Saturday, March 29, 2008
S4: Episode Two - Synopsis
.2: The Fires of Pompeii
The Doctor and Donna travel back into ancient history, in tonight's episode of Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama.
When they arrive in 79AD, however, they discover psychic powers and beasts of stone running riot in the streets of old Pompeii.
The time-travellers face their greatest challenge yet – can established history be changed, or must the Doctor let everyone die?
David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his new companion, the runaway bride Donna Noble. Peter Capaldi, Phil Davis and Tracey Childs guest star in tonight's episode.
4.2: The Fires of Pompeii airs on Saturday 12th April, Time TBC.
The Doctor and Donna travel back into ancient history, in tonight's episode of Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama.
When they arrive in 79AD, however, they discover psychic powers and beasts of stone running riot in the streets of old Pompeii.
The time-travellers face their greatest challenge yet – can established history be changed, or must the Doctor let everyone die?
David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his new companion, the runaway bride Donna Noble. Peter Capaldi, Phil Davis and Tracey Childs guest star in tonight's episode.
4.2: The Fires of Pompeii airs on Saturday 12th April, Time TBC.
S4: More Episode titles revealed
The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine confirms two more episode titles for Series 4.
4.5: The Poison Sky
4.9: River's Run
Doctor Who Magazine - Issue #394 is released on 3rd April 2008, priced £3.99.
4.5: The Poison Sky
4.9: River's Run
Doctor Who Magazine - Issue #394 is released on 3rd April 2008, priced £3.99.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Even more spoilers
Updated: Original post at http://io9.com/
i was lazy and didnt have the time to rewrite so yes i cut and pasted it. omg please oh oh oh oh oh please forgive me oh charlie jane anders? please? is that better oh internet nitpicking gods above? yes? no? maybe?
Some new bits of info have leaked out about Doctor Who season four. The Agatha Christie episode attempts to explore the real-life mystery of Christie's two-week disappearance.
Meanwhile, Steven Moffat's two-parter set in the giant deserted library features "data ghosts," plus a menacing entity called the Suit Creature, which may be sort of like Moffat's "Empty Child" from back in season one. Also, the library's air swarms with flesh-melting piranha called the Vashta Nerada, and the library is full of dead bodies. ER's Alex Kingston plays an Indiana Jones-esque archeologist.
And there are more rumors that Dalek creator Davros will be back. Also, completely iffy rumors that the prehistoric Sea Devils, the Axons and jolly rogue Sabalom Glitz will put in appearances. [TeleWatcher]
Meanwhile, in "Planet of the Ood," we learn what drove the Ood to become a servant race. And in "The Sontaran Strategem," the cloned warrior Sontarans show up on Earth looking for their longtime enemies the Rutans. And then, supposedly, the Sontarans use mind-control on some soldiers from the alien-fighting organization UNIT, and they take the Doctor's friend Martha Jones away to be cloned. But then more UNIT soldiers show up to rescue her. [DoctorWhoForum]
Here's a source claiming that Davros doesn't show up at all. Instead, we get John Simm's version of the Master back again, in a "botched regeneration. [Stuff On TV]
i was lazy and didnt have the time to rewrite so yes i cut and pasted it. omg please oh oh oh oh oh please forgive me oh charlie jane anders? please? is that better oh internet nitpicking gods above? yes? no? maybe?
Some new bits of info have leaked out about Doctor Who season four. The Agatha Christie episode attempts to explore the real-life mystery of Christie's two-week disappearance.
Meanwhile, Steven Moffat's two-parter set in the giant deserted library features "data ghosts," plus a menacing entity called the Suit Creature, which may be sort of like Moffat's "Empty Child" from back in season one. Also, the library's air swarms with flesh-melting piranha called the Vashta Nerada, and the library is full of dead bodies. ER's Alex Kingston plays an Indiana Jones-esque archeologist.
