Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Torchwood - September 8 on BBC America
BBC America has started running trailers for Torchwood in its Doctor Who marathon today. Torchwood's US premiere is Saturday September 8 at 8PM Eastern Time (7PM Central, 6PM Mountain, 5PM Pacific).
Who website updated
The Official BBC Doctor Who website has been updated for this Saturday's episode The Family of Blood, which features images from A Journal of Impossible Things:
http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/__._,_.___
http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/__._,_.___
Review of The family of blood is up
CBBC Newsround has a review of this Saturday's episode The Family of Blood which can be read by clicking HERE.
Infinite quest clip
The teaser clip of episode 8 of Totally Doctor Who's animated adventure The Infinite Quest is now available at the Official BBC Doctor Who website and can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
TSV Sampler
Contents:
John Barrowman interview
Drabble Who Challenge
Fitz's Conquests - The BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures
Missing Moments: The Invasion
TSV Review: About Time, The Completely Unofficial Encyclopedia
Download options:PDF file (2.77MB) (Reader)CBR file (7.35MB) (Reader)
You can also find info for subscribing to TSV here.
John Barrowman interview
Drabble Who Challenge
Fitz's Conquests - The BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures
Missing Moments: The Invasion
TSV Review: About Time, The Completely Unofficial Encyclopedia
Download options:PDF file (2.77MB) (Reader)CBR file (7.35MB) (Reader)
You can also find info for subscribing to TSV here.
2007 TV Choice Awards - vote now
Doctor Who has been nominated in the 2007 TV Choice Awards.
As with previous years, you can cast your vote online, where Doctor Who has been nominated in the following categories:
Best Loved Drama Series - (Doctor Who)
Best Actor - (David Tennant)
Best Actress - (Freema Agyeman)
Voting closes at midnight on 15th June 2007.
[Sources: DWO; TV Choice Awards - website]
As with previous years, you can cast your vote online, where Doctor Who has been nominated in the following categories:
Best Loved Drama Series - (Doctor Who)
Best Actor - (David Tennant)
Best Actress - (Freema Agyeman)
Voting closes at midnight on 15th June 2007.
[Sources: DWO; TV Choice Awards - website]
S3: Episode Ten - synopsis
The BBCi Press Office have released the synopsis for 3.10: Blink.
In an old, abandoned house, the Weeping Angels wait, as Russell T Davies's Doctor Who continues. However, when people start disappearing, a young woman called Sally finds cryptic messages bleeding through from 1969 – messages from a mysterious stranger called the Doctor. But can she decipher them before the Angels claim their prize?
David Tennant plays the Doctor and Freema Agyeman plays his companion, Martha Jones. Carey Mulligan guest stars.
3.10: Blink airs on BBC One on Saturday 8th June 2007 at 7:10pm.
In an old, abandoned house, the Weeping Angels wait, as Russell T Davies's Doctor Who continues. However, when people start disappearing, a young woman called Sally finds cryptic messages bleeding through from 1969 – messages from a mysterious stranger called the Doctor. But can she decipher them before the Angels claim their prize?
David Tennant plays the Doctor and Freema Agyeman plays his companion, Martha Jones. Carey Mulligan guest stars.
3.10: Blink airs on BBC One on Saturday 8th June 2007 at 7:10pm.
Kylie Minogue speculation continues
Speculation over Kylie Minogue's potential appearance in the series continued yesterday with the free London paper Standard Lite carrying a photograph apparently showing the singer's "todo" list carried by her stylist William Baker, including a note to contact the show's executive producer Russell T Davies.The note in question reads: "When Dr Who script arriving? Russell's number."Its sister paper, the Daily Mail, also mentions the item this morning, and carries the respective photos in an online article (near the bottom of the page).
Sea Devils Planned For DVD
The Sea Devils is being prepared for release on DVD, the latest edition of the Royal Navy's official newspaper has revealed.Navy News was contacted on behalf of the Restoration Team in the hope of tracking down naval personnel involved in or who witnessed the story's filming - in particular, the team hopes to find a rating believed to have shot some cine footage.The June edition of the publication says that as part of the DVD, a documentary is being produced on the making of the Jon Pertwee six-parter. The adventure originally aired in 1972 and the location work was carried out in the Portsmouth area in October 1971.A story about the location filming was done at the time by the local daily paper, The News, which photographed Pertwee chatting with three ratings at the Fraser gunnery range. One of the ratings, an Able Seaman David King, pictured above right, who was then aged 26, appears to be capturing the moment for posterity on a cine camera.In the Navy News piece, project team member Richard Bignell says: "If Mr King did take any cine film of the shoot, we would be very interested in talking to him!"The documentary-makers also hope to track down people who took still pictures.A release date for the DVD has yet to be confirmed.
Overnight Ratings - Human Nature
Doctor Who was once more top of the charts with unofficial figures showing that Episode Eight, Human Nature, was watched by 7.1 million viewers, a 36.3% share of the total television audience.The programme was the most watched of the day, both by audience and by share, beating the second placed Lottery Draw by half a million viewers. The opposition on ITV1, Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon, got 4.5 million and was the highest rated programme on ITV1 for the day.With one day to go, Doctor Who is currently the 11th most watched programme of the week.Once again the programme was by far the most watched in the children's chart, with 1.5 Million 4-15 year olds watching, a massive 59% of that audience.On BBC3 0.67 million watched Doctor Who Confidential, which was a 4.2% share of the multi channel audience. It was the most watched programme on multi channel television.
Sea Devil Costume To Be Auctioned
A complete Sea Devil costume is to be auctioned at Bonhams next month.The auctioneers say it is believed to be the only existing outfit from the 1972 Jon Pertwee story.It is listed as being complete with string vest, belt and a replica weapon, and comes with a letter of provenance. An estimate of 8,000 to 10,000 pounds has been placed on the lot.The auction will take place on June 20 in Knightsbridge as part of a film and rock 'n' roll memorabilia sale. Outpost Gallifrey reported on Friday that The Sea Devils is to be released on DVD.
Stephen Fry attacks reality TV
Stephen Fry has criticised reality television - which he says "picks over the remains of life".The actor and host of quiz show QI told how he "loathes and despises" shows such as Big Brother."Dancing On Ice is simply torture to me," he added in an interview with The Stage magazine. "I would rather skewer my own eyeballs out of their sockets with a blunt bodkin than I would watch that. I thrive on creativity, energy and excitement."Fry also revealed he had regrettably had to decline a role in Doctor Who: "When you are set a benchmark of excellence such as that of Russell T Davies, you have to have it right or not at all. So I decided reluctantly on not at all."
Who Am I?
David Tennant explains the nature of new role to DWM.
"Playing the same character every week in a long-running series is great, and very inspiring and exciting," David Tennant reveals in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine.
"But it's such an unexpected bonus to be asked to portray a whole new character, halfway through the shoot, which by definition must be unlike the character you're playing every other day."
So who, exactly, is this John Smith character, asks the mag?
"He looks like the Doctor and doesn't sound much like him, but he must be a different man, says David cryptically. "Well, he must be a man, rather than a Time Lord..."
DWM also catch up with guest star Jessica Hynes, writer Paul Cornell, and Russell T Davies about this very different - and even more terrifying than usual! - Doctor Who adventure...
DWM will also reveal who'll be scripting Series Four, chatting to Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and director James Strong and giving us 42 fantastic facts about 42!
Meanwhile, Russell T Davies will be flying the flag (for Who) in Production Notes...
DWM 383 goes on sale from Thursday 31 May priced £3.99.
"Playing the same character every week in a long-running series is great, and very inspiring and exciting," David Tennant reveals in the new issue of Doctor Who Magazine.
"But it's such an unexpected bonus to be asked to portray a whole new character, halfway through the shoot, which by definition must be unlike the character you're playing every other day."
So who, exactly, is this John Smith character, asks the mag?
"He looks like the Doctor and doesn't sound much like him, but he must be a different man, says David cryptically. "Well, he must be a man, rather than a Time Lord..."
DWM also catch up with guest star Jessica Hynes, writer Paul Cornell, and Russell T Davies about this very different - and even more terrifying than usual! - Doctor Who adventure...
DWM will also reveal who'll be scripting Series Four, chatting to Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and director James Strong and giving us 42 fantastic facts about 42!
Meanwhile, Russell T Davies will be flying the flag (for Who) in Production Notes...
DWM 383 goes on sale from Thursday 31 May priced £3.99.
Or not axed???? Shame on The Sun (an editorial)
Official statement from the BBC:“It is absolute rubbish that Freema Agyeman has been axed or sacked from Doctor Who. However we do not comment on future storylines.”
On a day where Freema should be celebrated in the press for her lovely first appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, it instead has been horribly ruined by the cruelty of a tabloid desperate for attention by any means. While we are not an official voice for Freema, we would like to at least express our outrage against The Sun’s nonsense.
Having failed to cash in on their attempts to damage her established co-star, David Tennant, by trying to ignite and ride on rumours of his impending departure from Doctor Who, “The Sun” has turned their eye to a far easier target, an actress who has just barely gotten her momentum going in mainstream media and therefore can less easily defend herself.
Freema had been their darling until recently and they could not print enough nice things to say about her. But she seems to have outlived her usefulness to them since every other paper was also praising her and their voice was being drowned out. So “The Sun” has changed their tactics, now forming their words into a knife and trying to plunge it into her career for no apparent reason but for their own depraved gossip and readership numbers.
Rest assured, there is an ever growing list of logical reasons why what they say is hopelessly incorrect and full of falsehoods, including the recent statement by Russell T. Davies that he hasn’t even written the Christmas Special yet, let alone any of series four. But The Sun made one glaring mistake in their attempt to trash Freema: there is no-one in the BBC that high in authority who would ever talk to them on that kind of topic. It just wouldn’t happen. Such a person would lose their lucrative job in a heartbeat, it wouldn’t be worth risking discovery.
To attempt to poison Freema’s fanbase by eroding the will to commit to her character emotionally is nothing short of a crime in our book. It’s bad behaviour expected from a bully, not from any entity claiming to be “press”.
So in conclusion, all we can do is ask you to boycott The Sun. There is simply no reason to read it anyway and if this is going to be their new trend why do you need such negativity in your day? Entire towns have successfully boycotted The Sun, we dare say a fandom can do so as well. We are compiling a list of their associated products and companies to boycott, as well as previous claims by them that were complete fabrications so that you more readily defend yourself against their rubbish and will publish it as soon as possible. Ask your friends and family to join this action.
We thank you for your loyalty to Freema.
On a day where Freema should be celebrated in the press for her lovely first appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, it instead has been horribly ruined by the cruelty of a tabloid desperate for attention by any means. While we are not an official voice for Freema, we would like to at least express our outrage against The Sun’s nonsense.
Having failed to cash in on their attempts to damage her established co-star, David Tennant, by trying to ignite and ride on rumours of his impending departure from Doctor Who, “The Sun” has turned their eye to a far easier target, an actress who has just barely gotten her momentum going in mainstream media and therefore can less easily defend herself.
Freema had been their darling until recently and they could not print enough nice things to say about her. But she seems to have outlived her usefulness to them since every other paper was also praising her and their voice was being drowned out. So “The Sun” has changed their tactics, now forming their words into a knife and trying to plunge it into her career for no apparent reason but for their own depraved gossip and readership numbers.
Rest assured, there is an ever growing list of logical reasons why what they say is hopelessly incorrect and full of falsehoods, including the recent statement by Russell T. Davies that he hasn’t even written the Christmas Special yet, let alone any of series four. But The Sun made one glaring mistake in their attempt to trash Freema: there is no-one in the BBC that high in authority who would ever talk to them on that kind of topic. It just wouldn’t happen. Such a person would lose their lucrative job in a heartbeat, it wouldn’t be worth risking discovery.
To attempt to poison Freema’s fanbase by eroding the will to commit to her character emotionally is nothing short of a crime in our book. It’s bad behaviour expected from a bully, not from any entity claiming to be “press”.
So in conclusion, all we can do is ask you to boycott The Sun. There is simply no reason to read it anyway and if this is going to be their new trend why do you need such negativity in your day? Entire towns have successfully boycotted The Sun, we dare say a fandom can do so as well. We are compiling a list of their associated products and companies to boycott, as well as previous claims by them that were complete fabrications so that you more readily defend yourself against their rubbish and will publish it as soon as possible. Ask your friends and family to join this action.
We thank you for your loyalty to Freema.
Exterminate! Freema axed???
DOCTOR Who actress Freema Agyeman has been axed from the next series, The Sun can reveal.
Pretty Freema, 27, only joined the BBC1 sci-fi hit as the Timelord’s new companion Martha Jones at the beginning of the current series three.
We told how the struggling actress scooped the role after Billie Piper quit. But show chiefs think her performance is not as strong as in her earlier episodes.
And they are planning a storyline where the Doctor, played by David Tennant, will lose her and travel through the universe searching for her. The decision to dump Freema comes as a bolt from the blue after her performance for the first couple of episodes was praised.
A source said: “Freema is very talented but we don’t think she is just right on Doctor Who. None of this is being done with any malice. Freema’s a lovely girl.”
Freema has previously admitted that she had a tough job to fill Billie’s boots. Billie, who played Rose Tyler, left at the end of the second series.
Christopher Eccleston stunned the BBC by quitting as the Timelord after the first series of the revamped drama in 2005.
Meanwhile current star Tennant is still believed to be making just part of series four, which starts filming in Wales this summer.
A spokeswoman for the show refused to comment.
Pretty Freema, 27, only joined the BBC1 sci-fi hit as the Timelord’s new companion Martha Jones at the beginning of the current series three.
We told how the struggling actress scooped the role after Billie Piper quit. But show chiefs think her performance is not as strong as in her earlier episodes.
And they are planning a storyline where the Doctor, played by David Tennant, will lose her and travel through the universe searching for her. The decision to dump Freema comes as a bolt from the blue after her performance for the first couple of episodes was praised.
A source said: “Freema is very talented but we don’t think she is just right on Doctor Who. None of this is being done with any malice. Freema’s a lovely girl.”
Freema has previously admitted that she had a tough job to fill Billie’s boots. Billie, who played Rose Tyler, left at the end of the second series.
Christopher Eccleston stunned the BBC by quitting as the Timelord after the first series of the revamped drama in 2005.
Meanwhile current star Tennant is still believed to be making just part of series four, which starts filming in Wales this summer.
A spokeswoman for the show refused to comment.
BBC announces new sci-fi show
A NEW BBC Wales series set in space hopes to boldly follow in the successes of its recent sci-fi hits Doctor Who and Torchwood.
The broadcaster yesterday announced it had commissioned Outcasts from Kudos, the makers of critically-acclaimed series Life on Mars.
