Christian Cawley's Blog, page 106

Why Do Doctor Who Fans Cosplay?

Jonathan Appleton is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Recent years have seen a huge growth in cosplay – the phenomenon that involves devotees of TV shows, films, games and other media dressing up as their favourite characters, usually to attend conventions and events. To people not familiar with the world of sci-fi and fantasy it’s a passion that can be difficult to understand. Isn’t dressing up something you’re meant to stop doing when you grow up? Why would you want to go out in public looking like that?

Here at Kasterborous we’re very much aware of the growing appeal of this most singular pastime (and you might know that our longest-running contributor, Brian A Terranova, is well-regarded as a Tenth Doctor cosplayer). So why are so many people keen to indulge their more flamboyant side by doubling as the Doctor, a companion or a monster for a day? There’s no single answer, of course. For some it’s about demonstrating their love for the programme, a way of going the extra mile to show how committed they are and in some way be a part of it.

Others love the opportunity to be creative, to treat their costumes as mini-projects which require considerable planning and input so they look just right (one of the joys of attending conventions even if you’re not a cosplayer is overhearing snatches of conversations between a pair of Fourth Doctors, say, discussing where to source the best type of wool…). The notion of the misunderstood, friendless sci-fi fan is something of a tired cliché but it’s surely undeniable that cosplay represents for some a way to find companionship with like-minded souls, to make friends whilst taking part in a wider shared experience.

Cosplay is not without its detractors, with some feeling it can serve to highlight a strand of misogyny in geek culture. In fairness this probably applies more to cosplay based on superhero and fantasy genres, with their implausibly proportioned female characters, than Doctor Who’s more eccentric and quirky house-style. Sadly there’s also a less reasoned, altogether more mean-spirited side to some of the criticism – one doesn’t have to search too hard on the internet to find depressing examples of ‘fat-shaming’, sneering side-swipes at people perceived as having the wrong body type to cosplay their favourite character.

A recent visit by Radio Times to MCM Comic Con found some fun examples of Doctor Who cosplayers in action. Pick of the bunch for me are an eye-catching Torchwood trio of Captains Jack and John with Gwen Cooper, an Osgood complete with inhaler and a K9 in a truly remarkable shirt. When it comes to why people do it there’s a strain of classically British understatement in the responses (‘quite an easy one to do'; ‘I already had this coat'; and best of all (said of a TARDIS dress) ‘I actually had this lying around’). But it mostly comes down to love for the show and the characters and the sheer uncomplicated fun of it.

UK viewers can still catch Tom Felton’s (Draco of Harry Potter fame) journey into the world of cosplay on BBC iPlayer. Screened on BBC3, it’s a touching film, well worth a look and Felton shows a commendably game willingness to join in the fun with the help of some star-struck fans.

Are you a cosplayer? Can you share any insight on cosplay’s growing popularity? Let us know!

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What Is Your Favourite Doctor Who Story Arc?

Andrew Reynolds is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Extended storytelling requires a masterful touch – keeping an audience engaged in the immediate drama while keeping an eye on the end of show sleight of hand that’ll bring everything together; it’s no small task.

Throughout Doctor Who’s long and illustrious history there have been many who have tried. For every Bad Wolf there’s also an E-Space trilogy. Everyone has a preference when it comes to examples of some of the finest, long-form storytelling and here, we want your opinion on just what is your favourite Doctor Who story arc?

And to give you a little inspiration, here are some story lines that have run the gamut from arc-claimed to arc-ward:

Ian and Barbara getting home – Teachers Ian and Barbara were the perfect foil to the prickly First Doctor, perhaps too perfect as they clashed across space and time until, risking life and limb in a Dalek time ship, they returned to the home they craved to see again…albeit a little later than planned and not without some recrimination.

Third Doctor and the Blue Crystal – Promising more than just spiritual healing, the Metebelis crystals could break hypnotic spells, enhance intelligence and enhance psychic powers; which is handy when you need to wrest control of UNIT’s finest from BOSS or you just so happen to you need a human mount for your race of psychic spiders. You don’t get that from Swarovski.

The Key to Time – Six serials united by the points of the Key to Time – an powerful artefact too awesome to be possessed by one person alone; that doesn’t stop The Black Guardian from trying to trick the Fourth Doctor into handing over the prize.

Stuck in E-Space – Famous for bringing us Adric, the marshmen and some very questionable acting; the E-Space trilogy is nearly saved if you squint really hard and imagine just how good Stare of Decay might have been if it had been produced several years early as planned.

The Troublesome Turlough – Villainous Vislor first attempts to kill the Fifth Doctor before seeing the error of his ways and joining the TARDIS crew until, granted a pardon after being exiled from his home planet Trion after the writers couldn’t think of any new ways to get him captured.

Trial of a Time Lord – It’s a trial alright…only the brave or the foolish return to the trial that, in a moment of meta-plotting, saw the Sixth Doctor literally watching Doctor Who on a weekly basis from his position in the dock.

Bad Wolf – Two words, spread out across the universe; a warning of impending doom to come for the Doctor and Rose – yes, she was literally spelling out the horror to come in one of the best arcs from the new series.

Torchwood – They stalk the shadows; keeping us safe from the threats that hover above our defenceless planet. Sure subsequent appearances might make you wonder about their screening process and just who would want a job where you last about as long as it takes for Captain Jack to erh…take down your particular but, spread out across history in Series 2, the Doctor and Rose kept bumping into Torchwood and their dark artistry.

Harold Saxon/the Master – A vote for Saxon is a vote for swivel eyed lunacy as the Master returns and this time, he’s brought disco tunes! Erh…yay?

Rose’s return/missing planets – Who’s nicked Poosh? Planets are disappearing and Rose is returning along with everybody else in this, the grand hurrah of Russell T Davies’ last season in charge – anybody who isn’t geeking out at a full-manned TARDIS console, well, you could very well be dead.

The Crack – The universe is breaking apart and at the heart of it is an exploding TARDIS, a girl with a hell of a crack in her wall and the fallout from the inconvenience of losing one half of the Pond’s into the roaring white void – from here on out, things get a little bit complicated.

Madame Kovarian and River Song – Do you remember the Silence? Well you shouldn’t as they stalk across time under the watchful eye of the be-patched Madame Kovarian – throw into the mix the conclusion to the mystery in plain sight (Just who was River Song?) and you have one of the most plot-heavy season of Doctor Who so far…seriously, we had graphs and everything.

Clara Oswald – The Impossible Girl spread out across time formed the backbone to the second half of Series 7 with the Eleventh Doctor trying to unravel the mystery of the girl from his past, his present and ultimately his future.

Clara and Danny/Missy and The Promised Land – Love and Death formed the overall story of Series 8 with Clara falling for Danny, the Doctor falling out with Danny and then the Doctor himself took a fall right out of a plane; landing slap-bang in the middle of Missy’s army of dead.

So which story arc is your favourite? Which is deserving of re-appraisal? Which is overrated? Tell us below, after you’ve voted in our poll – to help you choose, we’ve given you three votes…

Take Our Poll

The post What Is Your Favourite Doctor Who Story Arc? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peter Cushing: The Complete Memoirs Released in Paperback

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Now here’s something you might’ve missed: the collected memoirs of Peter Cushing.

The actor is probably best known as Grand Moff Tarkin from Star Wars – unless you’re a horror nut, in which case, you’ll love his numerous Hammer Horror roles – but to Whovians, he’s the First Doctor. Sort of. Oh, you must know the story by now, but if not, he played the Doctor in two big-screen adaptations of early Doctor Who stories; while generally not considered canon, we should be very proud to have a man of his calibre in our franchise.

Released by Signum Books, the hardback will set you back… well, a substantial amount, but the paperback edition was released late last year, so you can still pick it up for its £14.99 RRP.

This lavish volume collects both of Peter Cushing’s 1980s books – An Autobiography and Past Forgetting – with the 1955 memoir The Peter Cushing Story and extensive unseen material from his private collection. This is Cushing’s own account of his remarkable career, and the devastating sense of loss he suffered following the death of his wife. It offers unparalleled insight to the meticulous professionalism and private torment of a legendary film star.

The book has outstanding reviews: Starburst, for instance, gave it 9 out of 10, saying: “We defy even the most cold-hearted of readers not to be moved to tears.”

The 336-page book looks to be a definitive account of a truly fantastic actor’s life, and is available from Amazon UK for £13.48 now!

The post Peter Cushing: The Complete Memoirs Released in Paperback appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Preview: Read Six Pages of Titan Comics’ Four Doctors #01 Now!

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

We’re not far away from Titan Comics’ huuuge Doctor Who event, Four Doctors – and they’ve unveiled six pages from the first issue as a very special preview.

Written by Paul Cornell (Father’s Day), with art by Neil Edwards (Spider-Man 2099), the crossover stars the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors, and in this preview, we also get to see John Hurt’s War Doctor!

This first issues hits stores on 12th August, and runs weekly into September, replacing the current runs for the time being. Each issue comes with three covers: the Doctors, drawn by Neil Edwards, the companions (Clara Oswald with the comic counterparts, Alice Obiefune and Gabby Gonzalez), and photo variants of each incarnation of the Time Lord.

And as you can see, there’s a (probably brief) return to Marinus!

This looks like it’s going to be a true celebration of Doctor Who – and frankly, we can’t wait!

The post Preview: Read Six Pages of Titan Comics’ Four Doctors #01 Now! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Is Steven Moffat Overstaying His Welcome on Doctor Who?

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

A bit of a low key podKast this week as Christian Cawley and James McLean discuss all manner of topics, from recent casting to stone Cyberman heads, and whether Steven Moffat should really be running Doctor Who Series 10…

Click play below, and don’t forget to leave your thoughts below.

Kasterborous PodKast Series 5 Episode 16 Shownotes

Doctor Who: Legacy
Colin McFarlane cast in Doctor Who Series 9

Mike the Knight
Little Princess


Steven Moffat staying for Series 10
New Doctor Who book series from Panini
Stone Cyberman head
Doctor Who: The Drosten’s Curse by AL Kennedy
SFX: 20th Anniversary Edition
Star Trek: Conscience of the King
Recommendations: Tom Felton Meets the Superfans , The Fugitive (TV series), Attack On Titan

PodKast theme tune by Russell Hugo.

Listen to the PodKast

There are several ways to listen. In addition to the usual player above, we’re pleased to announce that you can also stream the podKast using Stitcher, an award-winning, free mobile app available for Android and iPhone/iPad. This pretty much means that you can listen to us anywhere without downloading – pretty neat, we think you’ll agree! (Note that it can take a few hours after a new podKast is published to “catch up”.)

Stitcher

Audioboom

What’s more, you can now listen and subscribe to the podKast via our Audioboom channel (formerly Audioboo)! Head to https://audioboom.com/channel/doctorwhopodkast and click play to start listening. You can also comment and record your own boos in response to our discussions! Meanwhile you can use the player below to listen through Audioboom:

You haven’t clicked play yet?! What are you waiting for? As well as our new Stitcher and Audioboo presence you can also use one of these amazingly convenient ways to download and enjoy this week’s podKast.

Use the player in the top right of the Kasterborous home page, or visit the podKast menu link.
Listen with the “pop out” player above, which also allows you to download the podKast to your computer.
You can also take advantage of the RSS feed to subscribe to the podKast for your media player, and even find us on iTunes, where your reviews will help the show considerably.

The post Is Steven Moffat Overstaying His Welcome on Doctor Who? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Invasions and Interviews in Doctor Who Magazine #487

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

The new issues of Doctor Who Magazine is out now, and features a previously-unseen interview with 1980s Producer, John Nathan-Turner!

With a special wraparound cover, DWM #487 tells the tale of how Earth has survived its many, many alien invasions since Doctor Who started nearly 52 years ago! The stunning cover featuring Daleks in all their glory is by Gavin Rymill, the fantastic illustrator also responsible for the 50th anniversary DWM cover.

I did a drawing on the computer of my favourite TV show and some lovely people put it on the front of their magazine. I'm a lucky boy.

— Gav R¥ (@themindrobber) May 28, 2015

The interview with J N-T was conducted in 1989, the last year of Classic Who‘s broadcast, so features an interesting look at the Seventh Doctor era. And here’s what else is inside:

WHO ON VIDEO: DWM reveals the history of how Doctor Who was brought to DVD, and talks to the people responsible for the landmark 1993 documentary 30 Years in the TARDIS. Plus, an exclusive look at some of the VHS covers that never were…

THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH: Discover fascinating new facts about the classic 1964 First Doctor adventure The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

VERITY LAMBERT’S SCRAPBOOKS: DWM chats to Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor’s very first companion, Susan, as she continues her look through the scrapbooks of Doctor Who’s original producer, Verity Lambert.

STEVEN MOFFAT ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS! Showrunner Steven Moffat answers readers’ questions, and explains just why the Doctor can never seem to remember what happens when he meets himself…

PLUS! Reviews and previews; Relative Dimensions; Wotcha!; The DWM Crossword, prize-winning competitions, official news and much more!

Doctor Who Magazine #487 is out now, priced £4.99.

The post Invasions and Interviews in Doctor Who Magazine #487 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Trailer for Aaronovitch & Cartmel’s Rivers of London Comic

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Rivers of London, the hit novel series by Doctor Who writer, Ben Aaronovitch, is being turned into a comic, and this brief but tantalising video gives us a brief teaser of what to expect.

Aaronovitch wrote two serials for the Seventh Doctor era, Remembrance of the Daleks and Battlefield, but this comic has more Who connections than that: Script Editor Andrew Cartmel is working alongside him once more on Rivers of London, and they’re joined by Lee Sullivan (Doctor Who Magazine).

The five-issue series, called Body Work, will take place between the fourth and fifth books, Broken Homes and Foxglove Summer, and is published by Titan Comics, who also has the license for new Doctor Who comics. Steve White, Titan Comics Senior Editor, said:

“I’ve been a massive fan of the series for a long time and it’s always a dream to bring something you revere to life as a comic, especially when you’re working with such an incredible team of creators!”

Rivers of London: Body of Work #01 will be released on 15th July.

The post Trailer for Aaronovitch & Cartmel’s Rivers of London Comic appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who: The Dangerous Book of Monsters

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

A follow-up to last year’s How To Be A Time Lord will be released later this year: The Dangerous Book of Monsters!

The 176-page book looks to be of a similar format, pairing photos with scribblings by the Doctor. Only this time, it’s not a guide to the Doctor and his world, but of the enemies he faces.

In his travels across time and space, the Doctor has met hundreds of monsters – now, he’s created this handy spotter’s guide to the biggest, smallest, tallest, hungriest, smelliest, and most dangerous creatures in the Whoniverse!

In this fantastic companion guide to How To Be A Time Lord, the Twelfth Doctor reveals, in tips and doodles, everything you need to know about each dangerous monster, advice for battling them, and how and when to make a speedy escape.

It’ll cover stories up to and including Series 8, including the new threat he faced from the Cybermen in last year’s finale, Dark Water/ Death in Heaven. And that’s not all: we also get a glimpse at previously-unseen monsters like the Never-weres, mentioned in The End of Time.

Oh, and the odd Rutan too.

With an RRP of £9.99, this is sure to be a hit around Christmastime, just like its predecessor, as it’s due to hit shelves on 20th October. To get you a little more excited, we’re likely to be watching Series 9 when this is released!

(Via The DW Site.)

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Doctor Who’s Karen Gillan Talks to 9-Year Old Interviewer at Denver Comic Con

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

You might have noticed that it is convention season, and as a popular character in the Marvel universe as well as Doctor Who, Karen Gillan is always a popular guest.

Here’s the Amy Pond actress interviewed at the Denver Comic Con, only on this occasion, the person asking the questions isn’t a blogger, podcaster print journalist, but a nine year old with a YouTube channel, actoutgames.

As the description says:

“Karen could not have been nicer or more attentive to Presley during the few minutes we had to talk to her. Her schedule was absolutely crazy, but she took the time to sit down for a few minutes and answer a few questions about Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy, learning to drive, and playing table top with Wil Wheaton.”

You are, of course, going to watch it, so click play above.

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Doctor Who Hits India!

Philip Bates is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Doctor Who has extended its reach even further: it’s now taking over India!

The show began screening in India on 15th May on FX, owned by Star India Private Ltd., with the 2005 relaunch, Rose – meaning fans get to watch all eight series before the ninth airs later this year! And showrunner, Steven Moffat is excited:

“I am delighted that Doctor Who is coming to India and it certainly seems to be the case that where Sherlock is successful Doctor Who is also popular. I can’t reveal much about the ninth season as we are still filming and everything is top secret at the moment but loads of brilliant stuff to come.”

Explaining the secret of Doctor Who‘s appeal, he told Zee News:

“It is a very old show but it always feels like it is new because it revitalises itself with a new Doctor something that other shows can’t do. It is young and old at the same time and keeps refreshing itself.”

Obviously this is great news, but fans have had complaints with the channel after they’ve been cutting scenes in order to include advertisements. FX promises that concerns have been addressed, but even their most recent weekend marathon featured deleted scenes.

Mark Gatiss has a message for 'Doctor Who' fans in India! Check it out here. @Markgatiss #DoctorWhoOnFX
http://t.co/45xMLfVKag

— FX India (@FXIndia) May 15, 2015

Nonetheless, this is still a success, and the BBC are particularly (and rightly) proud. In fact, they’ve just announced an even bigger achievement: the corporation has a weekly global audience of 308 million. This combines the measured reach of international BBC content (entertainment and news) for 2014/15, and is a step closer to the 500 million by 2022 target set out by Director-General Tony Hall in 2013.

This measure has increased by 7% – or more impressively, 18 million – since last year, meaning 1 in 16 adults use BBC News.

Fran Unsworth, Director of the BBC World Service Group, highlights the good the BBC do that largely goes unrecognised:

“In times of crisis and in countries lacking media freedom, people around the world turn to the BBC for trusted and accurate information. Thanks to our digital innovation we now have more ways than ever before of reaching our audience – from the WhatsApp Service we set up during the West Africa Ebola outbreak to our pop-up Thai news stream on Facebook following the military coup.”

This is a corporation that was one battlefront at the last UK General Election, and is still threatened under the Conservative Government.

In its first year of license fee funding, the BBC World Service has increased its audience by 10%, now standing at 210 million, while its English World Service has its highest-ever weekly reach with an audience of 52 million.

These are all highly impressive and overwhelming figures, but what we should take from this is that both the BBC and Doctor Who are going from strength to strength!

Are you an Indian Whovian? Enjoying Series 1? Annoyed by the edits? Let us know below!

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