And there are more rumors that Dalek creator Davros will be back. Also, completely iffy rumors that the prehistoric Sea Devils, the Axons and jolly rogue Sabalom Glitz will put in appearances. [TeleWatcher]
Meanwhile, in "Planet of the Ood," we learn what drove the Ood to become a servant race. And in "The Sontaran Strategem," the cloned warrior Sontarans show up on Earth looking for their longtime enemies the Rutans. And then, supposedly, the Sontarans use mind-control on some soldiers from the alien-fighting organization UNIT, and they take the Doctor's friend Martha Jones away to be cloned. But then more UNIT soldiers show up to rescue her. [DoctorWhoForum]
Here's a source claiming that Davros doesn't show up at all. Instead, we get John Simm's version of the Master back again, in a "botched regeneration. [Stuff On TV]
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Radio 4 to air one-off 'Torchwood'
A one-off special of Torchwood is being made to air on BBC Radio 4 in the summer.The 45-minute show is written by Joseph Lidster, who penned a recent television episode and is behind much of the BBC's online Doctor Who content.Stars including John Barrowman will feature and the Torchwood team will produce along with BBC Wales's Kate McAll.Airing as Radio 4's Afternoon Play, it has been planned to coincide with the opening of the world's biggest particle accelerator in Switzerland.Lidster is working the story around a particle accelerator, according to Broadcast.
Spoilers for episode one and two of season 4
Apparently the "silly" Doctor Who season opener is about the Doctor and Donna investigating a shady diet pill company that's really run by an evil alien, Miss Foster. And "it's up to the intrepid Time Lord and his new assistant to stop a million overweight Brits being turned into sickeningly cute alien babies." It's like Russell T. Davies has a groove in his brain, and he can't stop thinking about fat people who turn into babies!
And then the second episode, in Pompeii, is much as you'd heard, with the evil Pyrovillians, "a clan of terrifying fire monsters who live deep inside the volcano." At one point, Donna asks what people in Pompeii do for fun, "hang out at TK Maximus?" (Which may be a reference to the British version of discount clothing chain TJ Maxx.) Hilarity ensues, depending on your hilarity threshold.
And then the second episode, in Pompeii, is much as you'd heard, with the evil Pyrovillians, "a clan of terrifying fire monsters who live deep inside the volcano." At one point, Donna asks what people in Pompeii do for fun, "hang out at TK Maximus?" (Which may be a reference to the British version of discount clothing chain TJ Maxx.) Hilarity ensues, depending on your hilarity threshold.
Torchwood season finale spoilers
Apparently in the second season finale, airing April 4, Jack's long lost brother Gray stabs him during an argument.
Also, there's a leaked script outline which may or may not be real. In a nutshell, Spike sets off bombs at all of Cardiff's nuclear facilities (plural?!), and whisks Captain Jack back in time 2,000 years. It turns out Spike isn't in control of his own actions, but is the puppet of Captain Jack's evil brother Gray, who's gone insane after years of torture at the hands (claws) of hellish creatures. They bury Jack alive, but Spike slips Jack a ring with a homing beacon.
Then Gray zips Spike back to the present. Spike nearly gets killed by Weevils, but Ianto saves him. Owen, meanwhile, is trying to keep all of Cardiff's many nuclear reactors from exploding. Gray shoots Tosh, who lives long enough to help Owen avert nuclear catastrophe. The radiation destroys Owen just as Tosh dies, so they sort of die together. Meanwhile, Jack has been locked in a drawer at Torchwood for 100 years after some Torchwood women dug him up in 1900. (They found the homing device that Spike gave him, but Jack decided to hide in a drawer for 100 years to avoid meeting himself.) Jack puts his brother "on ice" but lets Spike go free.
And then as the team clears out Owen and Tosh's stuff, they find a farewell video that Tosh left behind, addressed to Owen (who'll never see it.) Then we end with Gwen, Ianto and Jack sitting sadly on the docks of scenic Cardiff, land of a thousand nuclear reactors.
Also, there's a leaked script outline which may or may not be real. In a nutshell, Spike sets off bombs at all of Cardiff's nuclear facilities (plural?!), and whisks Captain Jack back in time 2,000 years. It turns out Spike isn't in control of his own actions, but is the puppet of Captain Jack's evil brother Gray, who's gone insane after years of torture at the hands (claws) of hellish creatures. They bury Jack alive, but Spike slips Jack a ring with a homing beacon.
Then Gray zips Spike back to the present. Spike nearly gets killed by Weevils, but Ianto saves him. Owen, meanwhile, is trying to keep all of Cardiff's many nuclear reactors from exploding. Gray shoots Tosh, who lives long enough to help Owen avert nuclear catastrophe. The radiation destroys Owen just as Tosh dies, so they sort of die together. Meanwhile, Jack has been locked in a drawer at Torchwood for 100 years after some Torchwood women dug him up in 1900. (They found the homing device that Spike gave him, but Jack decided to hide in a drawer for 100 years to avoid meeting himself.) Jack puts his brother "on ice" but lets Spike go free.
