The first episode, “The Impossible Astronaut” is the beginning of a two-parter, and sees our friends the Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory, and River Song going to America in 1969. Just to get things going, one of these characters dies in the first 8 minutes. And there’s an all-new alien to face.

Even better, BBC America is showing the new series on the same day as it airs in the UK.

Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.

The final episode of the third series of this brilliantly written BBC Three show only aired last night, and today, we have word that there will be a fourth series.

The show just gets better (and darker) with every episode, and last night’s series finale was no exception.

You can see the announcement on the show blog.

It’s also worth following the American adaptation of Being Human on the Syfy channel. It is just halfway through the first season, and the story line is already beginning to diverge from the original.

17 March 2011 Update

The news today is that the American version of Being Human has been renewed for a second season.

Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.

Probably the most exciting thing about this year’s Doctor Who Christmas special is that it will actually be shown in the US on the same day as in the UK, rather than the delay of several days or weeks that normally occurs.

Details are still coming in, but we do know that this episode will air on 25 December 2010, on BBC One in the UK, as well as BBC America in the US.

The following synopsis has been posted on the BBC web site:

Amy and Rory are trapped on a crashing space liner, and the only way The Doctor can rescue them is to save the soul of a lonely old miser, in a festive edition of the time-travelling adventure, written by Steven Moffat. But is Kazran Sardick, the richest man in Sardicktown, beyond redemption? And what is lurking in the fogs of Christmas Eve?’

Joining Matt Smith (The Doctor), Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) and Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams), Michael Gambon plays Kazran Sardick and Katherine Jenkins plays Abigail.

Also, a preview trailer was shown during the Children In Need appeal on 19 November (see below, available in HD). It includes a cool tag line, “Time can be re-written. People can’t”. Producer Stephen Moffat stated, “Oh, we’re going for broke with this one. It’s all your favorite Christmas movies at once, in an hour, with monsters. And the Doctor. And a honeymoon. And … oh, you’ll see. I’ve honestly never been so excited about writing anything!”

Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.

The biggest one first, even though it comes second (as they both involve time travel, it doesn’t matter). On Saturday, 3 April, the eleventh Doctor (and the youngest one ever), Matt Smith, arrives for his first adventure in “The Eleventh Hour”:

The Doctor has regenerated into a brand new man, but danger strikes before he can even recover. With the TARDIS wrecked, and the sonic screwdriver destroyed, the new Doctor has just 20 minutes to save the whole world – and only Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) to help him.

And on Friday, 2 April, Philip Glenister and Keeley Hawes return for a final time in the time-travelling drama Ashes To Ashes:

The third and final series of Ashes to Ashes is back – and it’s a real slap in the face for DI Alex Drake. Time travelling copper Alex thought she’d made it home to the present day, but wakes to find herself in a hospital bed back in 1983, having been shot by her boss, DCI Gene Hunt, three months ago.

Back in CID a lot has changed; with Gene on the run, Ray Carling has been promoted to DI and is running the show, while DC Chris Skelton and WPC Shaz Granger have ended their romance and new Discipline and Complaints officer, DCI Jim Keats, is breathing down everyone’s necks.

6 April 2010 Update

The new Series of Doctor Who will have its US premiere just two weeks later, 17 April, on BBC America.

Also, while the US won’t see Series 3 of Ashes to Ashes for a while, Series 2 starts 11 May on BBC America.

Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.

After seeing both Russell Tovey (George) and Sinead Keenan (Nina) in the final David Tennant episode of Dr. Who, I found that I was more than ready to get back to this brilliantly written show.

Being Human is a comedy-drama series about three twenty-something housemates trying to live normal lives, despite struggling with unusual afflictions – one is a werewolf, one is a vampire and the other is a ghost. They face a human threat in the form of the mysterious Professor Jaggat and the cold-hearted Kemp. Jaggat and Kemp are fundamentalist Christians who have discovered the existence of vampires, werewolves and ghosts – and are determined to destroy them or carry out brutal experiments upon them. They believe that vampires are the Devil incarnate and must be destroyed; that werewolves contain an evil gene that can be removed by violent scientific experiments; and that ghosts must be forced over to the other side whether they like it or not.

1 February 2010 Update

Series 2 will be ending later this month, but BBC have already announced that a third series has already been commissioned, so we can expect new episodes at about this time next year!

21 May 2010 Update

Series 2 will come to BBC America starting on Saturday, 24 July.

12 January 2011 Update

Series 3 will begin 23 January on BBC Three.

17 February 2011 Update

Series 3 will begin 19 February on BBC America, following a marathon showing of every episode so far, including the Pilot.

At the end of Series 2, in Exit Wounds, we lost both Owen and Toshiko, and it appeared that Rhys was being pulled into the team.

In the new story, all of the world’s children stop – every single one, all at the same moment. Then, they all deliver exactly the same message. Aliens are suspected as the cause, but certain high-ranking government officials also suspect that Torchwood might be involved, and order the destruction of the Hub.

And for Torchwood fans in the US, never fear, Torchwood: Children of Earth comes to BBC America starting on 20 July.

First will be the Christmas 2008 special, “The Next Doctor”, which will air on 27 June. The Easter special, “Planet of the Dead” will air on 26 July. The Fall special, “The Waters of Mars” will air on BBC One on 15 November and on BBC America on 19 December, and the two-part Winter special, “The End of Time”  will follow with Part 1 on 25 December 2009 (26 December on BBC America) and Part 2 on New Year’s Day 2010 (2 January on BBC America).

David Tennant will also have a guest spot in two of the twelve episodes of the Doctor Who spin-off series, “The Sarah Jane Adventures”, in its third season, which will start in September on CBBC.

And as an additional bonus, the outstanding supernatural fantasy, “Being Human” will begin on 25 July on BBC America. In this series, a Vampire, a Werewolf, and a Ghost (sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it?) share a flat in Bristol and try to blend in and lead a normal life. And, yes, at the end of the pilot, they all walk into a Pub. I do hope they air the pilot. If not, our trio don’t get to a Pub until the third episode. This series is brilliant! Don’t miss it.

30 October 2009 Update

Updated show dates for “The Waters of Mars” and the title of the final two-part episode.

21 November 2009 Update

Updated show dates for “The End of Time, Part 1″.

22 December Update

Updated show dates for “The End of Time, Part 2″.

What I do care about is new episodes of both Red Dwarf and Doctor Who!

Red Dwarf returned Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Dave TV with a three-episode story, Back to Earth. It’s very Blade Runner-esque, and a lot of fun.

Even with all of the original cast, something seemed … different. I finally decided it was the absence of the laugh track, which had been in the earlier episodes.

Next, Doctor Who, with a new episode, Planet of the Dead. Shot largely in Dubai, and co-starring Michelle Ryan (of NBC’s Bionic Woman), this episode is one of the last four for David Tennant, and the last “romp” for the 10th Doctor. It ends with a dark, foreboding taste of what is to come in the episodes this Fall and Christmas.

The Fall episode will be The Waters of Mars, and the two-part Christmas story will be the regeneration and hand-off to the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith.