Christian Cawley's Blog, page 110

The TV License: A Defence

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.

For some time now, there has been uneasiness over the subject of the TV license. First introduced in 1946, many have questioned the license fees relevancy in a world populated by ad breaks, on-demand, and Netflix. The issue is rearing its ugly head again with the upcoming election (which you may or may not have heard about from every outlet available).

The fee covers “any television receiving equipment such as a TV set, digital box, DVD or video recorder, PC, laptop or mobile phone [used] to watch or record television programmes as they’re being shown on TV.” It isn’t needed for those who simply own a television (only used for DVDs and the like), or those who solely use catch-up services. One big issue comes as the fee, as of 1991, is enforced and collected by the BBC, while other broadcasters receive payment through advertisements and product placements.

From the late 1980s, the fee has risen annually, but in 2010, it was fixed for six years at £145.50 for colour TV, and £49 for monochrome. Concessions are applicable for the legally blind and those in nursing homes. What do we get for our money? Well… BBC One; BBC Two; BBC Three; BBC Four; BBC News; BBC Sport; CBBC; Cbeebies; BBC Parliament; Red Button content; BBC Alba; BBC Radio 1 to 6, plus Radio 1 and 4 Extra, 5 Live, and 5 Live Sports Extra; BBC Asian Network; radio stations in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; local radio; BBC World Service; online content; and arguably BBC iPlayer.

Born into a society whereby TV is paradoxically very important and entirely trivial, being asked to fork out £145.50 a year is going to cause a bit of cognitive dissonance…

Those complaining that they never watch anything on the BBC or listen to the radio are really limiting their entertainment. Across 2013 and 2014, the BBC rationed each license fee into what they pay for, so per month, each household contributes £8 to television, £2.30 to radio, 61p to online content, 49p towards actual enforcement of the fee, and 73p towards other services and production costs. Let’s take that larger amount: would you pay £8 each month for the BBC content you consume? Alongside Doctor Who, this may include year-round productions like BBC Breakfast, EastEnders, and Pointless; one-off shows like Marvellous, We’ll Take Manhattan, and United; children’s TV including The Sarah Jane Adventures, Tree Fu Tom, and Wizards Vs. Aliens; comedies like Not Going Out, W1A, and Miranda; and ever-popular programmes including Strictly Come Dancing, Top Gear, Sherlock, The Great British Bake-Off, and The Apprentice. This is without mentioning sporting coverage and charity event screenings. There’s something for everyone, and chances are, you’ve likely spent more than £8 on a DVD of one of these series at least.

Over the years, we’ve had a lot of entertainment from the fee, but even looking over the last few months, we’ve had quality shows that should be enough to warrant the license: The Musketeers, Death in Paradise, The Casual Vacancy, Wolf Hall, Last Tango in Halifax, for instance.

Nonetheless, you’ll always get those who will proclaim with odd pride how they don’t watch anything on the BBC, and actually, they don’t even watch that much TV.

Perhaps this is part of the problem. Since its mass production, the television has been undervalued, underrated, and yet entirely captivating. We’ve since forgotten the wonder of having little people contained in a box in our lounges, how someone can have their images and voices trapped and broadcasted across the nation. Most of us don’t know the science behind it; even fewer care. But that’s fine. We’re just accustomed to it. That’s how life works. Complacency goes hand-in-hand with underappreciation, however, and so we’ve grown up with connotations of a couch potato, or Homer Simpson-esque nations, staring blindly at the Idiot’s Lantern. TV, somehow, doesn’t matter. It’s a triviality used to see us through our days.

This, of course, is over-simplification, but it’s true that the majority of people don’t realise the amount of work that goes into even the dumbest of shows. I hate The X Factor, but I still hold an appreciation for the plethora of people involved, from those on screen, to those behind-the-scenes, from the runners furiously holding things together, to the PR teams tasked with drumming the brand into our heads.

And people also see the content as, to some degree, unimportant. What does it matter what happens to a fictional family when I’ve got bills to pay? But we do get involved with people we’ve never met, people who aren’t real. This is one of the core differences between humanity and other animals: storytelling. It is how we understand the world, or at least attempt to understand and relate to what’s happening around us.

Television really does matter; after all, you’re currently reading an entire site dedicated to a long-running show.

But born into a society whereby TV is paradoxically very important and entirely trivial, being asked to fork out £145.50 a year is going to cause a bit of cognitive dissonance. It doesn’t help that even the Establishment tells us there is something inherently wrong with paying for television. Politics, after all, is finding ways to gain from public divisions, and the current Conservative-Lib Dem coalition is in power only due to our dissatisfaction with life.

The license fee isn’t safe. The major parties all have questionable plans. The most damaging looks to be UKIP’s plans, with Nigel Farage claiming the BBC should be “cut back to the bone.” It would see a reduction in the license fee to just £48.50. This may sound a good thing to disgruntled homeowners, but it would certainly be a dark day for television. Farage’s reasoning is that the BBC should focus purely on international news coverage, not on entertainment, drama, or sports – which is obviously a huge threat to not just Doctor Who but also popular shows like Strictly Come Dancing, whatever remains of Top Gear, and Sherlock.

And that’s not even mentioning the non-headline-grabbing TV programmes.

Interestingly enough, this sounds a lot like the recommendations of John Whittingdale, chairman of the House of Commons Culture, Media, and Sport Committee. Arguing that the fee is “becoming harder and harder to justify and sustain,” he went on to advise that the BBC shouldn’t cover areas already featured by commercial stations, that it shouldn’t aim to cater for everyone. In a previous article, Kasterborous noted:

“In fact, this whole thing stinks somewhat, seen as it’s the Government advising what a broadcaster should disseminate. In that same set of recommendations, the Committee has highlighted the importance of the BBC World Service, as the UK shouldn’t lose ground to China and Russia in the “global information war.” That is the stench of irony.”

The Tories hint at a further license fee fix, while ‘top-slicing’ it and using the BBC as a crutch to support superfast broadband, local TV, the World Service, and even C4, according to Broadcast. Concerns have been raised about the Conservatives getting rid of the BBC Trust.

Plaid Cymru, meanwhile, already gets its fair share of programming, but the SNP want more business through BBC Scotland.

The Greens would scrap the license fee entirely, replacing it with a tax linked with inflation to ensure it’s “free of government interference,” and the Lib Dems plan something similar: they would keep the fee, but make sure it “does not rise faster than inflation.” They also make a pledge to keep the corporation’s independence by removing ministers from positions at the BBC Trust and Ofcom.

Labour perhaps has the most positive plans for the Beeb. They admit that “the BBC makes a vital contribution to the richness of our cultural life,” calling it “one of Britain’s greatest strengths,” but will decriminalise non-payment of the fee. Before full implementation, however, civil penalties would begin with a smaller pilot area. They would keep the license fee, but a further answer to what else they would actually do remains elusive, something that can be said about many topics when it comes to Red Ed and co. Ed Milliband told The Guardian:

“I think it’s incredibly important that we protect the BBC. It’s recognised around the world and is a benchmark for standards in Britain.”

And this is another reason we need to keep the license fee. Whether you as an individual like it or not, it’s an enviable position. This is a corporation supposedly free from Government influence, free from agenda (though admittedly, has left-wing leanings at times), and free of advertisements. Thanks to their pledge to make programming for a wide audience, we get niche shows that may otherwise not find enough advertising support to warrant their broadcast.

Make no mistake: we are lucky to have the BBC.

Yes, we get repeats, but really our only complaint is with repeats of shows we don’t like. If every repeat was Doctor Who, this readership may find fewer issues, but the crowd supporting Dad’s Army et al. would justly have something to moan about. Repeats are a necessity, and some of us are pleased with the ones we do get nonetheless. Nostalgia and entertainment drive many a trade.

At this crucial time, when politics can tether our creative industries so dramatically, we need to look for the good – especially with the Government using the BBC and its licence fee as a scapegoat. Of course it’s important we consistently question where our money is going. However, if we’re displeased with the fee, it is only because our political leaders are forcing us to be. Society isn’t happy, and that negativity has to be funnelled. If it can be aimed partly at a corporation the Government doesn’t wholly approve of, one which does admittedly eat up money to serve us with 24/7 coverage, then it’s all the better.

Let’s keep the BBC free from Government interference. Let’s nevertheless question the BBC. But let’s appreciate it too. There’s a lot to appreciate.

The post The TV License: A Defence appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Mark Gatiss: “Doctor Who Is My Everything”

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.

You know what? I really like Mark Gatiss. And you should too. Oh wait, this is the Internet! I’m contracted by law to add: “IMO”, even though that’s obvious.

Whether you like his episodes of Doctor Who or not, he’s an incredibly interesting man who appears much-loved and well-respected in the industry. In the words of the Wire, this one’s smart as paint. In a fascinating interview with The Guardian, Gatiss covers his favourite TV, the election, and that day, over ten years ago now, that he first heard that Doctor Who would be coming back.

And perhaps most pleasingly, he acknowledges how deeply ingrained his love for the show is:

“It’s my first love, my last, my everything. I owe it so much, because in so many ways it’s what got me interested in acting and writing.”

What’s so fresh about this (because let’s face it, we already know he loves the show) is that he’s fully prepared to admit how much he loves a TV programme, and so proudly too. It’s all too easy to belittle someone’s likes, so very few come out as fully-fledged fans of television. It’s something we don’t respect enough (again IMO!). As nonplussed as I am about John Green (author of Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns), this brings to mind a rather wonderful quotes from the writer:

“Nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff. Nerds are allowed to love stuff – like, jump-up-and-down-in-you-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. When people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is, ‘You like stuff,’ which is not a good insult at all. Like, you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness.”

Gatiss goes on to recall an amazing day, now over a decade ago:

“I got a call at midnight from a friend of mine saying: ‘Are you sitting down?’ And I said: ‘No, I’m lying in bed.’ He told me: ‘Doctor Who is coming back.’ And I’m like: ‘What?’

“It was Christmas 2004. The best present I got.”

In general, we back the BBC, here at K Towers. We defend the TV license, for instance. So, too, does Gatiss, who says:

“I just can’t bear the ratings obsession. It’s the first line of every email. It’s the first thing you hear. But this is why the licence fee exists. And the BBC is copying these formats from the commercial industry and is at risk of death by 1,000 cutbacks. I just think the argument should be brought to a head with a referendum about the licence fee. ‘Do you want this or not?’ And I think 98% of the population would say: ‘Of course we do.’ Because for a paltry amount of money, it champions the right to experiment and the right to fail, and to take creative risks. The Daily Mail would cower under a rock. It’s time the BBC go grow a pair of b*ll*cks and fight back.”

In a TV first, Gatiss will appear in The Vote, an Andrew Graham play with a cast of 50, set at a polling station. On Thursday, it’s going to be broadcast live on Channel 4 from the Donmar Warehouse. It’s going to be a fascinating experiment.

Many of us feel a great unease with politics, and indeed, with life. But writers, perhaps, have a way of expressing this dissatisfaction better than many (because y’know, it’s their job), and Mark sums up the weight of the world brilliantly. I didn’t know this before, but in the last couple of years, he’s lost his mother, sister, and brother-in-law, and he says these awful events have changed the way he sees the world:

“I’ve been terribly lucky in a lot of other things in my life. But it changes everything about you. I feel both more at peace with the world and more impatient. I feel less tolerant of wasting time, but I’d also rather like to enjoy myself more, let go of things more lightly. I feel dreadfully depressed about the state of the world. I was watching the destruction of the city of Nimrod, on the news last night, and it’s just so awful. You feel so powerless about the big narrative, so I almost feel beholden to just try and pull the things together and fight for what I can, and just get on with it. We’re here for such a short time.”

Naturally, I highly advise you take a look at the full article, in which he also talks about Mandelson, Sherlock, and being a ‘political junkie’!

The post Mark Gatiss: “Doctor Who Is My Everything” appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Is Pac-Man the Future of Doctor Who Video Games?

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.

As far as Doctor Who games go, it’s been more ‘game over’ than ‘Conglaturation!!! You have completed a great game.’

As one USP falls by the wayside perhaps the way forward isn’t trying to integrate a Doctor Who formula into a game, but trying to place Doctor Who into an established game – so get ready for the classic game/Doctor Who interface we’ve all been waiting for, that’s right, it’s LEGO Doctor Who…

No, wait. Not that established video game classic, another one: Pac-Man.

That’s right, our favourite Time Lord has regenerated into Toru Iwatani’s iconic ghost-gobbling orb from the classic 1980 game, in this, a potential fan-made mash ‘em up.

The game takes place in the same desolate, dystopian maze as Pac-Man, only this time, players will take control of 13 Doctors across 13 levels based upon one of each Doctor’s stories. As an example, Movieplot lists:

1st Doctor – The War Machines
2nd Doctor – The Invasion
3rd Doctor – Inferno
4th Doctor – Genesis of the Daleks
5th Doctor – Warriors of the Deep
6th Doctor – Trial of a Time Lord
7th Doctor – Survival
8th Doctor – The Movie
War Doctor – The Day of the Doctor
9th Doctor – Aliens of London
10th Doctor – Blink
11th Doctor – Night Terrors
12th Doctor – Deep Breath

Although a far more interesting idea is to have the one Doctor, who, as he is caught by a ghost or villain, regenerates until all of his iterations have been vanquished. Bonus rounds for collecting all the coins/pellets would see players take part in anniversary special themed levels such as The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors.

You can check out the whole pitch for Doctor Pac-Man and don’t forget to register your interest if you want to play the game.

The post Is Pac-Man the Future of Doctor Who Video Games? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Time Lord, The Jedi and The ‘Magic Kingdom’

Nick May 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.

Like a lot of people, I grew up with Star Wars.  By that, I mean the originals- the ‘original’ originals, even.  So I admit I greeted the purchase of the franchise by Disney with a degree of trepidation. It seems they plan to wring every last dollar out of the fans by releasing not just a new trilogy, but also a number of stand-alone films.  This, along with George Lucas’ own constant tinkering with the originals and the dire prequels, should serve to remind us in the tenth anniversary year how bloody lucky we’ve been with the return of Doctor Who.

The return of Who and the resurrection of Star Wars are a bit similar: both came back after a sixteen-year gap to much hype and expectation and, in the case of this second resurgence, with a fan at the helm – JJ Abrams, a man with a track record as long as your light saber in rebooting franchises.  His enthusiasm for the source material is evident, so why is the return of Star Wars so utterly soulless compared to the development of new Who?

There’s a difference between making a fan your producer and having a producer who’s a fan.  Both Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat are seasoned industry professionals who have a genuine, unalloyed affection for Doctor Who.  Their love of the concept and the ethos of the show is filtered through the technical skills and industry savvy of their professional lives with the result that, when the series returned in 2005, its success was guaranteed.  RTD took what was great about the show, tweaked it for modern tastes and turned his love letter to the original show into ratings gold.

However, making a fan your producer can be like putting the proverbial kid in the proverbial sweet shop.  Will they be selective or will they gorge themselves? Disney’s pockets are sufficiently deep that, if they want Hollywood’s number one fanboy to bring back their cash-cow acquisition, they can get him.  But it hasn’t worked elsewhere. Josh Trank has quit one of the many as-yet-unidentified spin-offs, citing ‘differences’.  Disney won’t worry; when it comes to directors, to quote Yoda, there is another.  It’s a production line, proving Disney aren’t the Magic Kingdom- they’re the Death Star.

Making a fan your producer can be like putting the proverbial kid in the proverbial sweet shop.  Will they be selective or will they gorge themselves?

Credit where credit’s due: George Lucas took a tough-sell concept and created a multi-million dollar franchise.  But his was a very singular, serious vision; there’s no intentionally funny side to Star Wars.  In the cinema where I saw Attack of the Clones, people laughed at the fight between Yoda and Count Dooku.  Why wouldn’t they?  It’s an octogenarian actor having a scrap with a Muppet.  Then there’s the dialogue – as Harrison Ford once famously told Lucas: ‘you can type this s**t, but you can’t say it’.  It will be interesting to see what Abrams does on both counts.

By contrast, Doctor Who is very much a team effort.  Down the years, that team has been exceptionally diverse, taking in Buddhists, communists, Cambridge graduates, philosophers, comedians, journalists and assorted mavericks, all bringing their life experiences and perspectives to the table, to produce a show whose stars have included an aspiring footballer, a radio comedian, a former hod carrier and a man who hammered nails up his own nose. ‘Eclectic’ doesn’t cover it! Absurd, even, but then Who is a show that’s often at its best when its tongue is in its cheek.  It starts with Ian’s refusal to believe that the mystery of time travel is going to be solved in a junkyard with a Police Box, and comes up to date with Matt Smith’s ‘mad man in a box’, via the ‘wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey’ explanation of the universe.  The Doctor has always faced the dangers of the universe with an eminently quotable line, the big difference being that, for the most part, it’s the sort of s**t that can be both written down and said.

To reiterate, we have been very fortunate with the return of Doctor Who.  The concept is almost infinitely flexible and can go off in any number of directions.  At the heart of that is an imagination and a wonderfully British sense of humour that has sometimes helped carry that concept through situations where there wasn’t the money to quite bring the writer’s vision to the screen.  Horror of Fang Rock is probably my favourite Who story – one that overcame budgetary constraints, an enforced move to another studio and a monster made of swarfega by strength of an amazing script, committed performances and taut direction.

It’s far more than that, though.  The care and attention that made Who inspired us as fans to be here now, sitting and writing about it.  It inspired other fans to get into the industry and, more importantly, others still to bring the show back.  Yes, there’s been a degree of revisionism, but it’s been integral to taking the show forward.  We aren’t treated to pointless retreads (the Han-Greedo ‘who shoots first?’ debacle that’s merited four re-releases of the same film): the people who make it care.

The key, then, is integrity.  Yes, I will almost certainly go and see The Force Awakens, but it won’t rekindle the enthusiasm I once had for Star Wars - too much damage has been wrought on it by the very person whose legacy it represents.  Interestingly, Horror of Fang Rock came out in the same year as Star Wars: I adore one and merely enjoy the other.  I can probably recite both verbatim, though one is slightly more difficult than the other, because you may indeed be able to type that s**t, but you really can’t say it…

The post The Time Lord, The Jedi and The ‘Magic Kingdom’ appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Nigel Farage Takes On Doctor Who: Hiding to Nothing

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.

Nigel Farage and Doctor Who. Which is better? There’s only one way to find out… Use your common sense.

Yep, even our favourite TV show can’t escape the election, which you might’ve heard about over the past forever. It’s an important event, and as such, every outlet has been blurting out pledges. Even Sky Sports 1 and the Babestation. Uh, or so I’m told. Ahem. No way I’m admitting to watching Sky Sports.

UKIP leader, Nigel Farage is a controversial figure. His party has been accused of being racist, which, to be absolutely honest, I think is unfair. I’m pretty sure every party out there has its share of members who’re either racist, sexist, homophobic, or all of the above. Obviously this is a horrible thing to contemplate, but then people are disappointments: society is riddled with these types of people. It’s just that members of UKIP appear to be more stupidly loud about their prejudices, making them easy targets.

But Farage has put his foot even further into it, this time targeting the BBC. More specifically, Farage appeared to suggest the corporation should only focus on news, not entertainment show – including Doctor Who.

He’s already said that, if in power, he’d cut the license fee down to one-third of its current value, so that would naturally mean quality programming would have to be culled too. Talking to Andrew Marr (who, fact fans, himself appeared in 2005’s Aliens of London!), the MEP (and prospective MP) said:

“I think the BBC as a public service broadcaster has a role. I think the BBC as a global brand for this country is very, very important. But I think the BBC is far too big and has far too much influence. I don’t think it needs to do entertainment for example.”

Marr asked if this meant “Vote UKIP and exterminate the Doctor” as well as other popular shows like Strictly Come Dancing. Farage certainly didn’t rule out the idea. However, he denied his previous remarks when opposition leader, Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats took him to task about the idea. Deputy Prime Minister Clegg seemed especially offended by a post- Strictly world, perhaps eyeing up a role in the show after leaving Number 10. Farage responded with a series of “nos” followed by “I’ve never suggested that for a moment.”

The BBC, too, appears an easy target because it takes £145.50 out of our pockets. Nonetheless, the majority seem to agree that it’s worth it. We’ve speculated about what would happen to Doctor Who if the license fee were done away with, and pretty soon, you’ll see our defense of it. So keep your eyes peeled for that one.

So fearing a backlash from the masses, UKIP then unveiled a press release which seemed to contradict Farage’s interview, with the leader amending his comments to:

“When it comes to entertainment, the BBC should be proud of its ‘crown jewels’ such as Strictly Come Dancing and dramas such as Dr Who. They have become valuable global brands as well as programmes hugely appreciated by British audiences. Should the BBC feel it has to come up with its own version of every commercial TV genre, from dating formats to home makeover shows? I don’t think so.”

And a spokesperson further clarified:

“Some people have wilfully misinterpreted Nigel’s comments on Andrew Marr this morning.  Shows like Strictly and Dr Who are the crown jewels of the BBC, but we do not feel that it needs to spend licence-fee payers’ money on hundreds of poor to average entertainment shows, as well as left-liberal, London-centric ‘comedy’.”

Frankly, this second comment doesn’t help matters. Hundreds of poor to average entertainment shows? Really? And who’s to decide which shows are good value and which aren’t? The ones that bring in the big money through the BBC’s commercial arm? That would mean niche shows aren’t even made – and providing shows for everyone is something the Beeb should be very proud of. Meanwhile, comedy shows would only be made by well-recognised faces like Peter Kay whose (admittedly great) Car Share recently moved from iPlayer to BBC One. It would give newcomers little opportunity to prove themselves.

This is a load of nonsense.

Furthermore, UKIP won’t get enough power to impose such limits on the internationally-renowned BBC. So why has Farage said this?

It seems he’s in a bit of a strop. He thinks the BBC’s coverage of UKIP has been biased. In a live debate, he accused the BBC of selecting an audience that was “even by the standards of the BBC” too far left wing. Then the police received complaints from the party after journalist Camilla Long said she had spent more time in his constituency, South Thanet, than Farage. This was on Have I Got News For You?, a show Farage has appeared on in the past. Yes, Ian Hislop did give him a mauling, but he does with all MPs.

Personally, I find UKIP has been painted as The Bad Guys, yet the party is, at least, addressing some very real concerns. These have been shouted down under a barrage of racist accusations. I don’t agree with them on much, but I do admire their determination and ability to shrug off the insults; I like a live wire. Allegations of hypocrisy – that the party who appear to value freedom of speech involve the authorities when blogs dare to question their agendas – don’t sit well, naturally.

But this rant against the BBC is a final nail in the coffin. I’ll defend the BBC forever. I genuinely think it’s a wonderful (if imperfect) company. There are far more just causes ripe to tear into, that’s for sure! I think UKIP needs some perspective on things.

So what are your thoughts about Nigel Farage’s recent comments?

The post Nigel Farage Takes On Doctor Who: Hiding to Nothing appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Reviewed: Blake’s 7 – Truth and Lies

James McLean 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.

Big Finish’s second season of classic Blake’s 7 audio adventures comes to a close with Truth and Lies by Justin Richards. This is the final story in the search for missing crewmember Dayna Mellanby, and it takes the Liberator crew to Apalon V having followed a vessel Avon and Orac are certain contains their missing comrade. The vessel is destroyed and Liberator tracks the launched life pod down to the surface of the planet. Uncertain as to whether the pod was carrying Dayna, or what lies ahead of them on Apalon V, the Liberator crew head to the planet with due caution that proves not to be unfounded…

After a series of stories largely showcasing individual crewmembers, the final story in the set is very much a crew ensemble adventure. The search for Dayna utilises all the Liberator crew and pits them against a new, formidable adversary. Truth and Lies is a tale of twists, mystery and comedy, playing off each facet in the spirit of the classic television show. For Blake’s 7 fans who know their subject, this feels very much like a story that would have aired in Blake’s 7’s third series; the Federation are peripheral, the odds are against them, and it’s uncertain which crew-member might turn things around…

The audience, aware that Josette Simon is not cast, may wonder whether the story will confront that issue and have her inside the capsule, or avoid the casting issue by the crew finding someone else…

Big Finish is the perfect ground for new Blake’s 7 as the limitations of audio match those of the classic series. Blake’s 7 rarely had much more than a smattering of guest cast, and so the small cast recordings for Big Finish feel true to the spirit. On top of that, much of the scene setting in Truth and Lies feels like the sort of studio locations you’d picture in the show; there are ducts, cells, living quarters a small trip to an alien jungle (Ealing studios probably). The cast work well, with Del Grant (Tom Chadborn) feeling very much part of the crew. Lisa Bowerman sits confidently in the director’s chair ensuring there’s consistency and flow to the proceedings. The guest cast perform admirably, though, you’ll have to forgive the less than forthcoming details on their characters as they are at the very heart of the title: truth and lies.

The main misgivings perhaps lie in the narrative framework around the story and the season as a whole: the hunt from Dayna. It is a masquerade for a missing, essential cast member. Indeed, it is an inventive and courageous approach to resolving a continuity dilemma, but it can occasionally serve as a heavy reminder that one cast member is not involved. This is not to say it is damaging to the story, nor that I don’t commend tackling this issue head on, just occasionally the issue does float to the surface. In some respects it could be argued this works for the story; Richards opens up Truth and Lies with the question as to whether Dayna IS in the lost escape pod.

The audience, aware that Josette Simon is not cast, may wonder whether the story will confront that issue and have her inside the capsule, or avoid the casting issue by the crew finding someone else. There is a further argument that this sort of tale again, is very in-keeping with series 3 of Blake’s 7; Blake and Jenna take to the life-rockets in the aftermath of the intergalactic war in Aftermath (3.01) but the audience knows the cast members have left the show and will not be present through the series. Having to believe characters are dynamic to the leading narrative and yet the actors are not, is something Blake’s 7 audiences have had to reconcile before. The Dayna arc in some respects, mirrors this very issue.

The story closes on a sort-of-cliffhanger/resolution. It’s an odd position that could resolve the arc or perpetuate it. Time will tell, and hopefully Big Finish, it will!

The post Reviewed: Blake’s 7 – Truth and Lies appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat Recalls Why He Left Twitter

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.

In a YouTube interview with his son, and featuring his wife (and Sherlock co-producer) Sue Vertue, Doctor Who Executive Producer Steven Moffat has answered a fun Q&A session, which enabled him to recall and explain for a few moments just why he quit the Twitter social network back in 2012.

Of the incident, Moffat recalls

“I know a lot of people think I was getting loads of abuse, but the truth is I was getting tons and tons of lovely stuff… really, really nice… What happened was that people I knew in the real world were trying to communicate with me on Twitter, and I would never see their tweets.

“I was one day trying to work out if I could just put the people I really knew into a different column so that I could see them, and I just thought ‘oh to hell with it, I’ve got enough on my plate with writing so I’ll just get rid of my Twitter account.'”

Elsewhere in the video, you can hear Moffat’s thoughts on time travel, answering questions on relationship dealbreakers, what he is if “you are what you eat” and much more.

The post Doctor Who’s Steven Moffat Recalls Why He Left Twitter appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Torchwood Returns Thanks To Big Finish!

Chris Swanson 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 spinoff series Torchwood is, at last, returning, though not in the expected manner. It was last seen on our TV screens during the less-than-stellar, largely American-based series Miracle Day. Since then the future has been up in the air. Now, however, Big Finish Productions, who have had a license for Doctor Who audio stories for over fifteen years, have announced via their website that the series is returning in audio form.

Torchwood, the intrepid team of alien investigators, returns in a series of six audio productions, as part of a licensing deal with BBC Worldwide.

Once again, the Torchwood team will be led by the irrepressible Captain Jack, as played by John Barrowman – who broke the news of the series return on his radio show on Sunday evening.

Conceived as a spin-off from Doctor Who, Torchwood was created by Russell T Davies (Doctor Who, Cucumber, Banana, Queer as Folk) and made its debut on television in 2006. The top secret organisation Torchwood saved Cardiff (and often the world) from alien menaces and terrifying forces, trying to keep the city safe from the inter-dimensional rift that ran through it. In charge of Torchwood was Captain Jack, a man who has been called: “A companion to the Doctor, a rogue Time Agent, an immortal, a dangerous con-man, and very good at parties.” Captain Jack can’t be exterminated or trusted, and there’s just no stopping him.

This is pleasant news all around. The Miracle Day series left a bad taste in the mouth of many fans, and was generally regarded as a financial and critical failure. Fans have waited several years for the series to retunr, and it looks like they’re finally getting their wish.

But in what form? Listeners to Big Finish know that the company prefers to do full cast audio stories. Indeed, that’s what most of the Doctor Who range, as well as other ranges, like The Avengers, Blake’s 7, and the upcoming series, The Prisoner, tend to be. But in this case, it looks like, for now, they’re going to take a different track.

The new series of audio dramas will each focus on different members of the Torchwood team, exploring the impact that a mysterious event has on them. Starting off the range will be John Barrowman, who stars in The Conspiracy, a deadly thriller by David Llewellyn, which is released September 2015.

This sounds like something similar to the Companion Chronicles series that Big Finish have done with Doctor Who. In those stories, you have one main cast member acting and narrating alongside one or two other actors. It’s a somewhat limiting format, but not without its merits. It is also hopefully a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

To fans of Torchwood, this is extremely welcome news. It’s also something that Doctor Who fans can be cautiously optimistic about. Big Finish is, in addition to Torchwood, also releasing a series focusing on the nuWho version of UNIT, complete with Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart. Can a full-on new series range be on the horizon?

One can but hope.

The post Torchwood Returns Thanks To Big Finish! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

50% Off Doctor Who T-Shirts at BustedTees!

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.

Thanks to our friends at BustedTees, you can grab a 50% discount on the best Doctor Who t-shirts in their store untuil 11.50 pm EST tonight (which means sometime early on Monday morning if you’re in the UK).

To get this awesome offer – we’re talking top tees for $10 here – all you need to do is visit www.bustedtees.com/drwho and make your choice. At the checkout, enter the coupon code SPRINGSALE50 to get the discount.

Now remember, this is a time-sensitive offer, so you really shouldn’t miss it, and with just a few hours left to go on this Doctor Who t-shirts offer you’ll need to act fast!

The post 50% Off Doctor Who T-Shirts at BustedTees! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Unmissable Big Finish: Talkin’ Bout My Regeneration

Peter Webb 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.

If you’re expecting a review of The Who’s first album, then I’m sorry to say that the site doesn’t really cover 60s British rock bands, or even The War Games’ DVD special features.

Instead, over the next few months, I’ll be looking at Big Finish’s Doctor Who Magazine promotional releases. The two have always had a strong relationship, from Frobisher’s audio adventures to the preview page that featured specially commissioned artwork by artists such as Lee Sullivan. But of the many special things was the cover mounted promotional CD. DWM had tried similar in the past – remember the Abslom Daak flexi disc from #167? – but in June 1999 Big Finish announced themselves to the world through the inspiring cover line “Free CD! Free CD! Free CD!”; #279 decided to focus more on The Phantom Menace, Tom Baker and The Curse of Fatal Death  over the return of classic Doctors to the role that defined many fans’ childhoods. Though the free CDs and preview page are gone, the relationship remains strong, with covers and articles devoted to stories like Dark Eyes and The Light at the End.

If you’re wondering why I’m not talking ’bout Last of the Titans, well, I’ll get onto that story in another article. Whilst a documentary on the making of The Sirens of Time rather than a story (presented by actor and Dalek operator Nick Pegg, who plays a delegate in Sirens), it offers a wonderful insight into what Big Finish was like when they first started, and even before then, when they were just a bunch of fans producing Audio Visuals (from 1984-1991), when no-one really knew what full-cast Doctor Who would be like.

I’ve always found behind the series material fascinating: I grew up on a diet of Doctor Who Confidential and classic series DVDs, and I’m the guy who will sit watching a Blu-Ray for four hours because of the special features, and it’s entirely responsible for teaching me what a green screen and ADR is. Radio production is a different beast to TV and film, but since Big Finish first introduced CD extras when Nicholas Briggs took over in 2007, there’s always been something interesting there, whether it’s an anecdote from cast and crew you might never hear at a convention, or how a soundscape that fits the tone of a story is created. (Big Finish Talks Back covered similar material, but not from month to month.)

It’s amusing that Peter Davison comments that there is a new Doctor Who generation born out of VHS tapes; many of those who grew up during the Wilderness Years have since become some of the most prominent fans.

Suddenly, with the opening music lifted directly from An Unearthly Child, we’re taken back to a beginning. It’s a time capsule to when Big Finish was just a group of fans wanting to make new Doctor Who (it kind of still is), with three Doctors (Gary Russell even jokes they could go for Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor in absence of Paul or Tom), and no famed Big Finish lunches to carry them through the day. You can tell everyone in the room is somewhat apprehensive, without a 16 year relationship to fall back on. The three Doctors were back together for the first time since Dimensions in Time six years beforehand (which Davison has entirely forgotten about!). Colin Baker was positive, calling it the best Doctor Who story he’s seen in years, and better than some of the “psuedo-clones” (presumably by Bill Baggs). With plenty of experience with conventions, the Doctors have a perfect tenor, casual and laid back. Sylvester McCoy is of course on the top of his humour:

Colin Baker: “Peter [Davison] speaks very well on behalf of all of us.”

Sylvester McCoy: “Because he is all of us as well.”

And when Davison discusses how he likes historicals where the Doctor changes history (he must be a fan of Moffat) and how he was responsible for starting the Great Fire of London:

“Oh did you? That was when you were in your smoking days.”

As a host, Nick Pegg has a style that may not be to everyone’s tastes, with lines like “one of the producers is with me now…” and “as Steve Cole confirms…”, and sections of unedited conversation making it seem more like a live interview on BBC News. Pegg comes across as an outsider rather than a member of the Big Finish family.

The cursory glance over Doctor Who‘s earlier audio efforts with the BBC feels a tad unnecessary today as this information is readily available on Wikipedia and many other sources, but nonetheless provides insight into the Doctor Who brand at that point. Producer Gary Russell’s account of Big Finish’s genesis is worth hearing too: proposals were given to the BBC as early as 1996, then they decided to produce Benny as the BBC were bringing licences in-house it at that time; it was only with the success of Benny that Russell returned to the BBC without much hope in late 1998, only to find those  audios were enough to convince Stephen Cole at the BBC (who was similarly responsible for the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels) to grant them an official deal.

There are plenty of other topics discussed, like Nicholas Briggs talking about working on the Audio Visuals as an amateur actor (with extracts too!), the directing experience and the concept of multi-Doctor stories, Peter Davison on the timeless nature of the Doctor, and other sections focus on sound design and cast and crew who would go on to become Big Finish staples, like Mark Gatiss and Sarah Mowat.

Listening to this from a historical perspective takes a bit of adjusting to, with references to “Doctor Who at the end of the twentieth century”, UK Gold and VHS completely throwing me off.  Sixteen years later, and look how far Big Finish have come.

The Sirens of Time was a rush, recording months after securing the license; the cast were booked only a week before recording. The next year of storytelling wasn’t even planned out, with Phantasmagoria and Whispers of Terror in the script process and vague comments from Russell about a proper 6th Doctor/Brigadier story being a “priority” (and that an 8th Doctor/Brigadier story would be great), and Sophie Aldred was the only companion signed on so far. Nicholas Briggs says he’d love to play a Dalek, something he’d do less than a year later with The Genocide Machine. And Sylvester McCoy’s suggestion that the benefit of the audio medium is because you don’t get to see the 6th Doctor’s coat was very much on point: who remembers the blue coat? Other topics raised, like novel adaptations (Russell dismisses this as pointless when Big Finish have the power to create new stories,) and unmade episodes are things Big Finish have gone back to and produced successful ranges out of.

It’s amusing too that when Peter Davison comments that there is a new Doctor Who generation born out of VHS tapes; many of those who grew up during the Wilderness Years have become some of the most prominent fans out there, with others like Tom Webster now working for Big Finish as a graphic designer. When Sylvester McCoy comments that the Doctor is a Christ-like figure, in hindsight that’s essentially the Russell T Davies era.

There are still lessons to be learned, though: Gary Russell argues there’s the danger of overkill if old monsters come back too often rather than being an event. Unfortunately, this has become a trend. In 2014, four monsters returned in the main range alone, compared to 2 in 2001, with 5 appearing in other ranges.

But even before The Night of the Doctor, there was never any doubt that it counts as a continuation: Pegg calls it the first Doctor Who since 1996, and Russell calls it the first Doctor Who series since 1989. Stephen Cole was right: “it runs and runs and runs.” Nick Pegg was right too: Big Finish did indeed carry us into the 21st century, and we’re better off for it.

Hosted by Nick Pegg, and featuring interviews with Nicholas Briggs, Gary Russell, Stephen Cole, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, Talkin’ Bout My Regeneration is available as a download from Big Finish.

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