And then as the team clears out Owen and Tosh's stuff, they find a farewell video that Tosh left behind, addressed to Owen (who'll never see it.) Then we end with Gwen, Ianto and Jack sitting sadly on the docks of scenic Cardiff, land of a thousand nuclear reactors.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Doctor Who RPG for 2008
looks like Cubicle 7 Entertainment will be releasing an officially licenced Doctor Who roleplaying game this year.
With all the new elements added by the new TV series this could prove to be a worthwhile game. Hopefully it will include the 'classic series' as well. Not much has been released yet except that it will be "a brand new game system designed to appeal to both traditional gamers and a whole new generation of players."
For more info check out the official site at http://www.cubicle-7.com
With all the new elements added by the new TV series this could prove to be a worthwhile game. Hopefully it will include the 'classic series' as well. Not much has been released yet except that it will be "a brand new game system designed to appeal to both traditional gamers and a whole new generation of players."
For more info check out the official site at http://www.cubicle-7.com
Date And Time
Series Four premiere details confirmed.
We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One.
Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet!
As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.05pm on BBC Three.
As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.
We're delighted to officially announce that Series Four of Doctor Who will commence with Partners In Crime at 6.20pm on Saturday 05 April 2008, BBC One.
Tell all your friends, cancel any prior engagements and settle down for what promises to be the most spectacular series of Doctor Who yet!
As always, Doctor Who Confidential will be going behind-the-scenes with the cast and crew, starting at 7.05pm on BBC Three.
As always, we'll be supporting the show with extensive online coverage, both in the run up to and immediately after each episode.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
You're the man now, Doctor
Has there ever been a dump of Who-related YTMND links? Well, there is now:
Cyberman sees so much beauty.
What is Doctor Who.
Doctor Who on the NES.
Cyberman works it.
Davros.
Cyberman sees so much beauty.
What is Doctor Who.
Doctor Who on the NES.
Cyberman works it.
Davros.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Baker: I'd do Dr Who cameo 'if they ask me nicely'
Former Dr Who Tom Baker said he would consider a guest role in the hit show’s remake if “they ask me nicely”.
Baker – who lived near Maidstone when he starred as TV’s favourite Timelord in the 1970s – has retained a high profile on the small screen as the voice of cult comedy Little Britain.
But speaking at the launch of an exhibition at Earls Court, London, dedicated to the new series of the science fiction show with David Tennant in the title role he did not rule out a special appearance in a programme which has become famous for reintroducing past favourites, such as journalist Sarah-Jane Smith, robot dog K9 and the villainous Daleks and Cybermen.
“Perhaps I might make a guest appearance - perhaps,” he said.
“Providing they ask me nicely, of course.”
But Baker admitted he has not been following the new adventures of The Doctor.
“I don’t actually watch [Dr Who],” he said.
“I didn’t even watch it when I was in it - for all sorts of reasons.
“But I do get messages from David Tennant and I have seen him in other things of course.
“He has been a huge success and I am very pleased about that.”
During the 1960s and 70s the show was famous for its unconvincing special effects and cardboard style sets.
But the 21st century remake has seen big budgets, computer generated images for effects and more sophisticated costumes and make up for aliens.
After visiting the show, which runs throughout the summer, Baker said: “Well it’s moved on a lot hasn’t it? We had very small budgets but that has all changed. It’s more like a film now.”
He succeeded Jon Pertwee in the role of Dr Who in 1974 after a former “career” as a monk and work on a building site.
During his seven years at the controls of the time and space travelling Tardis, Baker became probably the most popular of the original actors to play the iconic role - and was best known for offering jelly babies to enemies and for his long scarf.
In 1986, Baker married Sue Jerrard, who had been an assistant editor on Doctor Who. They moved to an old property in Boughton Malherbe near Maidstone, where they kept several cats, before emigrating to France in 2002.
During this time he was a regular in the Red Lion in Lenham village. The couple sold the property to Vic Reeves, with whom Baker had worked on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), although Reeves has subsequently moved to neary Charing.
For a full interview with Tom Baker and a tour of the exhibition go to www.yourkenttv.co.uk.
Baker – who lived near Maidstone when he starred as TV’s favourite Timelord in the 1970s – has retained a high profile on the small screen as the voice of cult comedy Little Britain.
But speaking at the launch of an exhibition at Earls Court, London, dedicated to the new series of the science fiction show with David Tennant in the title role he did not rule out a special appearance in a programme which has become famous for reintroducing past favourites, such as journalist Sarah-Jane Smith, robot dog K9 and the villainous Daleks and Cybermen.
“Perhaps I might make a guest appearance - perhaps,” he said.
“Providing they ask me nicely, of course.”
But Baker admitted he has not been following the new adventures of The Doctor.
“I don’t actually watch [Dr Who],” he said.
“I didn’t even watch it when I was in it - for all sorts of reasons.
“But I do get messages from David Tennant and I have seen him in other things of course.
“He has been a huge success and I am very pleased about that.”
During the 1960s and 70s the show was famous for its unconvincing special effects and cardboard style sets.
But the 21st century remake has seen big budgets, computer generated images for effects and more sophisticated costumes and make up for aliens.
After visiting the show, which runs throughout the summer, Baker said: “Well it’s moved on a lot hasn’t it? We had very small budgets but that has all changed. It’s more like a film now.”
He succeeded Jon Pertwee in the role of Dr Who in 1974 after a former “career” as a monk and work on a building site.
During his seven years at the controls of the time and space travelling Tardis, Baker became probably the most popular of the original actors to play the iconic role - and was best known for offering jelly babies to enemies and for his long scarf.
In 1986, Baker married Sue Jerrard, who had been an assistant editor on Doctor Who. They moved to an old property in Boughton Malherbe near Maidstone, where they kept several cats, before emigrating to France in 2002.
During this time he was a regular in the Red Lion in Lenham village. The couple sold the property to Vic Reeves, with whom Baker had worked on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), although Reeves has subsequently moved to neary Charing.
For a full interview with Tom Baker and a tour of the exhibition go to www.yourkenttv.co.uk.
Friday, March 21, 2008
RTD says Fu@$ you to all the fans who dont agree with him
'Doctor Who' boss slams Tate critics
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has blasted critics of Catherine Tate's performance as companion Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas special.He commented to SFX magazine on the negative reactions to Tate's role in 'The Runaway Bride': "It was vitriolic. What are you going to do, cast someone according to what message boards are going to say? I think the great danger is that the writing of a drama becomes a public debate."The doubts about her, as far as I can see, are fundamentally stupid," continued Davies. "They say she's going to shout her way through the whole thing. They say she shouted her way through 'The Runaway Bride'. No, she didn't. Literally, factually, no matter of opinion, no, she did not."However, Davies added that he is unaware as to whether the criticism was noticed by Tate: "I couldn't even tell you if she was aware of it, to be honest... imagine what she has to put up with doing that comedy show and being red-haired as well! She's a million times stronger."
k russ but you wont sway fans by saying what we say or want doesnt matter. I wanted sally sapparow not donna for season 4 but instead i get that crater faced slag donna back and hopefully wont lose my lunch or interest halfway thru the season. oh and rus FU#$ you right back tubby!!!!
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has blasted critics of Catherine Tate's performance as companion Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas special.He commented to SFX magazine on the negative reactions to Tate's role in 'The Runaway Bride': "It was vitriolic. What are you going to do, cast someone according to what message boards are going to say? I think the great danger is that the writing of a drama becomes a public debate."The doubts about her, as far as I can see, are fundamentally stupid," continued Davies. "They say she's going to shout her way through the whole thing. They say she shouted her way through 'The Runaway Bride'. No, she didn't. Literally, factually, no matter of opinion, no, she did not."However, Davies added that he is unaware as to whether the criticism was noticed by Tate: "I couldn't even tell you if she was aware of it, to be honest... imagine what she has to put up with doing that comedy show and being red-haired as well! She's a million times stronger."
k russ but you wont sway fans by saying what we say or want doesnt matter. I wanted sally sapparow not donna for season 4 but instead i get that crater faced slag donna back and hopefully wont lose my lunch or interest halfway thru the season. oh and rus FU#$ you right back tubby!!!!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
S4: Start date confirmed
The BBC have confirmed the start date for Series Four of Doctor Who.
Episode One of Series Four of Doctor Who will air on Saturday 5th April 2008, time to be confirmed.
4.1: Partners in Crime
The runaway bride sets out to find her Time Lord
Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again – even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?
David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his new companion, the runaway bride Donna Noble. Sarah Lancashire guest stars as Miss Foster.
Episode One of Series Four of Doctor Who will air on Saturday 5th April 2008, time to be confirmed.
4.1: Partners in Crime
The runaway bride sets out to find her Time Lord
Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again – even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies's Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?
David Tennant plays the Doctor and Catherine Tate plays his new companion, the runaway bride Donna Noble. Sarah Lancashire guest stars as Miss Foster.
Dr who inspired drinks
Ok here's the Sex in the TARDIS drink with approx measurements:
30 ml vodka
30 ml Kahlua® coffee liqueur
30 ml Bailey's® Irish mint chocolate cream
30 ml Godiva chocolate liqueur
2-3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
1 banana
3 ice cubes
grated chocolate on top (optional)
Put ingredients in blender. Voila.
For vegans, dairy and lactose intolerant: replace Bailey's with soy milk, additional Godiva chocolate liqueur, and creme de menthe.
I have a sonic screwdriver mixed drink recipe.
1 can of SoBe "essential energy" orange flavor
2 shots of vodka
For the version with either Nine or Ten: add 2 shots of 99 Bananas liqueur.
30 ml vodka
30 ml Kahlua® coffee liqueur
30 ml Bailey's® Irish mint chocolate cream
30 ml Godiva chocolate liqueur
2-3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup
1 banana
3 ice cubes
grated chocolate on top (optional)
Put ingredients in blender. Voila.
For vegans, dairy and lactose intolerant: replace Bailey's with soy milk, additional Godiva chocolate liqueur, and creme de menthe.
I have a sonic screwdriver mixed drink recipe.
1 can of SoBe "essential energy" orange flavor
2 shots of vodka
For the version with either Nine or Ten: add 2 shots of 99 Bananas liqueur.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
COLIN HEADS TO THE USA
Colin has confirmed he will be heading Stateside in July as part of the JumpCon series of cult TV events. His schedule is:
July 4, 5, 6 - Kalamazoo, Michigan July 11, 12, 13 - Stamford, Connecticut July 18, 19, 20 - Boston, Massachusetts July 25, 26, 27 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Further details at: http://www.jumpcon.com/
Meet Noel Clarke
Award-winning actor Noel Clarke has appeared in a variety of films and shows, from Waking the Dead to Casualty, as well as penning the script for Kidulthood (and the upcoming sequel Adulthood) but most science fiction fans will know him best for his recurring role of Mickey Smith, Rose Tyler’s long-suffering boyfriend who eventually graduates to rifle-packing Defender of the Earth in Doctor Who. Fans will have a rare chance to meet Noel in person when he makes an appearance in the Glasgow Forbidden Planet store on Buchanan Street; Noel will be signing and talking to fans from 11am to 1pm on Saturday March 29th so make your way down to the store, conveniently close to both Queen Street station and the Buchanan Street underground.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Event: Tom Baker at Play.com Live
Tom Baker will be making an appearance alongside SciFi Collector at Play.com Live.
Tom Baker (The 4th Doctor) will be signing items and greeting fans at the SciFi Collector stand for the Play.com Live event.
The event, will take place on Saturday 15th March 2008 at Wembley Conference Centre.
Check Out the SciFi Collector website.
Tom Baker (The 4th Doctor) will be signing items and greeting fans at the SciFi Collector stand for the Play.com Live event.
The event, will take place on Saturday 15th March 2008 at Wembley Conference Centre.
Check Out the SciFi Collector website.
Putting colour back in the Doctor's cheeks
new video restoration technique could see dozens of classic episodes of series such as Doctor Who and Dad's Army restored to their original colour for the first time in more than 30 years.
Many television programmes made by the BBC and ITV in the late 1960s and early 70s, although some of the first to be made in colour, only exist in black and white today. Among them are 13 episodes of Doctor Who starring Jon Pertwee, another 13 episodes of Steptoe and Son and the whole of Nigel Kneale's seminal 60s drama, The Year of the Sex Olympics.
The original master tapes of many shows were erased during archive purges. However, before wiping, many were copied on to black and white 16mm film for broadcast in countries where colour television was not yet available. Today, it is these black and white films that survive as the only visual records of some of these programmes.
Recolouring the world
The technique of colour recovery is set to extract the original colour from these films and reapply it, to once again generate a colour master tape for the show.
The technology is the brainchild of James Insell, who first realised the technique's potential while with BBC Research at Kingswood Warren in Surrey. Insell's colour recovery process essentially relies upon a mistake made by the technicians making the original 16mm film recordings back in the 1970s.
Telerecordings (as they are known) were created by shooting, on 16mm film, a required programme that was showing on a high clarity television monitor. However, there were several problems with the process. Principal among these was the change of the frame rate - from the 50 frames per second of video to the 25 frames per second of film. This can now be corrected by a technique called VIDFire.
However, there is a more relevant problem. Any black and white telerecording of a colour programme is prone to pick up interference from the colour encoded video signal. This manifests itself as a pattern of small grey dots, called chroma-dots, across the picture. There was a way to stop this from happening, by using a special filter to cut out the electronic artefacts. However, the interference was often deemed so minor that the technicians doing the transfers used no filter and so the resultant film prints often contain a burnt in pattern of these chromadots.
Insell suggested that it might be possible to decode the original colour signal of the show from these chromadots, since they contain an electronic remnant of the original video signal. Since then, Insell has set up an independent group - outside the BBC - to put together a technology to extract this coded pattern within the black and white film and decode it.
"There are various provisos," Insell says. "The quality of the film has got to be good enough to have captured this pattern. We're really talking about working from the original negatives and having an HD scan made to get as much information as possible from the film." Insell also stresses that the process would only work on programmes that were originally recorded in colour.
The technique is not a colourisation process and does not apply new colour to old programmes, but instead unpicks the original colour from the film. This separates the process from computer colourisation, a technique that has been used in America to add colour to feature films such as King Kong.
Insell says: "As far as computer colourisation's concerned it's very time-consuming and very expensive, and you need to either invent colour from scratch or use colour reference material to figure out what colours things were. In the colour recovery process, what you get out are the original colours."
As good as new
Struggling against the loss of the programmes' original line structure (a television picture would be composed of 625 lines of image, lost when transferred to film), significant advances have been made in recovery technology. This has been principally through a working group set up by Insell and the process has now been successfully tested on parts of an episode of Top of the Pops, with the results deemed to be generally good.
Andrew Browne has been one of the computer programmers behind some of the project's more recent moves forward. "The idea that I had was based on an idea that James had, which was to have what he called a localised decoder," he says. "Basically, if you take successive frames from the film, the pattern [of chroma-dots] in the frames varies in a predictable way across the frame. I worked out a way to use the relationships between the patterns in successive frames to infer what the original colours were."
"The recovered colours leave a little bit to the imagination, but you can see that they're pretty much there," Insell says.
With the software to use colour recovery on a larger scale currently in development, both Insell and Browne are hopeful of a wider future for the technology.
"BBC Worldwide is obviously quite interested in releasing archive content, notably with Doctor Who and various programmes like that," Insell says.
Many television programmes made by the BBC and ITV in the late 1960s and early 70s, although some of the first to be made in colour, only exist in black and white today. Among them are 13 episodes of Doctor Who starring Jon Pertwee, another 13 episodes of Steptoe and Son and the whole of Nigel Kneale's seminal 60s drama, The Year of the Sex Olympics.
The original master tapes of many shows were erased during archive purges. However, before wiping, many were copied on to black and white 16mm film for broadcast in countries where colour television was not yet available. Today, it is these black and white films that survive as the only visual records of some of these programmes.
Recolouring the world
The technique of colour recovery is set to extract the original colour from these films and reapply it, to once again generate a colour master tape for the show.
The technology is the brainchild of James Insell, who first realised the technique's potential while with BBC Research at Kingswood Warren in Surrey. Insell's colour recovery process essentially relies upon a mistake made by the technicians making the original 16mm film recordings back in the 1970s.
Telerecordings (as they are known) were created by shooting, on 16mm film, a required programme that was showing on a high clarity television monitor. However, there were several problems with the process. Principal among these was the change of the frame rate - from the 50 frames per second of video to the 25 frames per second of film. This can now be corrected by a technique called VIDFire.
However, there is a more relevant problem. Any black and white telerecording of a colour programme is prone to pick up interference from the colour encoded video signal. This manifests itself as a pattern of small grey dots, called chroma-dots, across the picture. There was a way to stop this from happening, by using a special filter to cut out the electronic artefacts. However, the interference was often deemed so minor that the technicians doing the transfers used no filter and so the resultant film prints often contain a burnt in pattern of these chromadots.
Insell suggested that it might be possible to decode the original colour signal of the show from these chromadots, since they contain an electronic remnant of the original video signal. Since then, Insell has set up an independent group - outside the BBC - to put together a technology to extract this coded pattern within the black and white film and decode it.
"There are various provisos," Insell says. "The quality of the film has got to be good enough to have captured this pattern. We're really talking about working from the original negatives and having an HD scan made to get as much information as possible from the film." Insell also stresses that the process would only work on programmes that were originally recorded in colour.
The technique is not a colourisation process and does not apply new colour to old programmes, but instead unpicks the original colour from the film. This separates the process from computer colourisation, a technique that has been used in America to add colour to feature films such as King Kong.
Insell says: "As far as computer colourisation's concerned it's very time-consuming and very expensive, and you need to either invent colour from scratch or use colour reference material to figure out what colours things were. In the colour recovery process, what you get out are the original colours."
As good as new
Struggling against the loss of the programmes' original line structure (a television picture would be composed of 625 lines of image, lost when transferred to film), significant advances have been made in recovery technology. This has been principally through a working group set up by Insell and the process has now been successfully tested on parts of an episode of Top of the Pops, with the results deemed to be generally good.
Andrew Browne has been one of the computer programmers behind some of the project's more recent moves forward. "The idea that I had was based on an idea that James had, which was to have what he called a localised decoder," he says. "Basically, if you take successive frames from the film, the pattern [of chroma-dots] in the frames varies in a predictable way across the frame. I worked out a way to use the relationships between the patterns in successive frames to infer what the original colours were."
"The recovered colours leave a little bit to the imagination, but you can see that they're pretty much there," Insell says.
With the software to use colour recovery on a larger scale currently in development, both Insell and Browne are hopeful of a wider future for the technology.
"BBC Worldwide is obviously quite interested in releasing archive content, notably with Doctor Who and various programmes like that," Insell says.
Robert Carlyle denies 'Doctor Who' rumours
Robert Carlyle has denied tabloid claims that he is lined up to replace David Tennant as the star of Doctor Who."Nobody has been in touch with me about Doctor Who, so I really don't know where that came from," the Full Monty star told the Radio Times. However, Carlyle did admit that he could be lured into the Tardis in the future: "It's David's [Tennant] part and nothing to do with me, so I can't really think about it at the moment. But... would I do it? Possibly."Tennant is widely expected to leave the acclaimed family show before the fifth season, due to be screened in 2010.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
'Doctor Who' scripts leak to tabloid
Spoilers for two new episodes of BBC show Doctor Who have been leaked to The Sun.
The paper claims to have received scripts for episodes nine and ten of the new series, with BBC chiefs "fuming" over the leak.
An insider revealed that producers had been desperate to keep the show's secrets under wraps, saying: "Bosses are fuming - this is the last thing they would want to happen."
The episodes comprise a double bill due to air on BBC One in early summer and sees the Doctor and sidekick Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) travel to the 51st Century.
Ironically the library contains many books that give away SPOILERS about people’s life stories.
ER star Alex Kingston also stars as an astronaut-cum-archaeologist called Professor River Song. The library is full of sinister things such as dead bodies, “data ghosts”, the Suit Creature and the dreaded Vashta Nerada “piranhas of the air – shadows that melt the flesh”.
In later scenes, the Doc and Donna get separated and she ends up in a mysterious hospital where she meets another Doctor – Doctor Moon.
All the while she is trying to work out what is going on and what has happened to her Doctor.
Former ER actress Alex Kingston also appears in the special as an astronaut-archaeologist called Professor River Song.
The paper claims to have received scripts for episodes nine and ten of the new series, with BBC chiefs "fuming" over the leak.
An insider revealed that producers had been desperate to keep the show's secrets under wraps, saying: "Bosses are fuming - this is the last thing they would want to happen."
The episodes comprise a double bill due to air on BBC One in early summer and sees the Doctor and sidekick Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) travel to the 51st Century.
Ironically the library contains many books that give away SPOILERS about people’s life stories.
ER star Alex Kingston also stars as an astronaut-cum-archaeologist called Professor River Song. The library is full of sinister things such as dead bodies, “data ghosts”, the Suit Creature and the dreaded Vashta Nerada “piranhas of the air – shadows that melt the flesh”.
In later scenes, the Doc and Donna get separated and she ends up in a mysterious hospital where she meets another Doctor – Doctor Moon.
All the while she is trying to work out what is going on and what has happened to her Doctor.
Former ER actress Alex Kingston also appears in the special as an astronaut-archaeologist called Professor River Song.
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