The new series will follow the race to find an alternative home in the Universe, with life on Earth looking increasingly precarious.
Insiders at the BBC say the programme will focus on a group of social misfits and criminals who are set to become pioneers on a nearby planet in return for their “liberty”.
Chris Longridge, Heat magazine’s television critic, was yesterday not surprised by the announcement or the growing interest in the sci-fi genre.
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He said, “Doctor Who is the reason this is happening. People realise that Doctor Who has a large adult following, and I imagine this will be a sci-fi show placed on after the watershed for adult viewers.”
In the US there has been a long tradition of serious sci-fi, including the recent well-received series of Battlestar Galactica. The show has been seen as an allegory of US foreign policy and the war in Iraq, with current storylines featuring wars and suicide bombers.
Mr Longridge said this is the chance for British television to do something in a similarly serious vein.
He added, “When we think of sci-fi in the UK we think of Star Trek, but if the BBC produces a really intelligent show along the lines of Doctor Who then it might change people’s minds.”
The high-concept series comes from Kudos Film and Television, and Ben Richards – who was behind hit programmes such as Spooks and Party Animals.
According to a BBC spokesman the show promises to be a tense, fast-paced series about co-operation and conflict, idealism and power, sexual competition and love.
Internet websites and forums were already talking about the announcement yesterday, saying it is a good but “brave” move for the BBC to set an entire show in space.
This is something that even Doctor Who and Torchwood has shied away from since their arrival on our screens in the past few years.
In the past, Russell T Davies has said he has kept has kept Doctor Who’s trips to other planets to a bare minimum, because of cost and in order not to alienate non-sci-fi fans too much.
But as the appetite continues for sci-fi and series such as Lost or Heroes – which feature a large section of magic realism or suspension of disbelief to be successful – it seems the BBC believes the time is right to embrace the genre fully in the UK.
Most recently the channel won the bidding war for a second series of US import Heroes, despite the fact that the first series has not been set for screening until later this year.
The corporation beat off competition from ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and Virgin Media for the rights to the show.
At the same time, it is also turning its attentions to developing home grown sci-fi. Doctor Who is now a fixture on the channel and Torchwood is set for a high-profile return with its second series later this year, premiering on BBC Two, and it is also putting its faith in Outcasts.
Jane Tranter, controller of BBC Fiction, said, “Following the unique success of time travel in Life On Mars, I’m naturally extremely excited about the dynamic duo of Kudos and Ben Richards joining forces to create a further dimension in BBC Drama.”
This sentiment is echoed by Jane Featherstone, joint managing director of Kudos Film and Television, who thinks the programme is a “brilliant vision of what life will be like” when humans go hunting in space for new homes.
She said, “It will offer audiences a dramatic, original and entertaining new drama arena.”
The broadcaster yesterday announced it had commissioned Outcasts from Kudos, the makers of critically-acclaimed series Life on Mars.
The new series will follow the race to find an alternative home in the Universe, with life on Earth looking increasingly precarious.
Insiders at the BBC say the programme will focus on a group of social misfits and criminals who are set to become pioneers on a nearby planet in return for their “liberty”.
Chris Longridge, Heat magazine’s television critic, was yesterday not surprised by the announcement or the growing interest in the sci-fi genre.
Story continues
ADVERTISEMENT
He said, “Doctor Who is the reason this is happening. People realise that Doctor Who has a large adult following, and I imagine this will be a sci-fi show placed on after the watershed for adult viewers.”
In the US there has been a long tradition of serious sci-fi, including the recent well-received series of Battlestar Galactica. The show has been seen as an allegory of US foreign policy and the war in Iraq, with current storylines featuring wars and suicide bombers.
Mr Longridge said this is the chance for British television to do something in a similarly serious vein.
He added, “When we think of sci-fi in the UK we think of Star Trek, but if the BBC produces a really intelligent show along the lines of Doctor Who then it might change people’s minds.”
The high-concept series comes from Kudos Film and Television, and Ben Richards – who was behind hit programmes such as Spooks and Party Animals.
According to a BBC spokesman the show promises to be a tense, fast-paced series about co-operation and conflict, idealism and power, sexual competition and love.
Internet websites and forums were already talking about the announcement yesterday, saying it is a good but “brave” move for the BBC to set an entire show in space.
This is something that even Doctor Who and Torchwood has shied away from since their arrival on our screens in the past few years.
In the past, Russell T Davies has said he has kept has kept Doctor Who’s trips to other planets to a bare minimum, because of cost and in order not to alienate non-sci-fi fans too much.
But as the appetite continues for sci-fi and series such as Lost or Heroes – which feature a large section of magic realism or suspension of disbelief to be successful – it seems the BBC believes the time is right to embrace the genre fully in the UK.
Most recently the channel won the bidding war for a second series of US import Heroes, despite the fact that the first series has not been set for screening until later this year.
The corporation beat off competition from ITV, Sky, Channel 4 and Virgin Media for the rights to the show.
At the same time, it is also turning its attentions to developing home grown sci-fi. Doctor Who is now a fixture on the channel and Torchwood is set for a high-profile return with its second series later this year, premiering on BBC Two, and it is also putting its faith in Outcasts.
Jane Tranter, controller of BBC Fiction, said, “Following the unique success of time travel in Life On Mars, I’m naturally extremely excited about the dynamic duo of Kudos and Ben Richards joining forces to create a further dimension in BBC Drama.”
This sentiment is echoed by Jane Featherstone, joint managing director of Kudos Film and Television, who thinks the programme is a “brilliant vision of what life will be like” when humans go hunting in space for new homes.
She said, “It will offer audiences a dramatic, original and entertaining new drama arena.”
Mark's in league of his own
A book penned by top comedy actor and writer Mark Gatiss is to be turned into a thrilling telly series.
North-born Mark - one of the stars of The League of Gentlemen - won a best newcomer nomination in the 2006 British Book Awards for his debut novel The Vesuvius Club, and his subsequent tome is proving popular too.
The story revolves around dandyish hero Lucifer Box, a fashionable Edwardian painter with a sideline in espionage, who infiltrates a secret crime ring while investigating the mysterious deaths of several scientists.
The BBC have confirmed they are developing a TV drama on the period adventure and, if it's successful, they'll also buy up the second Lucifer Box book -The Devil in Amber - as well as a third Mark is currently writing.
The project has not yet been cast but it is possible Mark himself will play the hero - as well as adapt his book for the small screen - having dress- ed as a dandy on his publicity tour for The Vesuvius Club.
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Unusual characters come easily to Mark, 40, who comes from School Aycliffe, County Durham, having entertained us as creepy butcher Hilary Briss and many other weird and wonderful creations in The League of Gentlemen, and tick-plagued Glenn Bulb in dark comedy Nighty Night.
He's also had success on the big screen, more recently in the movie adaptation of The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and as legendary quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne in Starter For Ten.
Yet it was earlier this month that Mark, who now lives in London with his partner Ian and their dog Bunsen, achieved a childhood ambition . . . to star as a baddie in Doctor Who.
The former Woodham Comprehensive School pupil has penned many episodes of the hit series, but three weeks ago he wowed fans as a sinister 76-year-old scientist who turned back the clock to become a young man once again, with monstrous repercussions.
Mark said: "It was beyond exciting. I didn't know what to do. I didn't sleep at all the day I got the call. I thought `it's a brilliant part, great script, a proper meaty baddie role', so I was just delighted."
North-born Mark - one of the stars of The League of Gentlemen - won a best newcomer nomination in the 2006 British Book Awards for his debut novel The Vesuvius Club, and his subsequent tome is proving popular too.
The story revolves around dandyish hero Lucifer Box, a fashionable Edwardian painter with a sideline in espionage, who infiltrates a secret crime ring while investigating the mysterious deaths of several scientists.
The BBC have confirmed they are developing a TV drama on the period adventure and, if it's successful, they'll also buy up the second Lucifer Box book -The Devil in Amber - as well as a third Mark is currently writing.
The project has not yet been cast but it is possible Mark himself will play the hero - as well as adapt his book for the small screen - having dress- ed as a dandy on his publicity tour for The Vesuvius Club.
Story continues
ADVERTISEMENT
Unusual characters come easily to Mark, 40, who comes from School Aycliffe, County Durham, having entertained us as creepy butcher Hilary Briss and many other weird and wonderful creations in The League of Gentlemen, and tick-plagued Glenn Bulb in dark comedy Nighty Night.
He's also had success on the big screen, more recently in the movie adaptation of The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse and as legendary quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne in Starter For Ten.
Yet it was earlier this month that Mark, who now lives in London with his partner Ian and their dog Bunsen, achieved a childhood ambition . . . to star as a baddie in Doctor Who.
The former Woodham Comprehensive School pupil has penned many episodes of the hit series, but three weeks ago he wowed fans as a sinister 76-year-old scientist who turned back the clock to become a young man once again, with monstrous repercussions.
Mark said: "It was beyond exciting. I didn't know what to do. I didn't sleep at all the day I got the call. I thought `it's a brilliant part, great script, a proper meaty baddie role', so I was just delighted."
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Game Design Competition
The Doctor Who Homepage has teamed up with BBC Blast to launch a competition that will give the winner the chance to design and create a Doctor Who game that will be placed on the Doctor Who and Blast websites.The winner will have their Doctor Who game brought to life, with runners up receiving Blast and Doctor Who goodie bags.You can find out more information about the contest here. Below is a brief synopsis of what they are looking for.
What we're looking for:We're looking for a game offering about 5-10 minutes of game play. The winning game will be made using Flash.The more addictive, magical and fantastic the game the better.Try not to base the game on a specific episode - we're looking for something new, even though it should use existing monsters from the current (not Classic) series.Remember that the Doctor uses his wits and his genius, rather than violence, to solve problems. So please don't give him a machine gun and send him on a killing spree!Be prepared to be flexible - we can use most of the characters, monsters and situations from the new series of Doctor Who, but we may need to discuss using another monster.
What we're looking for:We're looking for a game offering about 5-10 minutes of game play. The winning game will be made using Flash.The more addictive, magical and fantastic the game the better.Try not to base the game on a specific episode - we're looking for something new, even though it should use existing monsters from the current (not Classic) series.Remember that the Doctor uses his wits and his genius, rather than violence, to solve problems. So please don't give him a machine gun and send him on a killing spree!Be prepared to be flexible - we can use most of the characters, monsters and situations from the new series of Doctor Who, but we may need to discuss using another monster.
Scream of the Shalka still available online
Scream of the Shalka, the 2003 BBC Webcast featuring Richard E. Grant as an alternate ninth Doctor, is still available free online through the BBC Website. Shalka is written by Paul Cornell, author of this weeks episode Human Nature, and features Sophie Okonedo and Sir Derek Jacobi. The follow-up story, The Feast of the Stone by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, is also still available.
Tardis Catches Queen's Eye At Show
The Queen was left intrigued by the Tardis feature at the Chelsea Flower Show earlier this week.As reported by Outpost Gallifrey last Friday, the Doctor's time-travelling police box - complete with light and sound effects - is the centrepiece of the display called A Garden In Time, which has been created by Cardiff Council landscape officer Mo Dorken and her team.It shows the changes in the world since the start of the series in 1963 and includes a 1960s Cardiff rugby shirt and a Doctor Who annual with William Hartnell on the cover.The Royal Family were exploring the Royal Horticultural Society's annual show on Monday and the Press Association reports that the Queen stopped off to look at the revolving Tardis.It is in a "void" separating a 1960s urban garden from a modern one based around contemporary gardening ideas and styles, with an emphasis on sustainability, recycling and climate change.According to PA, Dorken said: "The Queen was asking 'Why is there a Tardis there?'"I was explaining how we were having a Doctor Who theme and a Sixties part of the garden because it was when the series first started."Celebrities were also in attendance at the show on the eve of it opening to the public, including Joanna Lumley, who played the Doctor in the 1999 Comic Relief spoof The Curse of Fatal Death, written by Steven Moffat.The flower show is open until Saturday.
Dalek alert
DOCTOR Who fans can meet their hero's deadliest nemesis in the shape of a life-size dalek at Waterstone's bookshop in Barnstaple on Saturday.The metallic menace proved so popular last year it has returned to mount a second invasion.Children and adults may go and meet the dalek, take a camera and have their photo taken, for a charitable donation. Dress as your favourite Doctor, companion or monster from the TV series - there's a prize for the best fancy dress.There are also prizes for quizzes and racing remote-controlled Daleks and K-9 - the Doctor's faithful metal dog.
Website updated
The Official BBC Doctor Who website has been updated for Human Nature:
http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/
http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/
Monday, May 21, 2007
50 things you should not do with the tardis.
I am not allowed to substitute humping for stroking.
Not ask if the “sonic screwdriver” is really an anal probe.
Every time I enter I will not keep repeating “omg its bigger on the inside”
Not charge admission to enter.
Ask the doctor if he is also bigger on the inside.
Ask where the dungeons are located.
Say that’s its really just a square blue dalek.
Paint it pink.
Call it mother.
It is not a public toilet and I shall not treat it as one.
Sell it on eBay.
Ask where the room is that all the old companions stuff is in.
Remove parts and see what happens.
Park it on double yellows.
Attempt a world record and see how many people will fit inside.
“The love box” is not the correct term for reference to the tardis.
Crack is not an acceptable replacement for a trip in the tardis.
The tardis is not crack itself.
I am not allowed to reinact the gut buster scene from alien at the dinner table.
I will not start a “when’s a dalek going to tern up” betting pool.
Show Hitler what its technology could do for his career.
Invite the doctors ex companions to tea.
Little daleks are not running the tardis and I should not scare the doctor by telling him so.
Fill it with cake no matter how much the doctor would like it.
Dance better then the doctor.
It is a bad idea to tell a ciberman that he takes himself to seriously.
Land it upside down.
Start an annual dalek tea party day.
Use it to gain world domination.
There is not a show called “pimp my time machine” and I can not enter the tardis in it.
Pimp it out west coast style.
I shall not absorb the time space continuum from it just to get high.
Store histories most famous in it and charge them rent.
I am not allowed to replace the whooping noise with the dixe horn.
I am not allowed to give it my own theme tune.
I am not allowed to enter it in robot rumble.
I did not find any gimp stuff in its closet.
Set it on vibrate.
It is not a giant ipod in anyway shape or form.
Smurfs are not welcome anytime just because it is also blue.
It is not a good idea to paint a sign saying “alien craft right here torchwood!” and stand it next to the tardis.
There is no window to moon out of and I should not attempt to make one.
Show torchwood the home entertainment cinema in it.
Call it “The love machine”
Use it for criminal purposes.
Tern it into a transformer.
Ask the doctor “so what else can this piece of crap do?”
I must not tell the doctor the he is its bitch.
It is not the death star.
I did not invent it and therefore should not be paid royalty every time it goes anywhere.
Not ask if the “sonic screwdriver” is really an anal probe.
Every time I enter I will not keep repeating “omg its bigger on the inside”
Not charge admission to enter.
Ask the doctor if he is also bigger on the inside.
Ask where the dungeons are located.
Say that’s its really just a square blue dalek.
Paint it pink.
Call it mother.
It is not a public toilet and I shall not treat it as one.
Sell it on eBay.
Ask where the room is that all the old companions stuff is in.
Remove parts and see what happens.
Park it on double yellows.
Attempt a world record and see how many people will fit inside.
“The love box” is not the correct term for reference to the tardis.
Crack is not an acceptable replacement for a trip in the tardis.
The tardis is not crack itself.
I am not allowed to reinact the gut buster scene from alien at the dinner table.
I will not start a “when’s a dalek going to tern up” betting pool.
Show Hitler what its technology could do for his career.
Invite the doctors ex companions to tea.
Little daleks are not running the tardis and I should not scare the doctor by telling him so.
Fill it with cake no matter how much the doctor would like it.
Dance better then the doctor.
It is a bad idea to tell a ciberman that he takes himself to seriously.
Land it upside down.
Start an annual dalek tea party day.
Use it to gain world domination.
There is not a show called “pimp my time machine” and I can not enter the tardis in it.
Pimp it out west coast style.
I shall not absorb the time space continuum from it just to get high.
Store histories most famous in it and charge them rent.
I am not allowed to replace the whooping noise with the dixe horn.
I am not allowed to give it my own theme tune.
I am not allowed to enter it in robot rumble.
I did not find any gimp stuff in its closet.
Set it on vibrate.
It is not a giant ipod in anyway shape or form.
Smurfs are not welcome anytime just because it is also blue.
It is not a good idea to paint a sign saying “alien craft right here torchwood!” and stand it next to the tardis.
There is no window to moon out of and I should not attempt to make one.
Show torchwood the home entertainment cinema in it.
Call it “The love machine”
Use it for criminal purposes.
Tern it into a transformer.
Ask the doctor “so what else can this piece of crap do?”
I must not tell the doctor the he is its bitch.
It is not the death star.
I did not invent it and therefore should not be paid royalty every time it goes anywhere.
Neil Gaiman on Doctor Who
The Nature of the InfectionThe years pass, and the arguments go back and forth over whether watched fiction actually has an effect on the reader or the viewer. Does violent fiction make a reader violent? Does frightening fiction create a watcher who is frightened, or desensitised to fear?It’s not a yes, or a no. It’s a yes but.The complaint about Dr Who from adults was always, when I was small, that it was too frightening. This missed, I think, the much more dangerous effect of Dr Who: that it was viral.Of course it was frightening. More or less. I watched the good bits from behind the sofa, and was always angry and cheated and creeped out by the cliffhanger in the final moments. But that had, as far as I can tell, no effect on me at all, as I grew, the fear. The real complaint, the thing that the adults should have been afraid of and complaining about was what it did to the inside of my head. How it painted my interior landscape.When I was three, making Daleks out of the little school milk bottles, with the rest of the kids at Mrs Pepper’s Nursery School, I was in trouble and I didn’t know it. The virus was already at work.Yes, I was scared of the Daleks and the Zarbi and the rest. But I was taking other, stranger, more important lessons away from my Saturday tea-time serial.For a start, I had become infected by the idea that there are an infinite number of worlds, only a footstep away.And another part of the meme was this: some things are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside. And, perhaps, some people are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside, as well.And that was only the start of it. The books helped with the infection – the Dalek World one, and the various hardcovered Dr Who Annuals. They contained the first written SF stories I had encountered. They left me wondering if there was anything else like that out there...But the greatest damage was still to come.It’s this: the shape of reality – the way I perceive the world – exists only because of Dr Who. Specifically, from The War Games in 1969, the multipart series that was to be Patrick Troughton’s swan song.This is what remains to me of The War Games as I look back on it, over three decades after I saw it: The Doctor and his assistants find themselves in a place where armies fight: an interminable World War One battlefield, in which armies from the whole of time have been stolen from their original spatio-temporal location and made to fight each other. Strange mists divide the armies and the time zones. Travel between the time zones is possible, using a white, boxlike structure approximately the same size and shape as a smallish lift, or, even more prosaically, a public toilet: you get in in 1970, you come out in Troy or Mons or Waterloo. Only you don’t come out in Waterloo, as you’re really on an eternal plane, and behind it all or beyond it all is an evil genius who has taken the armies, placed them here, and is using the white boxes to move guards and agents from place to place, through the mists of time.The boxes were called SIDRATs. Even at the age of eight I figured that one out.Finally, having no other option, and unable to resolve the story in any other way, the Doctor – who we learned now was a fugitive – summoned the Time Lords, his people, to sort the whole thing out. And was, himself, captured and punished.It was a great ending for an eight-year old. There were ironies I relished.It would, I have no doubt at all, be a bad thing for me to try and go back and watch The War Games now. It’s too late anyway; the damage has been done. It redefined reality. The virus was now solidly in place.These days, as a middle-aged and respectable author, I still feel a sense of indeterminate but infinite possibility on entering a lift, particularly a small one with white walls. That to date the doors that have opened have always done so in the same time, and world, and even the same building in which I started out seems merely fortuitous – evidence only of a lack of imagination on the part of the rest of the universe.I do not confuse what has not happened with what cannot happen, and in my heart, Time and Space are endlessly malleable, permeable, frangible.Let me make some more admissions.In my head, William Hartnell was the Doctor, and so was Patrick Troughton. All the other Doctors were actors, although Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were actors playing real Doctors. The rest of them, even Peter Cushing, were faking it.In my head the Time Lords exist, and are unknowable - primal forces who cannot be named, only described: The Master, the Doctor, and so on. All depictions of the home of the Time Lords are, in my head, utterly non-canonical. The place in which they exist cannot be depicted because it is beyond imagining: a cold place that only exists in black and white.It’s probably a good thing that I’ve never actually got my hands on the Doctor. I would have unhappened so much.A final Dr Who connection – again, from the baggy-trousered Troughton era, when some things were more than true for me – showed itself, in retrospect, in my BBC TV series, Neverwhere.Not in the obvious places – the BBC decision that Neverwhere had to be shot on video, in episodes half an hour long, for example. Not even in the character of the Marquis de Carabas, who I wrote – and Paterson Joseph performed – as if I were creating a Doctor from scratch, and wanted to make him someone as mysterious, as unreliable, and as quirky as the William Hartnell incarnation. But in the idea that there are worlds under this one, and that London itself is magical, and dangerous, and that the underground tunnels are every bit as remote and mysterious and likely to contain Yeti as the distant Himalayas was something, author and critic Kim Newman pointed out to me, while Neverwhere was screening, that I probably took from a Troughton-era story called “The Web of Death”.And as he said it, I knew he was spot on, remembering people with torches exploring the underground, beams breaking the darkness. The knowledge that there were worlds underneath... yes, that was where I got it, all right.Having caught the virus, I was now, I realised with horror, infecting others.Which is, perhaps, one of the glories of Dr Who. It doesn’t die, no matter what. It’s still serious, and it’s still dangerous. The virus is out there, just hidden, and buried, like a plague pit.You don’t have to believe me. Not now. But I’ll tell you this. The next time you get into a lift, in a shabby office building, and jerk up several floors, then, in that moment before the doors open, you’ll wonder, even if only for a moment, if they’re going to open on a Jurassic jungle, or the moons of Pluto, or a full service pleasure dome at the galactic core...That’s when you’ll discover that you’re infected too.And then the doors will open, with a grinding noise like a universe in pain, and you’ll squint at the light of distant suns, and understand...
Police boxing clever with Tardis' return
THE iconic blue police box is set to make a return to Edinburgh city centre.
Several surviving boxes, synonymous with the Tardis from Doctor Who, will be used as a base for officers, fitted with modern communications equipment.
The last one closed in Edinburgh in the early 1990s, but the Lothian and Borders force still owns 30 of them, 14 of which are classed as listed buildings.
One facility has already opened in Rose Street with three others set to follow in mid-summer.
Inspector Bruce Johnston, from West End police station, said: "The boxes were a symbol of localised policing which is something we want to re-emphasise."
He added: "In that respect we plan to use them as was initially intended with the addition of 21st century technology."
This article: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=789012007
Several surviving boxes, synonymous with the Tardis from Doctor Who, will be used as a base for officers, fitted with modern communications equipment.
The last one closed in Edinburgh in the early 1990s, but the Lothian and Borders force still owns 30 of them, 14 of which are classed as listed buildings.
One facility has already opened in Rose Street with three others set to follow in mid-summer.
Inspector Bruce Johnston, from West End police station, said: "The boxes were a symbol of localised policing which is something we want to re-emphasise."
He added: "In that respect we plan to use them as was initially intended with the addition of 21st century technology."
This article: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=789012007
Daleks have invaded
THE daleks have invaded Frome and are planning to stick around until next month.
The full-size daleks, Tardis and other sci-fi legends are part of a new exhibition at the Rook Lane Chapel which opened on Friday and runs until June 2.
The project is a collaboration between Rook Lane Arts and local international toy packaging designers Product Enterprise, who design and produce the merchandising for some of the classic toys and collectables, from Lost in Space to Doctor Who.
The exhibition includes anything from an original 1960s Dalek to Thunderbirds models, from early sketches to a full size Tardis.
The exhibition also showcases original gouache packaging designs created for Product Enterprise by artist Graham Humphreys, and will include original artworks and intergalactic toys available for sale.
The exhibition at Rook Lane Chapel, Bath Street is free to see and is open from 11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday.
The full-size daleks, Tardis and other sci-fi legends are part of a new exhibition at the Rook Lane Chapel which opened on Friday and runs until June 2.
The project is a collaboration between Rook Lane Arts and local international toy packaging designers Product Enterprise, who design and produce the merchandising for some of the classic toys and collectables, from Lost in Space to Doctor Who.
The exhibition includes anything from an original 1960s Dalek to Thunderbirds models, from early sketches to a full size Tardis.
The exhibition also showcases original gouache packaging designs created for Product Enterprise by artist Graham Humphreys, and will include original artworks and intergalactic toys available for sale.
The exhibition at Rook Lane Chapel, Bath Street is free to see and is open from 11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday.
David Tennant and Andy Serkis to star in BBC drama Einstein And Eddington
BBC Drama, HBO and Company Pictures are proud to announce Einstein And Eddington, a film which takes a closer look at the story behind the creation of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity and the personal lives of the men behind it.
The film will be broadcast later this year on BBC Two.
It stars David Tennant (Doctor Who, Blackpool, Recovery) and Andy Serkis (Longford, King Kong, Lord of the Rings) with Jim Broadbent (Longford), Lucy Cohu (The Queen's Sister), Rebecca Hall (Starter For Ten) and Jodhi May (Friends & Crocdiles).
This human story chronicles two men who, during the First World War, refused to accept narrow nationalistic boundaries and, against the odds, continued to strive for a greater truth.
Between them, they changed the world and proved one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century.
Opening in 1913, the then obscure German theorist Albert Einstein (Serkis) had spent years working on his General Theory of Relativity, a theory that threatened two centuries of Newtonian certainty and the foundations of British science.
British scientist Arthur Eddington (Tennant) was one of the most prominent astrophysicists and was Director of the Cambridge Observatory, a seat originally held by the father of British science, Sir Isaac Newton.
Eddington's wholehearted belief that "truth knows no boundaries" led him to start a correspondence with Einstein and to solely champion Einstein's theories at a time when the rest of the British scientific community and the public at large were rejecting anything German, due to their role in the war.
Eddington's expedition to Africa to photograph light bending round the sun during an eclipse lead to his proof that Einstein's theory is right, turning Einstein into a worldwide superstar in 1919. A star is born.
Einstein And Eddington is written by Peter Moffat (Hawking, Cambridge Spies), the producer is Mark Pybus and the director is Philip Martin (Hawking, Prime Suspect).
Moffat and Martin are reunited after working together on the award-winning Hawking, BBC Two's 2005 biopic of Stephen Hawking, who is considered the greatest mind in physics since Einstein.
Einstein And Eddington is currently filming on location in Cambridge, Croatia and Hungary and will transmit later this year on BBC Two.
Einstein And Eddington is a Company Pictures production for BBC/HBO.
George Faber and Charlie Pattinson are the executive producers and David M Thompson is executive producer for the BBC.
Einstein And Eddington was commissioned by Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction.
The film will be broadcast later this year on BBC Two.
It stars David Tennant (Doctor Who, Blackpool, Recovery) and Andy Serkis (Longford, King Kong, Lord of the Rings) with Jim Broadbent (Longford), Lucy Cohu (The Queen's Sister), Rebecca Hall (Starter For Ten) and Jodhi May (Friends & Crocdiles).
This human story chronicles two men who, during the First World War, refused to accept narrow nationalistic boundaries and, against the odds, continued to strive for a greater truth.
Between them, they changed the world and proved one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century.
Opening in 1913, the then obscure German theorist Albert Einstein (Serkis) had spent years working on his General Theory of Relativity, a theory that threatened two centuries of Newtonian certainty and the foundations of British science.
British scientist Arthur Eddington (Tennant) was one of the most prominent astrophysicists and was Director of the Cambridge Observatory, a seat originally held by the father of British science, Sir Isaac Newton.
Eddington's wholehearted belief that "truth knows no boundaries" led him to start a correspondence with Einstein and to solely champion Einstein's theories at a time when the rest of the British scientific community and the public at large were rejecting anything German, due to their role in the war.
Eddington's expedition to Africa to photograph light bending round the sun during an eclipse lead to his proof that Einstein's theory is right, turning Einstein into a worldwide superstar in 1919. A star is born.
Einstein And Eddington is written by Peter Moffat (Hawking, Cambridge Spies), the producer is Mark Pybus and the director is Philip Martin (Hawking, Prime Suspect).
Moffat and Martin are reunited after working together on the award-winning Hawking, BBC Two's 2005 biopic of Stephen Hawking, who is considered the greatest mind in physics since Einstein.
Einstein And Eddington is currently filming on location in Cambridge, Croatia and Hungary and will transmit later this year on BBC Two.
Einstein And Eddington is a Company Pictures production for BBC/HBO.
George Faber and Charlie Pattinson are the executive producers and David M Thompson is executive producer for the BBC.
Einstein And Eddington was commissioned by Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Who museum exhibition reviewed.
Fans of Britain’s most popular Time Lord will be beating a path to Peterborough Museum to see an exhibition on the Doctor Who TV series from Saturday 26 May until Sunday 17 June.
The new exhibition builds on the success of a smaller display which attracted thousands of visitors last year.
The museum will be celebrating Doctor Who’s contribution to popular culture over the past four decades with a display on the history of the series, memorabilia, a prop police box and some full-sized Daleks.
Visitors will be able to look into a recreated 1960s living room and see the first Doctor Who episode as viewers would have see it broadcast in 1963, as well as pilot a miniature Dalek around a maze. Youngsters can even design their own monster and stage their own Doctor Who adventure in a recreated ‘wobbly set’!
Stuart Orme, museum visitor services and marketing manager for Peterborough City Council, said: “Doctor Who has been a British cultural icon since it started in 1963 – the world's longest running sci-fi series. The return of the Doctor and the popularity of the latest series have encouraged us to create this exhibition, which builds on the success of our event last year.
“We have had so many requests for a repeat we have expanded the theme into this exhibition.”
The exhibition will be supported by a programme of Doctor Who activities, including free fun craft activities for families each morning from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm during half-term (Tuesday 29 May to Friday 1 June).
On Saturday 2 June there will be a Doctor Who fun day with a visit by costumed monsters from the series as supplied by Hyde Fundraisers, along with activities and a fancy dress competition. Admission to this event is £2 for adults, £1 for children (under 5s free) with all proceeds donated to Children in Need and Help the Aged.
The exhibition runs from Saturday 26 May until Sunday 17 June and is open from 10 am to 5 pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays and from 12 noon to 4 pm on Sundays and bank holiday Monday. The museum is closed on other Mondays. Admission is free.
For more details contact the museum on (01733) 343329, e-mail museum@peterborough.gov.uk or check the website at www.peterboroughheritage.org.uk.
The new exhibition builds on the success of a smaller display which attracted thousands of visitors last year.
The museum will be celebrating Doctor Who’s contribution to popular culture over the past four decades with a display on the history of the series, memorabilia, a prop police box and some full-sized Daleks.
Visitors will be able to look into a recreated 1960s living room and see the first Doctor Who episode as viewers would have see it broadcast in 1963, as well as pilot a miniature Dalek around a maze. Youngsters can even design their own monster and stage their own Doctor Who adventure in a recreated ‘wobbly set’!
Stuart Orme, museum visitor services and marketing manager for Peterborough City Council, said: “Doctor Who has been a British cultural icon since it started in 1963 – the world's longest running sci-fi series. The return of the Doctor and the popularity of the latest series have encouraged us to create this exhibition, which builds on the success of our event last year.
“We have had so many requests for a repeat we have expanded the theme into this exhibition.”
The exhibition will be supported by a programme of Doctor Who activities, including free fun craft activities for families each morning from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm during half-term (Tuesday 29 May to Friday 1 June).
On Saturday 2 June there will be a Doctor Who fun day with a visit by costumed monsters from the series as supplied by Hyde Fundraisers, along with activities and a fancy dress competition. Admission to this event is £2 for adults, £1 for children (under 5s free) with all proceeds donated to Children in Need and Help the Aged.
The exhibition runs from Saturday 26 May until Sunday 17 June and is open from 10 am to 5 pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays and from 12 noon to 4 pm on Sundays and bank holiday Monday. The museum is closed on other Mondays. Admission is free.
For more details contact the museum on (01733) 343329, e-mail museum@peterborough.gov.uk or check the website at www.peterboroughheritage.org.uk.
Award-winning comedian Toby Hadoke is putting on Moths Ate My Doctor WhoScarf at the St Albans theatre next Friday, May 25
Toby Hadoke presents Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf BACK on TV screens and back at the Maltings Arts Theatre - that's Dr Who.Award-winning comedian Toby Hadoke is putting on Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf at the St Albans theatre next Friday, May 25.He invites the audience to step out from behind the sofa and get aboard the Tardis for a trip through time, charting the rise, fall and subsequent rise of a television legend.Billed as a must-see show for anyone who has ever had a passion for anything, it charts a comic odyssey from child to man through obsession, joy and disappointment.Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, which starts at 8pm, is in tandem with Back to the Futon, award-winning comic Paul Kerena's homage to the perfect trilogy.He revs up his DeLorean for a trip to Hill Valley and Back to the Future.All tickets are £10 with concessions £8, available from the box office on 01727 844222.ää Bertie and David, two mesmerising monologues by Andrew Neil, can be seen at the theatre the following night, Saturday, May 26.Performed by Andrew Hallett - direct from the West End's most famous long-running show, The Mousetrap - the two pieces form the unofficial reminiscences of the last British king and the man who abdicated for love.Meeting at a celestial cocktail party, George VI followed by the Duke of Windsor, humorously reflect on family history and sensational royal gossip.Tickets are £9 with concessions £8, available from the box office on the number above.
Obituary: Charles Pemberton
It is with deepest regret that we announce the passing of Charles Pemberton.
Charles was best known to Doctor Who fans for his role as a Cyberman in the 2nd Doctor adventure; The Tomb of the Cybermen, and as an Alien Technician in The War Games.
The sad news comes just weeks after Charles appeared at 10th Planet's Invasion convention.
DWO would like to extend it's sympathies to Charles's friends and family.
Charles was best known to Doctor Who fans for his role as a Cyberman in the 2nd Doctor adventure; The Tomb of the Cybermen, and as an Alien Technician in The War Games.
The sad news comes just weeks after Charles appeared at 10th Planet's Invasion convention.
DWO would like to extend it's sympathies to Charles's friends and family.
Joseph Lidster - Radio interview
Doctor Who writer; Joseph Lidster is interviewed on BBC Radio Wales' Adam Walton show.
On the show Joe talked about writing for the Martha Jones blog as well as writing for the BBCi Doctor Who website.
Listen to the interview - it's 14 minutes in.
On the show Joe talked about writing for the Martha Jones blog as well as writing for the BBCi Doctor Who website.
Listen to the interview - it's 14 minutes in.
Murray Gold Interview
The June issue of Sound On Sound magazine features a six-page interview with Murray Gold, the composer of all the music for Doctor Who since its return in 2005.The magazine is dedicated to the technological side of recording and recording techniques. Topics covered include how Gold got his break, recording the soundtrack album with Neil Hannon, and some pictures from the recording of the score for The Lazarus Experiment at AIR studios in North London.There's also a large box on how the original Delia Derbyshire theme was created, with input from Murray Gold on how he created the revised version of the theme based on the original.Sound On Sound is available across the United Kingdom.
Planet Of Evil Planned For DVD
Hot on the heels of the announcement that The Time Warrior and the Key To Time season will be out on DVD in the UK later this year comes the news that 2Entertain is planning to release the 1975 Tom Baker four-parter Planet of Evil.The British Board of Film Classification yesterday cleared just over 60 minutes of extras for the DVD of Planet of Evil, although a release date is unknown.The extras, which have a PG rating, include three features entitled Hidden Hinchcliffe, A Darker Side and Planetary Performance - Acting In Doctor Who.
New Doctor Who Novels
Doctor Who: Wetworld by Mark Michalowski
When the TARDIS makes a disastrous landing in the swamps of the planet Sunday, the Doctor has no choice but to abandon Martha and try to find help. But the tranquillity of Sunday's swamps is deceptive, and even the TARDIS can't protect Martha forever.
The human pioneers of Sunday have their own dangers to face: homeless and alone, they're only just starting to realise that Sunday's wildlife isn't as harmless as it first seems. Why are the native otters behaving so strangely, and what is the creature in the swamps that is so interested in the humans, and the new arrivals?
The Doctor and Martha must fight to ensure that human intelligence doesn't become the greatest danger of all.
Doctor Who: Forever Autumn by Mark Morris
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches.
The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient tree and the mysterious book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own?
As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate…
Doctor Who: Sick Building by Paul Magrs
Tiermann's World: a planet covered in wintry woods and roamed by sabre-toothed tigers and other savage beasts. The Doctor is here to warn Professor Tiermann, his wife and their son that a terrible danger is on its way.
The Tiermanns live in luxury, in a fantastic, futuristic, fully-automated Dreamhome, under an impenetrable force shield. But that won't protect them from the Voracious Craw. A gigantic and extremely hungry alien creature is heading remorselessly towards their home. When it gets there everything will be devoured.
Can they get away in time? With the force shield cracking up, and the Dreamhome itself deciding who should or should not leave, things are looking desperate...
When the TARDIS makes a disastrous landing in the swamps of the planet Sunday, the Doctor has no choice but to abandon Martha and try to find help. But the tranquillity of Sunday's swamps is deceptive, and even the TARDIS can't protect Martha forever.
The human pioneers of Sunday have their own dangers to face: homeless and alone, they're only just starting to realise that Sunday's wildlife isn't as harmless as it first seems. Why are the native otters behaving so strangely, and what is the creature in the swamps that is so interested in the humans, and the new arrivals?
The Doctor and Martha must fight to ensure that human intelligence doesn't become the greatest danger of all.
Doctor Who: Forever Autumn by Mark Morris
It is almost Halloween in the sleepy New England town of Blackwood Falls. Autumn leaves litter lawns and sidewalks, paper skeletons hang in windows, and carved pumpkins leer from stoops and front porches.
The Doctor and Martha soon discover that something long-dormant has awoken in the town, and this will be no ordinary Halloween. What is the secret of the ancient tree and the mysterious book discovered tangled in its roots? What rises from the local churchyard in the dead of night, sealing up the lips of the only witness? And why are the harmless trappings of Halloween suddenly taking on a creepy new life of their own?
As nightmarish creatures prowl the streets, the Doctor and Martha must battle to prevent both the townspeople and themselves from suffering a grisly fate…
Doctor Who: Sick Building by Paul Magrs
Tiermann's World: a planet covered in wintry woods and roamed by sabre-toothed tigers and other savage beasts. The Doctor is here to warn Professor Tiermann, his wife and their son that a terrible danger is on its way.
The Tiermanns live in luxury, in a fantastic, futuristic, fully-automated Dreamhome, under an impenetrable force shield. But that won't protect them from the Voracious Craw. A gigantic and extremely hungry alien creature is heading remorselessly towards their home. When it gets there everything will be devoured.
Can they get away in time? With the force shield cracking up, and the Dreamhome itself deciding who should or should not leave, things are looking desperate...
A Garden In Time
The TARDIS will be materialising at the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show honoring the legacy of Doctor Who. The new exhibition, called A Garden In Time, features as its centrepiece a full-scale TARDIS with sound and light effects. The garden depicts the changes in the world since the birth of the series in 1963. It includes items such as a 1960s Cardiff rugby shirt and a Doctor Who annual featuring on its cover the first Doctor, William HartnellCreated by Cardiff Council Landscape Officer Mo Dorken and her team, one half of the site shows a 1960s urban garden, while the other half is based around modern gardening ideas and styles with emphasis on sustainability, recycling and climate change."The Chelsea Flower Show is iconic and attracts great attention and thousands of visitors from around the world," said Coun Nigel Howells, Cardiff Council’s Executive Member for Sport, Leisure and Culture. "We are proud that Cardiff will be represented there, and I’m sure A Garden In Time will do justice to the city and to Wales."Please click here to see a larger version (in .pdf format) of the conceptual drawing of A Garden In Time.The Chelsea Flower Show runs 22 - 26 May, 2007.
Jack's Back!
And he's brought an exclusive clip with him.
John Barrowman will be one of the special guests on this evening's edition of Tonight With Jonathan Ross.
John will be talking about Captain Jack's return to Doctor Who in episode 11, Utopia, and will be premiering an exclusive clip from that story.
As Tonight With Jonathan Ross is a lively late-night show with plenty of adult humour, parents of young fans might want to record and view it before deciding if all of the interview is appropriate.
John Barrowman will be one of the special guests on this evening's edition of Tonight With Jonathan Ross.
John will be talking about Captain Jack's return to Doctor Who in episode 11, Utopia, and will be premiering an exclusive clip from that story.
As Tonight With Jonathan Ross is a lively late-night show with plenty of adult humour, parents of young fans might want to record and view it before deciding if all of the interview is appropriate.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
MySpace Oops Leads to 42 Reveal (Spoilers)
Monday 14 May 2007 10:23amToday I was a long way from home…We landed on a spaceship in this place called the Torajii system. The sun was alive and possessing people. Like I said, long way from home.I remember the time I first came home from Uni. The hardest thing about it wasn’t seeing that mum and dad were close to splitting up but it was suddenly realising that we were all changing. Suddenly I had this thing of not quite knowing what to say to them because we no longer had this shared experience of life that we’d had up until then. We talked about what I’d been up to and what they’d been doing but it was all a bit awkward and we had to kind of scrabble around, trying to find something we’d all watched on the telly. It passed, of course after the first night everything was pretty much back to normal but it was so strange suddenly feeling a bit separate from them. Something like that happened today. Basically, I thought I was going to die. Actually I knew I was going to die. So I phoned mum. And I didn’t know what to say. Obviously, I couldn’t tell her what I was doing (she has enough of a problem with the Doctor without me making it worse) but because we didn’t have anything immediately in common, because we didn’t have the time to settle into relaxing and chatting normally, it just felt so odd. Like we were living such different lives. She sounded distracted (presumably because of work) and I knew I was going to die (I didn’t, of course. The Doctor saved me). You’d think, knowing you were going to die, that it’d be like something on Holby City. I’d have some huge speech about loving my family and how they shouldn’t feel sad and that but… I didn’t. So, yeah, that was scary.Something even worse happened though. And, again, it reminded me of something that happened when I was growing up. Do you remember that time you first realised your parents weren’t perfect? As a kid, you think they know everything and they’re flawless and all that. Then, when you start to grow up, you start to rebel but deep down you still think they’re right but then, one day, you suddenly realise that they’re human and fallible like everyone else and it’s kind of scary. Well I had something like that today, only so much worse. The Doctor was possessed by a sun and… he was scared. He told me that he was scared. Which, again, you’d think would be a good ‘finally he’s not being such a bloke’ thing but it wasn’t. It was probably the most terrifying moment I’ve experienced since we started travelling together. Just him saying those words, made the Universe so much bigger and… yeah, basically it was terrifying but, hey, some good came out of it! I think it’s brought us even closer together as I did, kind of anyway, save his life. And he thanked me which is also a first! I’m slowly chipping away that at that barrier! But, yeah, seeing him just being so… vulnerable. I just wanted to hold him and tell him that everything is okay but… sorry trying to think of the words and I don’t have much time… but yeah, it was like when you first have to comfort your mum about something. I had to do it when my cousin died. I was upset, of course, but mum was devastated and it was me that was hugging her and comforting her and in one way that’s great but in another it’s terrifying because it feels wrong. You realise that we’re all the same. We all get scared. We all get upset. We all need comforting. And, sometimes, you have to be the grown-up. Sometimes, you have to be the Doctor.Anyway, enough about families and stuff! I’ve got to stop getting what Tish calls so emo! It isn’t normally in my nature to be like this but I guess everyone’s human.More soon!
Elisabeth Sladen to do signings at 10th Planet
Saturday June 2;Elisabeth SladenSigns Classic Who Photographs In store signing, 1.30-3.30pm Photographs: £10.00 plus £1.00 postage.
Guest star Michelle Collins in Radio Times
As part of the pre-publicity for this Saturday's episode, the new issue of Radio Times, out today, features exclusive pictures and an interview with Michelle Collins who is guest starring as cargo spaceship captain McDonnell. Our thanks to the Radio Times for the following excerpt:
"We were running around in vests and combats, covered in baby oil and sprayed with water. It was very uncomfortable, because baby oil makes you feel really yucky, and I had to have it on my hair and hands, and my hands had to be filthy."Not a typical role for the ex-EastEnder then - light years from Walford, in fact, as Collins's ship is heading for a distant sun. So the atmosphere is necessarily hot, hence the spray to give the actors that dripping-with-sweat look. "You got used to it," says Collins. "It was quite liberating not wearing even a bit of mascara, because if I had done it would have been all over my face in two minutes. I was a bit worried about that no-make-up look to start with, then I just thought, 'Oh, go for it!'"
"We were running around in vests and combats, covered in baby oil and sprayed with water. It was very uncomfortable, because baby oil makes you feel really yucky, and I had to have it on my hair and hands, and my hands had to be filthy."Not a typical role for the ex-EastEnder then - light years from Walford, in fact, as Collins's ship is heading for a distant sun. So the atmosphere is necessarily hot, hence the spray to give the actors that dripping-with-sweat look. "You got used to it," says Collins. "It was quite liberating not wearing even a bit of mascara, because if I had done it would have been all over my face in two minutes. I was a bit worried about that no-make-up look to start with, then I just thought, 'Oh, go for it!'"
Rumors Abound
Fast on the heels of the officially unconfirmed reports of Kylie Minogue appearing in the 2007 Christmas Special come two more rumors. Today, The Sun reports that Woody Allen will be appearing as Albert Einstein in the Christmas Special. It is possible that this report is a mangled version of this story from the Daily Mail about Rebecca Hall, who will be appearing both in Allen's next movie and in Einstein and Eddington alongside David Tennant.Also, SyFyPortal reports new interest in a Doctor Who movie starring Paul McGann.
Doctor Who and Gandalf meet Shakespeare
Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy is set to appear on stage as the Fool in William Shakespeare's King Lear at the Westpac St James Theatre in Wellington on August 11 and 12. The Royal Shakespeare Company production stars Sir Ian McKellan, best known to science-fiction and -fantasy fans as Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and as Magneto in the trilogy of X-Men films.
Tennant preserved?
Daventry Today reports David Tennant is on the list of celebrities who should be preserved in museums as icons of our time, CLICK HERE to read the article.
Tennant makes top 50 list
My Village reports David Tennant is on GQ's Top 50 Best Dressed list at #35, the full list can be found in the May edition of GQ.
Gareth Roberts interview
The Official BBC Doctor Who website has an interview with Gareth Roberts, author of The Shakespeare Code, CLICK HERE to read it.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Woody Allen????? ohhh wait its the sun nevermind
The Sun reports Woody Allen will appear in the 2007 Christmas Special, CLICK HERE to read the article.
Dr who website updated
The BBC Doctor Who Official website has been updated for this Saturday's episode 42:
http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/ There is also a prologue for 42 which can be read by clicking HERE, part of an interview with Michelle Collins from the new radio times which can be read by clicking HERE, plus a TRAILER.
http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/ There is also a prologue for 42 which can be read by clicking HERE, part of an interview with Michelle Collins from the new radio times which can be read by clicking HERE, plus a TRAILER.
Monday, May 14, 2007
More Short Trips Online
Big Finish Productions have made an effort to fill the gap made by Doctor Who not being on the television this week by releasing two sample stories from their upcoming Short Trips short-story compilations.
Gold and Black Ooze from Destination Prague and Remain in Light from Snapshots join the list of sample stories that are available on-line.Other stories available on-line include...
Long Term from A Universe of Terrors
Motlake from Past Tense
Making History from A Day in the Life
Ships That Pass from A Christmas Treasury
The Eighth Wonder of the World from Dalek Empire
Gold and Black Ooze from Destination Prague and Remain in Light from Snapshots join the list of sample stories that are available on-line.Other stories available on-line include...
Long Term from A Universe of Terrors
Motlake from Past Tense
Making History from A Day in the Life
Ships That Pass from A Christmas Treasury
The Eighth Wonder of the World from Dalek Empire
42 Prologue available online
The BBC have released an exclusive online Prologue to next week's episode 42 on the Doctor Who homepage. Also available is a new trailer for the episode.
Human Nature Press Release
David-Tennant.com has released the following statement issued by the BBC for the upcoming episode Human Nature.
It's 1913 in England, and an ordinary schoolteacher called John Smith dreams of adventures in time and space and a mysterious blue box, as Russell T Davies's Doctor Who continues. But, when lights in the sky herald the arrival of something strange and terrible, Smith's maid, Martha, has to convince him that he alone can save the world. David Tennant plays the Doctor and Freema Agyeman plays his companion, Martha Jones. Jessica Stevenson and Thomas Sangster guest star. Human Nature will air on Saturday 26th May at 7pm on BBC One.
It's 1913 in England, and an ordinary schoolteacher called John Smith dreams of adventures in time and space and a mysterious blue box, as Russell T Davies's Doctor Who continues. But, when lights in the sky herald the arrival of something strange and terrible, Smith's maid, Martha, has to convince him that he alone can save the world. David Tennant plays the Doctor and Freema Agyeman plays his companion, Martha Jones. Jessica Stevenson and Thomas Sangster guest star. Human Nature will air on Saturday 26th May at 7pm on BBC One.
Kylie confirms 'Doctor Who' role
Kylie Minogue has confirmed that she will be appearing in an episode of Doctor Who.Rumours that the Australian pop star was being lined up to play a "sexy Cyberwoman" in this year's Christmas special first hit the tabloids last month.Asked by InStyle magazine if the reports were true, Kylie replied: "Yes. My gay husband [her stylist, William Baker] is so excited about it! But I'm not going to play a villain."
Dr Who actress becomes a foster mother
SWANSEA actress Helen Griffin, whose character was recently killed off by the evil Cybermen in an episode of Doctor Who, has got a new role as a foster carer.
And today at Swansea’s St Helen’s Primary School she will launch a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the need for more foster parents.
She will join children at the school, in Swansea’s Sandfields, in “planting a seed for fostering”.
They will be planting sunflower seeds to symbolise the need for children to be nurtured and helped to grow at what is the start of Foster Fortnight, a UK- wide programme highlighting fostering.
In Swansea alone there are currently 150 foster families looking after 350 children in care.
Helen Griffin, who wrote and starred in the highly acclaimed 2005 film Little White Lies, appeared in the Doctor Who episodes Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel in which her character was killed off by the robots.
Active in anti-war, anti-racism and feminist causes she identified herself as a spokeswoman for Swansea Coalition Against the (Iraq) War and in 2006 she was arrested for daubing red paint on the National Museum of Wales as part of a protest against Israel’s actions in Lebanon.
She was held for 10 hours and released with a caution.
She originally trained as a psychiatric nurse, developing a friendship with comic Jo Brand who trained with her, and became an actress in 1986.
Because of the nature of her job the actress will be offering short breaks to children from a variety of backgrounds.
A spokeswoman for Foster Swansea said they were delighted Helen Griffin had decided to become a foster carer and had agreed to launch Foster Fortnight 2007.
The use of an actress to highlight Foster Fortnight is part of a wider campaign to emphasise that people from all walks of life can foster.
Last year, bearded biker David Quick, from Pontypridd, spearheaded a recruitment campaign by the Taith Newydd Community Fostering Project.
Mr Quick, 36, a former florist and his wife Tracey became carers in 2005.
And today at Swansea’s St Helen’s Primary School she will launch a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the need for more foster parents.
She will join children at the school, in Swansea’s Sandfields, in “planting a seed for fostering”.
They will be planting sunflower seeds to symbolise the need for children to be nurtured and helped to grow at what is the start of Foster Fortnight, a UK- wide programme highlighting fostering.
In Swansea alone there are currently 150 foster families looking after 350 children in care.
Helen Griffin, who wrote and starred in the highly acclaimed 2005 film Little White Lies, appeared in the Doctor Who episodes Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel in which her character was killed off by the robots.
Active in anti-war, anti-racism and feminist causes she identified herself as a spokeswoman for Swansea Coalition Against the (Iraq) War and in 2006 she was arrested for daubing red paint on the National Museum of Wales as part of a protest against Israel’s actions in Lebanon.
She was held for 10 hours and released with a caution.
She originally trained as a psychiatric nurse, developing a friendship with comic Jo Brand who trained with her, and became an actress in 1986.
Because of the nature of her job the actress will be offering short breaks to children from a variety of backgrounds.
A spokeswoman for Foster Swansea said they were delighted Helen Griffin had decided to become a foster carer and had agreed to launch Foster Fortnight 2007.
The use of an actress to highlight Foster Fortnight is part of a wider campaign to emphasise that people from all walks of life can foster.
Last year, bearded biker David Quick, from Pontypridd, spearheaded a recruitment campaign by the Taith Newydd Community Fostering Project.
Mr Quick, 36, a former florist and his wife Tracey became carers in 2005.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Tennant to switch on Blackpool Illuminations
David Tennant is to flick the switch marking the start of this year's Blackpool Illuminations.Blackpool Tourism says the event on August 31 will take place during a free concert and live broadcast on BBC Radio 2. Jackie Potter, the strategic director for tourism and regeneration, said: "We are absolutely delighted that David Tennant has accepted our invitation to switch on the lights."The celebrations are enjoyed by a huge family audience and we are sure this will be a popular choice."Illuminations bosses are to unveil plans for a new display featuring characters and creatures from the show.Tennant, who coincidentally starred in the BBC drama Blackpool, follows in the footsteps of Tom Baker, who similarly had the honour of switching on the lights in 1975 when he was the Doctor.
Canada: Series Three on CBC starting June 18th
The Doctor Who Information Network has received word from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that series three will start broadcast on the CBC on Monday June 18th.
Meet Martha's family on Totally
Totally Doctor Who will be broadcast in it's normal time slot this week, despite the week delay for 42. Freema Agyeman (Martha), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Tish), Adjoa Andoh (Francine) and Trevor Laird (Clive) will all be on-hand this week for a conversation on being the new WHO family. Also in the episode will be Barney Curnow who worked on the Lazarus monster.
Totally Competition Continues
Totally Doctor Who are continuing with their HANDPRINT COMPETITION.
Every week on Totally we’re giving you the opportunity to win signed hand prints from our wall of fame. Every week our celebrity Doctor Who guests are invited to give us a signed hand print. At the end of the series we’re going to give them all away to one lucky viewer. If you want to win that amazing prize, you have tune in every week to Totally Doctor Who, and answer a question about the next episode of Doctor Who. You’ll need all 12 answers to stand a chance of winning this Totally exclusive prize. Questions so far: 1.How many sides does the Globe Theatre have? 2.What kind of patch is Cheen wearing on her neck? 3.How much money is the Doctor offered to work in the sewers of New York? 4.What does the Doctor secretly hand to Martha before he goes to meet the Daleks? 5.Who does the Martha say the Doctor looks like when he’s dressed in black tie? Send your answers to us at: TOTALLY DOCTOR WHO PO BOX 5158 CF5 9BD or email us at: totallydoctorwho@bbc.co.uk Remember, you have to answer all 12 questions to be in with a chance of winning.
Every week on Totally we’re giving you the opportunity to win signed hand prints from our wall of fame. Every week our celebrity Doctor Who guests are invited to give us a signed hand print. At the end of the series we’re going to give them all away to one lucky viewer. If you want to win that amazing prize, you have tune in every week to Totally Doctor Who, and answer a question about the next episode of Doctor Who. You’ll need all 12 answers to stand a chance of winning this Totally exclusive prize. Questions so far: 1.How many sides does the Globe Theatre have? 2.What kind of patch is Cheen wearing on her neck? 3.How much money is the Doctor offered to work in the sewers of New York? 4.What does the Doctor secretly hand to Martha before he goes to meet the Daleks? 5.Who does the Martha say the Doctor looks like when he’s dressed in black tie? Send your answers to us at: TOTALLY DOCTOR WHO PO BOX 5158 CF5 9BD or email us at: totallydoctorwho@bbc.co.uk Remember, you have to answer all 12 questions to be in with a chance of winning.
Production Starts on Sarah Jane
Filming on the Sarah Jane Adventures series began on April 16th. This series will consist of five two-part stories. Gareth Roberts has confirmed that he will be writing the first and fourth adventures for the series. Other episodes are being written by Phil Ford, Phil Gladwin, and a possible script from Russell T Davies. Alice Troughton is directing the first four episodes. Stephen Cole is also writing an audio episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures to be released by BBC Audiobooks.
Episodes one and two are set in a school and are rumored to feature Slitheen. Filming has been taking place at Cardiff High School, which is dubbing as Park Vale Comprehensive.Episodes three and four are rumoured to be set in an old person's home and involve a mysterious group of nuns.Episodes seven and eight revolve around Sarah Jane's childhood Pre-Doctor and the story are said to be darker than the rest of the series.
Episodes one and two are set in a school and are rumored to feature Slitheen. Filming has been taking place at Cardiff High School, which is dubbing as Park Vale Comprehensive.Episodes three and four are rumoured to be set in an old person's home and involve a mysterious group of nuns.Episodes seven and eight revolve around Sarah Jane's childhood Pre-Doctor and the story are said to be darker than the rest of the series.
New Doctor Who voice-changing mask set to hit the streets.
Following in the metallic footsteps of the full-size Cyberman helmet comes the latest piece of wearable Doctor Who gear. The big kids at Toyology have unearthed the hideous visage of a Dalek Sec Hybrid.
The human-cum-Dalek has a visible brain, one eye and six tendrils resembling uncooked sausages, but the most frightening part might be its voice-changing capabilities – speak into the mask and it’ll transform your words into chilling alien utterances. Also included are several pre-recorded phrases.
No word on a release date or price yet, but the Cyberman mask costs around £30, so expect it to be in line with that.
The human-cum-Dalek has a visible brain, one eye and six tendrils resembling uncooked sausages, but the most frightening part might be its voice-changing capabilities – speak into the mask and it’ll transform your words into chilling alien utterances. Also included are several pre-recorded phrases.
No word on a release date or price yet, but the Cyberman mask costs around £30, so expect it to be in line with that.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
North America DVD Releases
TvShowsOnDVD.com have announced August 14th as the North American release date for Robot and Survival.
John Barrowman Gives Some Hints About The Future Of Captain Jack
With only a matter of weeks until Captain Jack Harkness makes his heroic return to Doctor Who, the excitement for fans of the character are at fever pitch and John Barrowman who portrays the role is as enthusiastic as the many Doctor Who and Torchwood fans who await his return to the series with baited breath.
At present there are more questions about Captain Jack than there are answers. Questions such as: How did he get to the 21st century after being abandoned on Satellite Five? And: Why was he less of a flirtatious character on Torchwood than he was on Doctor Who? While talking to Starburst John Barrowman gave some of his insights about the role, which has made him a household name.
“We discussed that and we took it from when Captain Jack was left behind on Satellite Five. He was angry, he was gutted and that’s why he didn’t become involved with people so much because he had detached himself. He has also come back to a point of time [in the past] where he has to live through everything again, and you’ll find out more about that in series three of Doctor Who and series two of Torchwood. He’s a bit angry, so that’s why he doesn’t show much warmth or humour. But that’s gonna come around, that all I will say.”
While at present Captain Jack does not show a great deal of warmth, the same cannot be said for John Barrowman whose sense of fun and playful nature has given him a reputation for being somewhat of a wildcard on the set of Torchwood, and Barrowman is fast to admit that he does like keep his co stars on their toes so to speak.
“Last time I answered questions like this honestly one person complained that it wasn’t Gay Times and your people should not be reading it. One of our National Newspapers picked up on it and I got blamed when the editor was the one at fault, so I won’t tell you exactly what I did. All I’ll say is that… things come out.”
Of course Jack is returning to Doctor Who and his first episode ‘Utopia’ which is number 11 in the running order is only a matter of weeks away. That last time we saw Jack on Doctor Who was when Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper still had the two lead roles, and Barrowman is quick to point out that it was a little different for him acting alongside David Tennant due to the fact that a new chemistry needed to be established.
“It was weird because I was there with Billie and Chris, and part of that team that brought it back and created the beginning. I am the only one left from the beginning. With Torchwood that is my show, and with Doctor Who it is David’s – or whoever plays the Doctor, and I know that. So I came back as one of three, but that was kind of nice because he got to say all the big blurb! The responsibility of saying all the big words and the exposition was taken away from me, which was wonderful. I could just say, ‘Yes Doctor!’ ‘OK Doctor!’ ‘What do you mean Doctor?’”
“But it was also finding the dynamic again, because you have two actors who have never worked together as these two characters who we firmly established with each other. I’ve watched Doctor Who with David, he has watched Torchwood, so it was a neat experience, but weird. But towards the end it was good fun. I learned again that Jack still has something to add to it, so who knows.”
As to the future for Captain Jack, Barrowman couldn’t be happier with the role and truly enjoys the character to such an extent that he is open to portraying the role as long as he is needed to do so.
“As long as I can do something like ‘Any Dream Will Do’ and fit in some other things, I am happy to play Jack for the next five or 10 years if the audience wants it. I just think he is great.”
You can read much more of this interview in the 350Th edition of Starburst Magazine which is out now in all-good news agencies.
At present there are more questions about Captain Jack than there are answers. Questions such as: How did he get to the 21st century after being abandoned on Satellite Five? And: Why was he less of a flirtatious character on Torchwood than he was on Doctor Who? While talking to Starburst John Barrowman gave some of his insights about the role, which has made him a household name.
“We discussed that and we took it from when Captain Jack was left behind on Satellite Five. He was angry, he was gutted and that’s why he didn’t become involved with people so much because he had detached himself. He has also come back to a point of time [in the past] where he has to live through everything again, and you’ll find out more about that in series three of Doctor Who and series two of Torchwood. He’s a bit angry, so that’s why he doesn’t show much warmth or humour. But that’s gonna come around, that all I will say.”
While at present Captain Jack does not show a great deal of warmth, the same cannot be said for John Barrowman whose sense of fun and playful nature has given him a reputation for being somewhat of a wildcard on the set of Torchwood, and Barrowman is fast to admit that he does like keep his co stars on their toes so to speak.
“Last time I answered questions like this honestly one person complained that it wasn’t Gay Times and your people should not be reading it. One of our National Newspapers picked up on it and I got blamed when the editor was the one at fault, so I won’t tell you exactly what I did. All I’ll say is that… things come out.”
Of course Jack is returning to Doctor Who and his first episode ‘Utopia’ which is number 11 in the running order is only a matter of weeks away. That last time we saw Jack on Doctor Who was when Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper still had the two lead roles, and Barrowman is quick to point out that it was a little different for him acting alongside David Tennant due to the fact that a new chemistry needed to be established.
“It was weird because I was there with Billie and Chris, and part of that team that brought it back and created the beginning. I am the only one left from the beginning. With Torchwood that is my show, and with Doctor Who it is David’s – or whoever plays the Doctor, and I know that. So I came back as one of three, but that was kind of nice because he got to say all the big blurb! The responsibility of saying all the big words and the exposition was taken away from me, which was wonderful. I could just say, ‘Yes Doctor!’ ‘OK Doctor!’ ‘What do you mean Doctor?’”
“But it was also finding the dynamic again, because you have two actors who have never worked together as these two characters who we firmly established with each other. I’ve watched Doctor Who with David, he has watched Torchwood, so it was a neat experience, but weird. But towards the end it was good fun. I learned again that Jack still has something to add to it, so who knows.”
As to the future for Captain Jack, Barrowman couldn’t be happier with the role and truly enjoys the character to such an extent that he is open to portraying the role as long as he is needed to do so.
“As long as I can do something like ‘Any Dream Will Do’ and fit in some other things, I am happy to play Jack for the next five or 10 years if the audience wants it. I just think he is great.”
You can read much more of this interview in the 350Th edition of Starburst Magazine which is out now in all-good news agencies.
Dr Who, in Martha’s eyes
DOCTOR WHO fans are being given unrivalled insights into the mind of his latest companion Martha Jones via a weekly blog.
Written by Joseph Lidster, who has worked on a number of Doctor Who audio plays, the Myspace blog will be updated after each week’s episode.
In it Martha, who is played by Freema Agyeman, will retell the episode from her own point of view.
As the series progresses readers will be given exclusive snippets of information about the show’s characters as well as learn more about Martha’s growing feelings for the Doctor.
Matt Park, online PR manager for Force 10, who conceived the idea for the blog, said, “A Myspace blog is the perfect way to bring the character to life in a believable and intriguing way.
“The response from the fans has already been overwhelmingly positive.”
Written by Joseph Lidster, who has worked on a number of Doctor Who audio plays, the Myspace blog will be updated after each week’s episode.
In it Martha, who is played by Freema Agyeman, will retell the episode from her own point of view.
As the series progresses readers will be given exclusive snippets of information about the show’s characters as well as learn more about Martha’s growing feelings for the Doctor.
Matt Park, online PR manager for Force 10, who conceived the idea for the blog, said, “A Myspace blog is the perfect way to bring the character to life in a believable and intriguing way.
“The response from the fans has already been overwhelmingly positive.”
DR WHO site updated
The BBC Doctor Who website has been updated with a countdown to the return of Doctor Who 19 May with 42:http://www.bbc. co.uk/doctorwho/
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Blake returns in Sci-Fi channel audio drama
The Sci Fi channel has acquired a 36-part audio drama version of the cult sci-fi series, Blake’s 7.Produced by B7 Productions, the audio dramas are based on the original format and characters created by the late Terry Nation, who wrote the 1970s and 80s TV series.No Angels and Doctor Who actor Derek Riddgell will star as Roj Blake, with Colin Salmon as computer expert Kerr Avon, and This Life’s Daniela Nardini as the evil Supreme Commander Servalan.Other cast members of the new audio series include Robin of Sherwood actor Michael Praed and Celebrity Big Brother star, Rula Lenska.Jon Farrar, programming director for Sci-Fi, said: "As Sci Fi is a place that allows its audience to let their imaginations run free, this fantastic audio series is tailor made. There’s no doubt that with Blake’s 7’s enduring popularity and cult status, this remarkable re-imagining will delight fans old and new."The audio series will be available through the Sci Fi broadband player section of the channel's website from today. The player recently saw success with the channel’s first ever online premiere of Heroes, Sci Fi’s highest ever rated show.Andrew Mark Sewell, managing director, B7 Productions, said: "The Sci Fi channel is the perfect home to debut our re-imagining of this cult classic. It’s great to work with a broadcaster that is equally enthusiastic about how we want to develop and deliver Blake’s 7. Thirty years since the original series, television science fiction is still mapping the paths first explored by Terry Nation’s creation, so it’s apt that with this all-new Blake’s 7 we should be exploring new ways of delivering original content."A purpose-built micro-site has also been developed, along with a a 'behind-the-scenes' programme, which will premiere on Sci Fi this summer
JACK'S BACK
Scots actor John Barrowman returns to Doctor Who and he couldn't be happier working with his neighbour
By Brian Mciver
WITH eyes shinier than a Cyberman's energy bolt and a smile wider than Tom Cruise, John Barrowman is used to being the centre of attention.
The Torchwood actor is never off the telly, is the most in-demand stage performer in the country and is negotiating a record deal. And he's one of the most popular guests on just about every chat, talent and even cookery show around.
But if the dashing 40-year-old has to share the limelight with anyone, he's just glad it's his favourite neighbour.
The Glasgow-born actor is preparing to step back from his lead role in Torchwood to rejoin the cast of Doctor Who next month.
And he said that even though returning to the programme that made his name as heroic alien-buster Captain Jack Harkness meant stepping back from the Torchwood spotlight, he was delighted to be teaming up with his countryman - and neighbour - David Tennant.
Both series are filmed in Cardiff by the same production team and the Scots boys live in the same block of flats in the city centre.
So by the time they began filming earlier this year, they had already become firm friends, even if their bizarre mixture of Scottish, English and American accents confused some of their neighbours.
John is also a judge on the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do and said fitting that in with Torchwood and Doctor Who was keeping him busier than he's ever been, but he's loving every minute.
"I have no free time at the moment," he said. "I have no time to do anything, but that's by choice because I love the work I do, and it's actually fun and pleasurable.
"I'm not one of those actors who goes: 'Oh my God, I can't turn it off'. "I just like being on television. "There's a lot of John in Captain Jack and there's a lot of Captain Jack in John. He's a great character.
"It's brilliant writing by Russell and the other team of writers. I've been given a gift.
"I've been handed a part on a platter. It's just great getting up in the morning and doing it every day."
John's new series of Torchwood will be screened later this year, but he's back in the Tardis next month.
THERE he will make his first appearance with David, having previously worked with Christopher Ecclestone in the first of the revived Doctor Who series.
"David is a bit more fun and he laughs a lot more, while Christopher was very serious," said John. "And David and I have socialised prior to working together.
"It's different because when I go back into Doctor Who, I'm one of three, whereas in Torchwood, I'm No. 1. When I go back to Doctor Who, I have to readjust and do things differently because Jack is not the leader, he's just part of a team.
"Jack is the brawn in that organisation, whereas in Torchwood, he's the brain and the brawn.
"I can't tell you anything about the plot, but with Doctor Who coming up, Jack will return to Torchwood.
"A lot will be revealed about that, and the audience will love what they hear about Jack.
"And then when he comes back to Torchwood, the only thing I can tell you is that, without giving too much away, Jack will not be as angry or as dark this time.
"He's a bit more fun than he was before."
One of the unusual things about the friendship between the two sci-fi Scots is their accents.
Paisley-born and bred Tennant has a broad Scots voice off screen but plays the Time Lord as an eccentric Englishman.
John was raised in Illinois after emigrating when he was eight, and switches effortlessly between his American accent and his Scottish brogue, which he naturally starts speaking in the company of, or on the phone to, other Scots.
"What's really strange is that Captain Jack always speaks to the Doctor as an American and David spoke to me in English," said John.
"But when we come off set, David spoke to me in Scottish, and I would go into Scottish.
"But I'd then feel weird because I was thinking I would need to talk to him in American, so I would end up talking to him in what I call a 'w****r mid-Atlantic' accent.
"And he would look at me and go: 'What are you speaking?' So now I just speak to David in a Scottish accent. We've got two Scots boys leading the forefront of two iconic British TV series and there's nothing wrong with that."
In addition to saving the world with his Paisley pal, John is also one of the best-loved musical theatre figures in the country.
After helping Andrew Lloyd Webber pick an actress for the Sound Of Music in last year's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, he is now judging Any Dream Will Do, the search for a new leading man to take over in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
AND after working his way to the top in the theatreland, he hopes the contestants realise just what an opportunity they have.
"They are being handed a career on a platter," he said.
"There are friends of mine who are working their butts off trying to get into shows and are struggling.
"These boys need to realise they have been given a gift.
"It is an incredible group of people and I'm not just saying that because I'm on it.
"Bill Kenwright has produced more West End shows than any other producer, and Andrew is the most prolific composer of musical theatre in the world.
"To be able to be judged and be looked at by Andrew Lloyd Webber on a weekly basis is incred
"There are some people who try out for Lloyd Webber shows and don't see him in an audition. And these boys are working with him every week.
"I've worked my ass off in the business, and for me a working actor is a successful actor.
"I came into the business to work as an actor. I didn't come into it to be a celebrity, but I love it.
"I don't understand all the celebs who go: 'Oh, I hate being famous and I don't like using the word celebrity'.
"I just think: 'Well, s****w you'. It's wonderful, and the public have put me here and I'm so grateful and thankful to them. I just like being on television.
"I love theatre, and I will go back to the stage. I've been offered about 10 West End shows in the last year but can't fit them in. But I will go back to it."
One thing the versatile singer won't be doing is entering the pop charts.
Recent reports that he had launched plans to start a pop career are untrue, but he did admit to having talks with a record company about albums deals.
"I am in negotiations with a record company, talking about record deal and a possible four albums," he said.
"I am not going to be a pop star. I am not going to release a pop single.
"But I will, as I have always done, release albums relating to things thatldo.
"A mixtures of show tunes, covers and new stuff, but am not releasing a pop single."
'I've been handed a part on a platter. It's just great getting up and doing it every day'
'David is a bit more fun and he laughs a lot more while Christopher was serious'
By Brian Mciver
WITH eyes shinier than a Cyberman's energy bolt and a smile wider than Tom Cruise, John Barrowman is used to being the centre of attention.
The Torchwood actor is never off the telly, is the most in-demand stage performer in the country and is negotiating a record deal. And he's one of the most popular guests on just about every chat, talent and even cookery show around.
But if the dashing 40-year-old has to share the limelight with anyone, he's just glad it's his favourite neighbour.
The Glasgow-born actor is preparing to step back from his lead role in Torchwood to rejoin the cast of Doctor Who next month.
And he said that even though returning to the programme that made his name as heroic alien-buster Captain Jack Harkness meant stepping back from the Torchwood spotlight, he was delighted to be teaming up with his countryman - and neighbour - David Tennant.
Both series are filmed in Cardiff by the same production team and the Scots boys live in the same block of flats in the city centre.
So by the time they began filming earlier this year, they had already become firm friends, even if their bizarre mixture of Scottish, English and American accents confused some of their neighbours.
John is also a judge on the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do and said fitting that in with Torchwood and Doctor Who was keeping him busier than he's ever been, but he's loving every minute.
"I have no free time at the moment," he said. "I have no time to do anything, but that's by choice because I love the work I do, and it's actually fun and pleasurable.
"I'm not one of those actors who goes: 'Oh my God, I can't turn it off'. "I just like being on television. "There's a lot of John in Captain Jack and there's a lot of Captain Jack in John. He's a great character.
"It's brilliant writing by Russell and the other team of writers. I've been given a gift.
"I've been handed a part on a platter. It's just great getting up in the morning and doing it every day."
John's new series of Torchwood will be screened later this year, but he's back in the Tardis next month.
THERE he will make his first appearance with David, having previously worked with Christopher Ecclestone in the first of the revived Doctor Who series.
"David is a bit more fun and he laughs a lot more, while Christopher was very serious," said John. "And David and I have socialised prior to working together.
"It's different because when I go back into Doctor Who, I'm one of three, whereas in Torchwood, I'm No. 1. When I go back to Doctor Who, I have to readjust and do things differently because Jack is not the leader, he's just part of a team.
"Jack is the brawn in that organisation, whereas in Torchwood, he's the brain and the brawn.
"I can't tell you anything about the plot, but with Doctor Who coming up, Jack will return to Torchwood.
"A lot will be revealed about that, and the audience will love what they hear about Jack.
"And then when he comes back to Torchwood, the only thing I can tell you is that, without giving too much away, Jack will not be as angry or as dark this time.
"He's a bit more fun than he was before."
One of the unusual things about the friendship between the two sci-fi Scots is their accents.
Paisley-born and bred Tennant has a broad Scots voice off screen but plays the Time Lord as an eccentric Englishman.
John was raised in Illinois after emigrating when he was eight, and switches effortlessly between his American accent and his Scottish brogue, which he naturally starts speaking in the company of, or on the phone to, other Scots.
"What's really strange is that Captain Jack always speaks to the Doctor as an American and David spoke to me in English," said John.
"But when we come off set, David spoke to me in Scottish, and I would go into Scottish.
"But I'd then feel weird because I was thinking I would need to talk to him in American, so I would end up talking to him in what I call a 'w****r mid-Atlantic' accent.
"And he would look at me and go: 'What are you speaking?' So now I just speak to David in a Scottish accent. We've got two Scots boys leading the forefront of two iconic British TV series and there's nothing wrong with that."
In addition to saving the world with his Paisley pal, John is also one of the best-loved musical theatre figures in the country.
After helping Andrew Lloyd Webber pick an actress for the Sound Of Music in last year's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, he is now judging Any Dream Will Do, the search for a new leading man to take over in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
AND after working his way to the top in the theatreland, he hopes the contestants realise just what an opportunity they have.
"They are being handed a career on a platter," he said.
"There are friends of mine who are working their butts off trying to get into shows and are struggling.
"These boys need to realise they have been given a gift.
"It is an incredible group of people and I'm not just saying that because I'm on it.
"Bill Kenwright has produced more West End shows than any other producer, and Andrew is the most prolific composer of musical theatre in the world.
"To be able to be judged and be looked at by Andrew Lloyd Webber on a weekly basis is incred
"There are some people who try out for Lloyd Webber shows and don't see him in an audition. And these boys are working with him every week.
"I've worked my ass off in the business, and for me a working actor is a successful actor.
"I came into the business to work as an actor. I didn't come into it to be a celebrity, but I love it.
"I don't understand all the celebs who go: 'Oh, I hate being famous and I don't like using the word celebrity'.
"I just think: 'Well, s****w you'. It's wonderful, and the public have put me here and I'm so grateful and thankful to them. I just like being on television.
"I love theatre, and I will go back to the stage. I've been offered about 10 West End shows in the last year but can't fit them in. But I will go back to it."
One thing the versatile singer won't be doing is entering the pop charts.
Recent reports that he had launched plans to start a pop career are untrue, but he did admit to having talks with a record company about albums deals.
"I am in negotiations with a record company, talking about record deal and a possible four albums," he said.
"I am not going to be a pop star. I am not going to release a pop single.
"But I will, as I have always done, release albums relating to things thatldo.
"A mixtures of show tunes, covers and new stuff, but am not releasing a pop single."
'I've been handed a part on a platter. It's just great getting up and doing it every day'
'David is a bit more fun and he laughs a lot more while Christopher was serious'
Monday, May 07, 2007
Mystery lover of Dr Who girl
DOCTOR Who beauty Freema Agyeman has found love... with a hunky estate agent.
The 27-year-old actress, who plays the Doctor's assistant Martha Jones in the BBC show, has kept the identity of her mystery boyfriend under wraps for the past 18 months.
But now we can say who "Mr Who?" is. Sharpsuited Jamie Wild, 28, works for an East London estate agent. And the handsome six-footer, who has a diamond earring, lives in a swanky warehouse apartment around the corner from his office. He spends much of his time with Freema and regularly visited her in Wales when she was filming Doctor Who with co-star David Tennant.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror, she has spoken of her love for the man she only refers to as "Mr Freema" for the first time. "We have been together a year or so now," she said. "He is very proud of what I have achieved and is chuffed to bits for me. He knows it is what I have always wanted.
"He is in property, so not in the acting business, but is still so supportive. He is so understanding. I am so lucky and so happy."
The actress told the Sunday Mirror how when she won the dream role to replace Billie Piper, who played Rose, she and Jamie found ways to beat her gruelling schedule.
"It was hard in the beginning, but he came down to Cardiff when filming was too hectic," she said. "He enjoyed it and didn't mind because he knew how much playing Martha meant to me."
Freema admitted that she'd love to get married and have children one day, but added: "Not just yet. I really want acting to remain in my life but I want family and kids to feature in my life too."
Until recently Freema was a little-known actress who worked in a video shop to make ends meet. Apart from walk-on parts in The Bill, Silent Witness and Casualty, her biggest role was playing Lola Wise in Crossroads in 2001.
She said: "For years I've been a jobbing actress and it's been incredibly tough. I kept asking myself how long I could go on for and there were times when I considered giving it up. But my family kept telling me to carry on. If I couldn't pay the bills, they supported me and kept telling me to follow my dream. Now I've got what I've always wanted and I keep saying, 'Thank you, thank you'."
Freema told how she "literally screamed down the phone" when she heard she'd won the part of Martha.
"I was in the car with my brother and sister and they started screaming too. We immediately bought champagne to celebrate. My family have been so supportive and I feel this vindicates them.
"You couldn't wish for a better job, and I have been having a ball. I decided early on not to get overwhelmed by it all. It's a huge honour to play the Doctor's first black assistant and I am incredibly proud."
She praised co-star David and said: "He is so lovely and brilliant as the Doctor. It's hard filling Billie's shoes, but I just hope people have appreciated the change."
'I'm so lucky and happy.. he's proud of me and so supportive'
The 27-year-old actress, who plays the Doctor's assistant Martha Jones in the BBC show, has kept the identity of her mystery boyfriend under wraps for the past 18 months.
But now we can say who "Mr Who?" is. Sharpsuited Jamie Wild, 28, works for an East London estate agent. And the handsome six-footer, who has a diamond earring, lives in a swanky warehouse apartment around the corner from his office. He spends much of his time with Freema and regularly visited her in Wales when she was filming Doctor Who with co-star David Tennant.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror, she has spoken of her love for the man she only refers to as "Mr Freema" for the first time. "We have been together a year or so now," she said. "He is very proud of what I have achieved and is chuffed to bits for me. He knows it is what I have always wanted.
"He is in property, so not in the acting business, but is still so supportive. He is so understanding. I am so lucky and so happy."
The actress told the Sunday Mirror how when she won the dream role to replace Billie Piper, who played Rose, she and Jamie found ways to beat her gruelling schedule.
"It was hard in the beginning, but he came down to Cardiff when filming was too hectic," she said. "He enjoyed it and didn't mind because he knew how much playing Martha meant to me."
Freema admitted that she'd love to get married and have children one day, but added: "Not just yet. I really want acting to remain in my life but I want family and kids to feature in my life too."
Until recently Freema was a little-known actress who worked in a video shop to make ends meet. Apart from walk-on parts in The Bill, Silent Witness and Casualty, her biggest role was playing Lola Wise in Crossroads in 2001.
She said: "For years I've been a jobbing actress and it's been incredibly tough. I kept asking myself how long I could go on for and there were times when I considered giving it up. But my family kept telling me to carry on. If I couldn't pay the bills, they supported me and kept telling me to follow my dream. Now I've got what I've always wanted and I keep saying, 'Thank you, thank you'."
Freema told how she "literally screamed down the phone" when she heard she'd won the part of Martha.
"I was in the car with my brother and sister and they started screaming too. We immediately bought champagne to celebrate. My family have been so supportive and I feel this vindicates them.
"You couldn't wish for a better job, and I have been having a ball. I decided early on not to get overwhelmed by it all. It's a huge honour to play the Doctor's first black assistant and I am incredibly proud."
She praised co-star David and said: "He is so lovely and brilliant as the Doctor. It's hard filling Billie's shoes, but I just hope people have appreciated the change."
'I'm so lucky and happy.. he's proud of me and so supportive'
Time Lord Tennant promises to perform Proclaimers hit at actress pal's reception
DOCTOR Who star David Tennant is to perform at his best friend's wedding - singing The Proclaimers' hit I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles).
The Scot has been asked to belt out the tune at the nuptials of No Angels star Louise Delamere this week.
The pair shared a flat when they studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.
Louise, who is marrying Green Wing's Stephen Mangan in London, asked David to perform the song for old times' sake - after seeing him in the video for the Comic Relief version by comics Peter Kay and Matt Lucas.
She said: "David is my oldest mate from drama school and one of my favourite things when we were there was him singing The Proclaimers' 500 Miles.
"I was reminiscing with him the other day and I've asked him to give us a rendition at the wedding.
"When we had singing lessons at college, he used to belt that out and it made me laugh so much - I just loved it.
"I don't know if he will do it or not - it will depend on how drunk everyone gets."
Louise, 33, will be back on our screens next week in The Good Samaritan.
She plays Shane Richie's unhappy wife and when she asks for a divorce it sparks a chain of events which makes him think he is responsible for a stranger's suicide.
Playing a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown has been good preparation for her own big day.
She said: "Yes, I can bring a lot to the role! It's a bit nerve-wracking because nothing is in place. Stephen has been in LA so I haven't seen him for two months. It will be like an arranged marriage when I see him.
"It's turning out to be a big do. We thought half of our actor mates wouldn't be able to come because of work but everyone worked it into their schedule.
"David will definitely be there but he'd better keep his sonic screwdriver at home!"
Other famous guests will include stars from EastEnders, The Bill, Green Wing and No Angels. But the couple did not even consider selling the bash to a celebrity magazine.
Louise said: "We could have gone down that road but we wanted family and friends and no hassle.
"And I don't know if it's a star-studded affair or not because they are just our mates. It's quite strange to think of your friends in that way."
There will be no honeymoon for the Liverpool-born actress as she and her husband-to-be are filming.
He's doing a new series with the BBC while she's filming the latest series of Doc Martin with Martin Clunes.
And, sadly, there is no chance of David helping her win a role in Doctor Who. She played posh pilot Diane Holmes in two episodes of spin-off show Torchwood - starring Scots actor John Barrowman - but no crossover is allowed.
She said: "The only character who can appear in both is John's Captain Jack, so my only hope is I get a spin-off show of my own. I can't see it, unless there is blackmail material from the wedding."
The Good Samaritan is on ITV on Wednesday, May, 16 at 9pm.
The Scot has been asked to belt out the tune at the nuptials of No Angels star Louise Delamere this week.
The pair shared a flat when they studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.
Louise, who is marrying Green Wing's Stephen Mangan in London, asked David to perform the song for old times' sake - after seeing him in the video for the Comic Relief version by comics Peter Kay and Matt Lucas.
She said: "David is my oldest mate from drama school and one of my favourite things when we were there was him singing The Proclaimers' 500 Miles.
"I was reminiscing with him the other day and I've asked him to give us a rendition at the wedding.
"When we had singing lessons at college, he used to belt that out and it made me laugh so much - I just loved it.
"I don't know if he will do it or not - it will depend on how drunk everyone gets."
Louise, 33, will be back on our screens next week in The Good Samaritan.
She plays Shane Richie's unhappy wife and when she asks for a divorce it sparks a chain of events which makes him think he is responsible for a stranger's suicide.
Playing a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown has been good preparation for her own big day.
She said: "Yes, I can bring a lot to the role! It's a bit nerve-wracking because nothing is in place. Stephen has been in LA so I haven't seen him for two months. It will be like an arranged marriage when I see him.
"It's turning out to be a big do. We thought half of our actor mates wouldn't be able to come because of work but everyone worked it into their schedule.
"David will definitely be there but he'd better keep his sonic screwdriver at home!"
Other famous guests will include stars from EastEnders, The Bill, Green Wing and No Angels. But the couple did not even consider selling the bash to a celebrity magazine.
Louise said: "We could have gone down that road but we wanted family and friends and no hassle.
"And I don't know if it's a star-studded affair or not because they are just our mates. It's quite strange to think of your friends in that way."
There will be no honeymoon for the Liverpool-born actress as she and her husband-to-be are filming.
He's doing a new series with the BBC while she's filming the latest series of Doc Martin with Martin Clunes.
And, sadly, there is no chance of David helping her win a role in Doctor Who. She played posh pilot Diane Holmes in two episodes of spin-off show Torchwood - starring Scots actor John Barrowman - but no crossover is allowed.
