Rejoice all you Whovians. Your favorite BBC sci-fi drama is coming to Disney XD.
I used to believe that fans of Doctor Who were called Who Heads, but I was firmly corrected by the office Whovian. Whovians are every bit as passionate about their show as the most ardent Trekkie. Or is that Trekker?
Note: Disney XD is not the Disney Channel. Disney XD is the Disney-owned basic cable channel aimed primarily at boys ages 6 to 11. But anyone, even adult Whovians, can watch without undue fear of becoming a social pariah.
Disney XD will feature Series 2 through 4 (2006-2008). Doctor Who originally aired for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989 and was relaunched with Series 2 in 2005, following a 16-year absence.
The Disney XD episodes are the three years starring David Tennant as the 10th Time Lord who "travels through space and time in his TARDIS combating various enemies to save civilizations around the universe."
The TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space) is the series' iconic blue police call box (see photo).
Series 2 also features Billie Piper as the Doctor's shop assistant traveling companion Rose Tyler.
Doctor Who will debut with a special preview at 8 p.m. Saturday with Series 2, Episode 1, "New Earth." In it, the Doctor and Rose board the TARDIS to visit mankind's new home far in the future. "They find gruesome secrets hidden inside a luxury hospital. In addition, an enemy thought long since dead, the paper-thin Cassandra, is out for revenge."
Yes. An evil team of humanoid-feline nuns in the hospital. Enjoy.
Other episodes feature the Doctor and Rose traveling back in time to the Highlands of Scotland to find Queen Victoria confronted by a werewolf; a spaceship in the future that holds a doorway to 18th-century France, where lethal Clockwork Droids stalk Versailles; and modern-day Earth where the human race is threatened by an army of emotionless Cybermen.
After Saturday's preview, Season 2 will continue with a special week-long programming event that will give fans an episode each day from June 13-20.
• Barnes chats. The Arkansas Educational Television Network premieres four new episodes of its public affairs series Barnes and ... A Conversation With starting today. Here's the lineup. All programs air at 6:30 p.m. and repeat the following Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
Today: Barnes and ... A Conversation With the Luizzo Family. Steve Barnes talks with the children of the late civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, who was a member of the NAACP and provided logistical, coordination and transportation support for the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama. She was the first white woman killed during the civil rights movement.
May 14: Barnes and ... A Conversation With Vivienne Schiffer features Rohwer native Vivienne Schiffer talking about her fictional novel Camp Nine, based on the life experiences of Japanese-Americans at internment camps once located in Jerome and Rohwer.
May 21: Barnes and ... A Conversation With Dr. John Kyle Day features Day and his most recent book, The Southern Manifesto: Massive Resistance and the Fight to Preserve Segregation. Day is an associate professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
May 28: Barnes and ... A Conversation With Jessica Fellowes will have Fellowes, niece of Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, discussing her three companion books to the Masterpiece series.
SEASON FINALES
Here are the shows wrapping things up in the next couple of days.
Today:
The Big Bang Theory finishes off Season 8 with Sheldon (Jim Parsons) putting pressure on Penny (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) to pick a wedding date. The fun begins at 7 p.m. on CBS. The sitcom has already been renewed through Season 10.
Dig, USA's biblical conspiracy action/thriller, finds Peter (Jason Isaacs) racing to stop the Order of Moriah's plans to destroy the Temple Mount. The drama unfolds at 9 p.m.
Dig, a complicated series requiring you pay attention, is winding up with fewer than a million viewers. Tonight's episode could be the last hurrah. Or not.
Friday:
Hawaii Five-0 closes out Season 5 with back-to-back episodes. There's the murder of a bounty hunter and then a overly zealous patriot who wants to start a new war on terror. 8 p.m., CBS.
America's Ballroom Challenge finds the winning couples in the four divisions competing across dance styles at 8 p.m. on AETN.
Meet the Smiths ends Season 1 at 7 p.m on TBS with NBA analyst Kenny Smith and his wife, The Price Is Right model Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith, having a hard time putting the romance back in their relationship. Maybe the excuse is their five kids.
Yeah, I haven't been watching this semi-scripted reality show, either.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 05/07/2015