Fan Rants

So, your hungry for seeing how Matt Smith is going to pull off being the Doctor…but its still weeks away before BBC America will be sharing him with you. Well…there is a way to do this…and you don’t have to be a computer genius either.

No, this does not involve illegal downloading, and we at Fan Rants would never condone such actions. But it does involve spoofing BBC as to where you live. You see, if you live in the UK, you can watch Doctor Who via the BBC website the day after it airs. But if your outside of the UK, your just outta luck!

The way they know this is by your computer IP address. This number tells where your service is originating. So what you have to do is use a ‘Proxy’ number that is located in the UK. Here’s how to do it!

First, get a proxy number. Head over to XROXY.COM and choose their Great Britain (UK) Open Proxy List. This will get you a slew of choices, just choose the first one you come upon that has a Port of 80 next to it. Others will work, but these tend to work the best I have found. Write this down, as you will need it in a moment.

These steps are for Win7 but should be very similar for XP.

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Network and Internet, and then click Internet Options.
3. In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Connections tab.
4. Click the LAN Settings button.
5. To enable the use of a proxy server, check the box for “Use a proxy server for your LAN (These settings will not apply to dial-up or VPN connections)”.
6. Enter the IP address of the proxy in the Address text box (you just got this from XROXY).
7. Enter the port number of the proxy in the Port text box.
8. Click OK to complete the proxy configuration process.

Next step is easy. Head over to the BBC iPlayer and view to your heart’s content!

WARNING! You do not want to leave the Proxy setting on after you have viewed your videos. Just follow the steps back into where you entered the Proxy number and uncheck  the box for “Use a proxy server for your LAN (These settings will not apply to dial-up or VPN connections).

Why you ask? Well if you leave it on it will slow down most of your web browsing as it is having to go to the UK every time you pull up your local Pizza Hut ordering page (example, I prefer Pappa Johns). Also, the Proxy numbers do EXPIRE. So you may have to repeat these steps in the future.

On April 17th, BBC America will be premiering not only the new season of Dr Who, but also the first episode with Matt Smith as the Doctor. Yesterday, BBC released the first 43 seconds of episode one as a teaser, enjoy!

Oh yeah, finally a replacement for my boring old alarm clock. Available from Latestbuy.com is the Dalek Talking Alarm Clock. And at almost 10 inches tall its enough to scare anyone awake.

Three classic phrases to wake you up: ‘You would make a good Dalek’, ‘You are the enemy of the Daleks, you must be destroyed’ and of course ‘Exterminate!’ Perfect for you Doctor Who fans!

BBC America announced today that the new season of Dr Who will be shown in the USA beginning April 17th, 2010. Here’s hoping the new Doctor wins over the hearts of the rabbid Whoians out there!

 BBC America has some new video goodness for us this week. Including the Matt Smith (our new Doctor) teaser trailer that most saw at the end of the End Of Time special, and a trailer for the next season.

The new season starts in England on April 3rd. BBC America has yet to announce when those of us on this side of the pond will be so blessed. I will keep everyone apprised!

Dr. Who New Season Trailer #1:

Spring Teaser Trailer: