NEWS RELEASE

DOCTOR WHO MEETS OLD ADVERSARY AND FINDS NEW COMPANION

American actors Eric Roberts and Daphne Ashbrook join the new film for television, Doctor Who, which stars Paul McGann as the Time Lord.

Eric Roberts has been signed to play The Master, an evil force who threatens to destroy Doctor Who and the entire universe. Known for intense roles in 'King of the Gypsies', 'Star 80', 'The Pope of Greenwich Village', 'The Specialist' and 'Runaway Train', for which he received an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination, Roberts recently starred in 'Saved by the Light', Fox's highest rated original presentation on 'The Fox Tuesday Night Movie' slot. He also stars in the soon to be released feature film 'It's My Party' in which he plays an HIV infected man who chooses to end his life.

Daphne Ashbrook has been cast as Dr. Grace Wilson, an unwitting companion of Doctor Who, who joins his wild ride to save the world. Ashbrook's film credits include 'Midnight Heat' and 'Quiet Cool'. She has also appeared in numerous American television films including 'Jake Lassiter', 'You Only Die Once' and 'Poisoned by Love' and has regular roles in the American television series 'Hooperman' and 'Falcon Crest'.

Sylvester McCoy, who played the last Doctor Who in the BBC Telecision series, will also appear in the production. He recreates his role until the character regenerates into the new Doctor Who played by McGann.

Doctor Who, the longest running science fiction series in the world, began as a BBC Television series in November 1963 featuring William Hartnell as the Time Lord. Righting wrongdoing and conquering alien threats, Doctor Who travels through time in his TARDIS, which resembles a London Police Box. With unique regenerative capabilities, Doctor Who has survived death and changed his physical appearances several times in his many years on television.

Hartnell's Who was followed by Patrick Troughton in 1966, Jon Pertwee in 1970, Tom Baker in 1974, Peter Davison in 1982, Colin Baker in 1984 and Sylvester McCoy in 1987.

The two-hour, US$5 million, film for television, which began production in Vancouver earlier this week, is a co-production between BBC Worldwide - the commercial arm of the BBC, and Universal Television. Doctor Who is produced in Canada by Universal Production Canada for distribution by BBC Worldwide and MCA Television Ltd. It will be broadcast on the Fox Network in the United States and BBC-1 in the UK later this year.

Philip Segal and Alex Beaton are executive producers and Peter Ware is Producer. Matthew Jacobs wrote the screenplay and is co-producer. Jo Wright serves as executive producer for the BBC. Geoffrey Sax is Director

18th January 1996
Dr Andrew N. Eaton,
Press & Publicity, The Doctor Who Appreciation Society
PO Box 519, London, SW17 8BU, United Kingdom
Email: ar30@dial.pipex.com or 100446.3561@compuserve.com