She said: "The only character who can appear in both is John's Captain Jack, so my only hope is I get a spin-off show of my own. I can't see it, unless there is blackmail material from the wedding."
The Good Samaritan is on ITV on Wednesday, May, 16 at 9pm.
The Infinite Quest preview
The preview for episode 6 of The Infinite Quest is available at the BBC Doctor Who website, and can be seen by CLICKING HERE.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
New Series Three trailer
The official BBC website has put online the second half of Series Three trailer that was broadcast this evening at the conclusion of episode six, The Lazarus Experiment. The trailer shows a selection of scenes from episodes seven to thirteen, and was created as a consolation for viewers for Doctor Who's two-week absence due to next week's Eurovision Song Contest.The trailer is also available on the BBC's official YouTube channel, here.
Lazarus Experiment - Overnight ratings
Unofficial overnight figures show that episode six of Season Three, The Lazarus Experiment, was watched by 6.7 million viewers, a 37.1 % share of the UK television audience.The programme returned to its position at the top of the UK ratings chart for the night, beating Casualty, which got 6.3 million. On ITV1, Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon got 4 million viewers.With one day to go, Doctor Who is currently the 12th most watched programme for the week. The programme was again top of the Children's chart with 1.5 million viewers, which was a 60.7% share.On BBC3, Doctor Who Confidential had an audience of 0.77 million, making it the 2nd most watched programme on multi-channel TV for the night, being beaten by Ford Football Special on Sky Sports.
Tennant's shock at pants
DOCTOR WHO star David Tennant has told that the most bizarre thing about playing the Timelord is seeing his face on Y-fronts.
The Scots actor said he was still getting used to playing one of the best loved parts on television.
But he said the biggest shock was when he saw his face all over merchandise such as pants.
Tennant, from Paisley, appears on Parkinson tonight and also tells the veteran presenter about his most embarrassing acting moment, filming sex scenes in the series Casanova.
And he said of Doctor Who: "It's more than another acting job.
"It is a bit overwhelming. You go into a supermarket and your face is on a cake. There are now pants with my face on them.
"And that's not a sentence I thought I would ever say on national television."
Tennant took over the role last year when Christopher Eccleston quit.
In tonight's episode he faces the terrifying results of the Lazarus experiment, although it appears he is more scared of seeing his face on underwear.
The Scots actor said he was still getting used to playing one of the best loved parts on television.
But he said the biggest shock was when he saw his face all over merchandise such as pants.
Tennant, from Paisley, appears on Parkinson tonight and also tells the veteran presenter about his most embarrassing acting moment, filming sex scenes in the series Casanova.
And he said of Doctor Who: "It's more than another acting job.
"It is a bit overwhelming. You go into a supermarket and your face is on a cake. There are now pants with my face on them.
"And that's not a sentence I thought I would ever say on national television."
Tennant took over the role last year when Christopher Eccleston quit.
In tonight's episode he faces the terrifying results of the Lazarus experiment, although it appears he is more scared of seeing his face on underwear.
A vote no sonic screwdriver could ever fix
IF THIS was to be the SNP invasion of Earth, or at least Holyrood, there were no shortage of BBC Doctor Whos to see us through. The first was introduced by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, saying it was: "Peter Snow, who like Doctor Who has been transmogrified, given a new wardrobe and emerged as a Radio 2 DJ".
Lankier than Christopher Eccleston, suaver than David Tennant, this could only be Jeremy Vine. He hopped and blundered between the election graphics with at least some of his predecessor's abandon.
His attractive assistant was not Kirsty Wark, however, who was nowhere to be seen, but a graphic picturing Tony Blair on a tennis court. With 10 balls bouncing across the screen to represent the past 10 elections, Vine wondered whether this year's ball would soar to safety or land in the net instead.
Over on BBC Scotland, Doctor Who No 2 was political editor Brian Taylor, reassuring viewers there was no need to dive behind the sofa just yet.
Back he took us to the 1950s, where grown men wore blue suede shoes and rocked and rolled under a non-Labour majority. "No-one under the age of 69 has known anything but a Labour lead at a national election in Scotland," he declared, as the BBC dusted down various archive shots.
Everyone was trying to decide which year to go to next. Both Glenn Campbell and Gavin Esler wondered if we were in 1992 or 1997 as they discussed the SNP. There were later suggestions that it was even 1935 or 1923, when no-one voted red no matter how poor they were.
When at last there was an election result, it was Jack McConnell up first. He held his seat but there was a worrying Natward swing.
Taylor thought it boded ill, but there were other things to put his time travelling compass in a spin. Helicopter trouble in the Western Isles would prevent those constituency results from arriving until Friday noon and now a broken-down boat from Arran had left ballot boxes floating free in the Clyde.
The new automated counting system was another headache, with the numbers of spoiled ballots soaring. If only these 100,000 balls-ups could have been counted as a new party, what a king-making force they could have been.
ON STV, it might have seemed an opportune time to see where that channel's election night was headed, but alas there was no hustings in sight. In a virgin step even for this increasingly grubby moneymaker, the only election night questions were at the end of its premium quiz lines.
So back to the Beeb, where Salmond's Gordon result was among the first to be called even though it had gone three o'clock. Something was seriously wrong.
Taylor was soon talking of "calamity" and "disaster", as more and more counts were postponed. Alan Cochrane, Scottish editor of the Daily Telegraph, called the problems a "national disgrace" almost on a par with the building of the parliament.
But if these fellows had been forgetting themselves in the green room, they had not quite become true Doctor Whos. For all the travelling backwards, no one had worked out how to move forward instead.
The programme ran out of airtime before anyone knew the result, and it would be 12 hours before viewers were treated to Huw Edwards getting the result over his earpiece when the rest of Scotland already knew. Up-to-the-minute television for the internet age this was certainly not.
But that was all much later. At that time in the morning, the invasion was incomplete. Forty-seven might have been the secret of the universe, or at least some number like it, but it would still be many hours before it became magical for the SNP.
Lankier than Christopher Eccleston, suaver than David Tennant, this could only be Jeremy Vine. He hopped and blundered between the election graphics with at least some of his predecessor's abandon.
His attractive assistant was not Kirsty Wark, however, who was nowhere to be seen, but a graphic picturing Tony Blair on a tennis court. With 10 balls bouncing across the screen to represent the past 10 elections, Vine wondered whether this year's ball would soar to safety or land in the net instead.
Over on BBC Scotland, Doctor Who No 2 was political editor Brian Taylor, reassuring viewers there was no need to dive behind the sofa just yet.
Back he took us to the 1950s, where grown men wore blue suede shoes and rocked and rolled under a non-Labour majority. "No-one under the age of 69 has known anything but a Labour lead at a national election in Scotland," he declared, as the BBC dusted down various archive shots.
Everyone was trying to decide which year to go to next. Both Glenn Campbell and Gavin Esler wondered if we were in 1992 or 1997 as they discussed the SNP. There were later suggestions that it was even 1935 or 1923, when no-one voted red no matter how poor they were.
When at last there was an election result, it was Jack McConnell up first. He held his seat but there was a worrying Natward swing.
Taylor thought it boded ill, but there were other things to put his time travelling compass in a spin. Helicopter trouble in the Western Isles would prevent those constituency results from arriving until Friday noon and now a broken-down boat from Arran had left ballot boxes floating free in the Clyde.
The new automated counting system was another headache, with the numbers of spoiled ballots soaring. If only these 100,000 balls-ups could have been counted as a new party, what a king-making force they could have been.
ON STV, it might have seemed an opportune time to see where that channel's election night was headed, but alas there was no hustings in sight. In a virgin step even for this increasingly grubby moneymaker, the only election night questions were at the end of its premium quiz lines.
So back to the Beeb, where Salmond's Gordon result was among the first to be called even though it had gone three o'clock. Something was seriously wrong.
Taylor was soon talking of "calamity" and "disaster", as more and more counts were postponed. Alan Cochrane, Scottish editor of the Daily Telegraph, called the problems a "national disgrace" almost on a par with the building of the parliament.
But if these fellows had been forgetting themselves in the green room, they had not quite become true Doctor Whos. For all the travelling backwards, no one had worked out how to move forward instead.
The programme ran out of airtime before anyone knew the result, and it would be 12 hours before viewers were treated to Huw Edwards getting the result over his earpiece when the rest of Scotland already knew. Up-to-the-minute television for the internet age this was certainly not.
But that was all much later. At that time in the morning, the invasion was incomplete. Forty-seven might have been the secret of the universe, or at least some number like it, but it would still be many hours before it became magical for the SNP.
Davies tops "pink" list
Russell T Davies tops the The Independent' s 2007 Pink List, the list of the most influential gay people in Britain. Other names include John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) at #17, Simon Callow (Charles Dickens in The Unquiet Dead) at #29, Derek Jacobi (the Master in Scream of the Shalka and The Professor in an upcoming episode) at #42, Neil Tennant (of The Pet Shop Boys and where current Doctor David McDonald got his stage name) at #55, and Mark Gatiss (Doctor Who actor and writer) at #80. For the complete list CLICK HERE.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
DVD release date changes
The date changes are as follows:
25th June - Series 3 Vol 2
9th July - Timelash
23rd July - Series 3 Vol 3
6th August - Time-flight / Arc of Infinity
For more information on 2007 Doctor Who DVD releases, check out the DWO Release Guide.
25th June - Series 3 Vol 2
9th July - Timelash
23rd July - Series 3 Vol 3
6th August - Time-flight / Arc of Infinity
For more information on 2007 Doctor Who DVD releases, check out the DWO Release Guide.
Working Lunch
The BBC2 finance programme Working Lunch has featured a report on the business aspects of making monsters for Doctor Who.The programme interviewed Neill Gorton of Millennium FX who explained how such monsters as Cybermen are created as well as talking about his work on other series such as Catherine Tate.The feature can be viewed via the BBC Watch again feature.
Holden wants Dr Who role
Actress Amanda Holden has pleaded with the makers of Doctor Who to give her a role.
The 36-year-old has admitted that she wants to play a baddie in the sci-fi series.
Appearing on ITV1's Parkinson show alongside current Timelord David Tennant, Holden said: "I am the only person I know who hasn't been on Doctor Who. I want to be in it!
"I want to be really evil but glamorous, like the snow queen in Narnia."
Holden recently announced she was quitting Sunday night show Wild At Heart, which is filmed in Africa, because she wants to spend more time with one-year-old daughter Lexi.
She continued: "It's that cliche that your priorities are sorted. Lexi comes first and I put her first. This will be my last series of Wild At Heart - I am not necessarily going out of it for good, but because of her I had to make this decision."
The interview will be shown on ITV1 on Saturday.
The 36-year-old has admitted that she wants to play a baddie in the sci-fi series.
Appearing on ITV1's Parkinson show alongside current Timelord David Tennant, Holden said: "I am the only person I know who hasn't been on Doctor Who. I want to be in it!
"I want to be really evil but glamorous, like the snow queen in Narnia."
Holden recently announced she was quitting Sunday night show Wild At Heart, which is filmed in Africa, because she wants to spend more time with one-year-old daughter Lexi.
She continued: "It's that cliche that your priorities are sorted. Lexi comes first and I put her first. This will be my last series of Wild At Heart - I am not necessarily going out of it for good, but because of her I had to make this decision."
The interview will be shown on ITV1 on Saturday.
Doctor and Martha move into yet another dimension – animation
RUSSELL T Davies had added another successful spin-off to the Doctor Who franchise with a children’s cartoon.
The Swansea-born writer has been overseeing scripts for the 13-part animated adventures based on the Doctor’s adventures.
Screened on children’s channel CBBC as part of the Totally Doctor Who show the new spin-off is proving very successful.
The show is being produced by a team of Manchester animators who have been behind cartoon successes like Count Duckula.
Illustrators are working flat out to complete Infinite Quest, the 13-part animated adventure based around the Doctor’s escapades.
Story continues
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Each of the three-minute-long programmes is voiced by the same actors who star in the TV series, including David Tennant, who plays the Doctor, and Freema Agyeman, who plays his sidekick Martha.
Firestep Productions – based in Newton Street, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter – received the original commission to produce and animate the series, while neighbouring firm Kilogramme was asked for computer-generated imagery.
One of Firestep’s managing directors, Steve Maher, was pleased to be given the chance to create a successful spin-off for the popular sci-fi programme. He said, “It has been very important for us to maintain the feel of the live action series, while making the most of the possibilities afforded by animations.
“Russell T Davies has overseen the script for this and we’ve also liaised closely with the team in Cardiff who film the programmes.
“It’s also been an honour to help create new baddies, like Baltazar, for the Doctor to face.”
The fourth programme in the series has now been screened and the team are putting the finishing touches to the final three episodes, which will be broadcast in the summer.
Many of the animators who have worked on Infinite Quest used to work for Cosgrove Hall productions, the company responsible for animated children’s TV classics such as Dangermouse, Wind In The Willows and Count Duckula.
Infinite Quest is broadcast on CBBC at 5pm each Friday.
The Swansea-born writer has been overseeing scripts for the 13-part animated adventures based on the Doctor’s adventures.
Screened on children’s channel CBBC as part of the Totally Doctor Who show the new spin-off is proving very successful.
The show is being produced by a team of Manchester animators who have been behind cartoon successes like Count Duckula.
Illustrators are working flat out to complete Infinite Quest, the 13-part animated adventure based around the Doctor’s escapades.
Story continues
ADVERTISEMENT
Each of the three-minute-long programmes is voiced by the same actors who star in the TV series, including David Tennant, who plays the Doctor, and Freema Agyeman, who plays his sidekick Martha.
Firestep Productions – based in Newton Street, in Manchester’s Northern Quarter – received the original commission to produce and animate the series, while neighbouring firm Kilogramme was asked for computer-generated imagery.
One of Firestep’s managing directors, Steve Maher, was pleased to be given the chance to create a successful spin-off for the popular sci-fi programme. He said, “It has been very important for us to maintain the feel of the live action series, while making the most of the possibilities afforded by animations.
“Russell T Davies has overseen the script for this and we’ve also liaised closely with the team in Cardiff who film the programmes.
“It’s also been an honour to help create new baddies, like Baltazar, for the Doctor to face.”
The fourth programme in the series has now been screened and the team are putting the finishing touches to the final three episodes, which will be broadcast in the summer.
Many of the animators who have worked on Infinite Quest used to work for Cosgrove Hall productions, the company responsible for animated children’s TV classics such as Dangermouse, Wind In The Willows and Count Duckula.
Infinite Quest is broadcast on CBBC at 5pm each Friday.
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