promised paid subscription service, but so far nada), you can listen to the radio streams live. One of the things I always look forward to is the contribution from the Doctor Who team. This year they are doing a micro episode in two parts according to SFX, complete with Amy Pond flirting with herself.

Firefly back on TV

Yep, Firefly is about to start running on TV again. This time around, it is being hosted on the Science Channel, and the physicist behind the Science of Science Fiction, Dr Michio Kaku, will be explaining the science used inside each episode. It kicks off on Sunday, March 6th, with the pilot and first episode, and continues each Sunday after that… in order and in HD! Of course we have seen these episodes before, but according to Nathan Fillion speaking with EW, he is ready to make more episodes the moment anyone makes the offer. Or if he wins the lottery and can make them himself, whichever comes first.

New Pratchett TV!

They started this project in 2006, when they took Terry Pratchett’s wonderful little Christmas tale Hogfather and turned it into a TV Movie special on Sky Television. Then, in 2008, they got together again and outdid themselves with The Color of Magic, which was actually Pratchett’s first two Discworld novels together in a single story. This one is worth viewing for the luggage alone, let alone the great cast, amazing story, or excellent special effects. For the next one, in May of 2010, they did Going Postal, which from all reports is the best one yet. This week, we have received word they have been signed up to do another one, Unseen Academicals. No word on the expected release date, or even if it is going to be on Sky 1 this time, but just knowing there is more Pratchett silliness coming to the small screen makes me grin in anticipation. If you can’t wait, you can always create a football fan character and hang out in the stadium to get ready.

Tv Ratings Explained

One post a day is my usual limit, but I had to break my pattern for this one. I have just read the best TV ratings article ever, and since it is from the folks at Blastr, you know it focuses on Sci-Fi programming at its core. Trust me when I say Craig Engler has nailed it with his very first blog entry! He covers live viewing, DVR counts, streaming, and downloads. He covers with and without commercials and why they count differently, and he explains why the different flavors of online viewing each get weighted the way they do. And since he is from Syfy, all his examples are shows we know, which makes understanding his explanations that much easier. I was part way through writing this article, and now I don’t have to; he did it for me!