Christian Cawley's Blog, page 125

Big Finish Releases Trailer for The Well-Mannered War!

Nick Kitchen 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 we anticipate the release of Big Finish’s newest collection of Doctor Who novel adaptations, a new trailer for the Fourth Doctor novel adaptation, Doctor Who: The Well-Mannered War, has been released! You can check out all of the trailer goodness by clicking here!

You can also check out a brief synopsis of what the adventure has in store for the Fourth Doctor and companions:

“The edges of space, the far distant future, an era even the Time Lords are not supposed to visit. Laid claim to by disputing factions of humans and Chelonians, the planet Barclow has become the catalyst for an unusual war. In two hundred years of hostilities not a shot has been fired, and the opposing combatants are the best of friends. But when the Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive, they discover the peace is not going to last. Something dangerous is happening behind the scenes. An election looms. Bodies are piling up. Tensions are growing. Someone, somewhere is trying to make this well-mannered war very angry indeed. Only the Time-travellers can save the day. But that might be their biggest mistake.”

As far as personal recommendations go, this writer would suggest taking a stab at the original 1997 Missing Adventures novel by Gareth Roberts as well. Of course, spoilers abound if you’re not familiar with the story, but a quick re-read before the audio adventure drops in May might be in order!

Doctor Who – The Well-Mannered War is available for preorder now. It’s also available as a collected set that also includes the upcoming RTD novel adaptation, Doctor Who – Damaged Goods. The collected set is also available for preorder.

Will you be checking out this release? Would you have rather seen Big Finish tackle a different novel? Let us know!

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Remember Series Zero? How Doctor Who Might Have Looked from 1936-1957

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.

Regular readers will know that we’re big fans of alternate, fan made Doctor Who title sequences here at Kasterborous, and this gem by nereusmedia on Vimeo is one that we simply had to share.

Beginning with the idea that Doctor Who first aired not in 1963 but in 1936 running through to 1957, the title sequence is styled to reflect TV and theme tune music of the era, exchanging the Series 8 “clockwork” style replaced with a Metropolis-esque black and white series of cogs and gears, and a Glasgow police box from 1937, all topped off with a classic 1950s “Batman” style BBC logo.

Complementing the visuals is a woodwind arrangement, which reminds the creator “of a world where Doctor Who may have confronted Lyshenkoism or the fallacy of Settled Science,” and he asks that viewers let him know what they think. Further information on the design choices can be found on nereusmedia’s blog.

We think it’s flipping smashing.

The post Remember Series Zero? How Doctor Who Might Have Looked from 1936-1957 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

What Peter Capaldi Did for Red Nose Day 2015

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.

While it seems that this year’s Red Nose Day charity laugh-a-thon is a little subdued compared to previous years, Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi got involved and travelled to Africa to record a film for the Comic Relief telethon, which airs this evening on BBC One.

Arriving in Malawi’s second city, Blantyre (no, you read that right – it was named after Victorian missionary David Livingstone’s birthplace in South Lanarkshire) before moving onto the massive slum of Ndirande, where the Comic Relief-funded C-Code project has been funding development of sanitation facilities, among other things.

To get the full flavour of the work going on in Malawi, and what Capaldi experienced, we recommend you take a read of his emotive diary on the Radio Times website, and you should certainly look out for the accompanying film in tonight’s fundraising show, in the absence of any Doctor Who-themed skits.

To donate to Comic Relief, head to secure.donate.comicrelief.com.

The post What Peter Capaldi Did for Red Nose Day 2015 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Veteran Character Actor Hugh Walters, 1939-2015

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.

The veteran actor Hugh Walters, who made three guest appearances in Doctor Who, has died at the age of 75.

His Doctor Who roles formed just a small part of a lengthy acting career which made him a familiar face on TV screens over several decades. Walters’ first appearance in the programme came in the 1965 Dalek story The Chase when he had the small but not insignificant task of portraying William Shakespeare in the scene where the Doctor shows off his Time and Space Visualiser, thus earning himself a place in all those ‘real historical characters the Doctor has met’ articles over the years.

A more substantial role came his way in The Deadly Assassin in 1976 as Commentator Runcible, a fellow-former classmate of the Doctor whose snide personality was nicely captured by Walters. Robert Holmes classic script allowed the story’s guest cast rather more room to develop on-screen than usual given the absence of a regular companion although Runcible would meet a sticky end, murdered for getting too close to the truth of the Lord President’s assassination.

His final role in Doctor Who was in 1985’s Revelation of the Daleks, perhaps the best Sixth Doctor story, when he played Vogel, ever-loyal secretary to Eleanor Bron’s Kara. This time he would get to meet the Daleks on-screen, although it did not end well for Vogel, exterminated as his mistress’s plot to bring down Davros unravelled. He thus joined a select band of actors to have had two memorable death scenes in Doctor Who.

These latter two appearances in Doctor Who were both nice examples of Walters’ propensity for playing rather prissy, officious characters. It was gift that ensured him steady work in an extensive number of television dramas, many of them the most popular shows of their day: Z Cars, Private Schulz, Shine On Harvey Moon, Rumpole of the Bailey, All Creatures Great and Small and Heartbeat among them. Other notable roles included playing Charles Hawtrey in the Carry-On drama Cor Blimey (2000) and Stifford in a 1976 adaptation of Arnold Bennett’s Clayhanger. Genre credits included playing Vic Thatcher in two episodes of BBC classic Survivors in 1975, and The New Avengers the following year.

He was versatile enough to enjoy a long career in comedy too. An early success came in sitcom The Larkins in 1963, and he followed it up in subsequent decades in a number of other popular shows: The Dick Emery Show, The Fenn Street Gang, George and Mildred and The Russ Abbott Show among them. There were a small number of film appearances, among them 1984 and Brimstone and Treacle. He would return to the world of Doctor Who with the role of Roderick Allingham in The Fearmonger for Big Finish.

Hugh Walters was born in Mexborough, South Yorksire on March 2nd 1939 and died on February 13th 2015.

(Via DoctorWhoNews)

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Michael Herbert Talks Mac Hulke This Saturday!

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.

Following on from the news that Terrance Dicks will be chatting with Michael Herbert at a Lass Productions event next month on the topic of Doctor Who writer Malcolm Hulke, Michael will discussing his recent pamphlet, Doctor Who and the Communist, at the States of Independence Bookfair in Leicester this Saturday 14 March at 2pm. Entrance is free

Malcolm Hulke was a successful writer for radio, television and the cinema from the 1950s  to the late 1970s.  His work included episodes for  Armchair Theatre and The Avengers and  54 episodes for Doctor Who, broadcast between 1967 and 1974,  for which he is best remembered. These included The War Games, The Silurians and Frontier in Space. He was also a socialist, belonging for a time to the Communist Party of Great Britain, and his political views fed into his work.

More information can be found at www.statesofindependence.co.uk.

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Game of Thones’ Richard Madden Wants a Doctor Who Guest Role

Rebecca Crockett 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.

So if you were an actor who was dating a star of one of the biggest television shows in the world, wouldn’t you want to see about maybe getting your own role on her show? What’s wrong with a little nepotism?

Well, Richard Madden isn’t so keen on that idea.

If you’re unaware, Madden has been dating Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman since 2011. Recently, while doing press for his upcoming movie, Cinderella, he was asked about what he’s working on next. In speaking to Zap2It, Madden mentioned that he’d love to get involved with something about “future sci-fi stuff, like laser ships, space guns”.

So, maybe Doctor Who then? Nope.

It seems Madden has been musing on possibly having a role on the show himself,  but there is one caveat – he’s not interested in any role while his girlfriend is still on the show!

“That would probably be weird…I’d love to be in Doctor Who one day, but maybe not while Jenna’s in the show. there’s nothing in the pipeline for that at the moment. Maybe one day,”

You’d think he’d love to work on Doctor Who, given he knows not only Jenna, but a whole slew of other people that have worked on the show that have also been a part of the show Madden is most known for - Game Of Thrones.

Madden appeared in 21 episodes across three seasons of the show as Robb Stark, heir to Winterfell and the North…


Game of Thones Spoiler

before being brutally killed at his own wedding.

[collapse]


If he joined the ranks of those that have appeared on Doctor Who, he’d join a long list of those that have appeared on both shows. Among others –

Liam Cunningham – Captain Zhukov from Cold War, is/was also Davos Seaworth in GoT.
Dame Diana Rigg – Mrs. Gillyflower from The Crimson Horror, is/was also Olenna Tyrell, the family’s matriarch.
Iain Glen – Father Octavian from Time Of Angels/Flesh And Stone, is/was Jorah Mormont.
David Bradley –  William Hartnell in An Adventure In Space And Time and Solomon from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, is/was Walder Frey in seasons 1 and 3.
Mark Gatiss – one of DW’s writers was also Richard Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment and is/was also Tycho Nestoris in season 4.

And no less than three GoT alums were in just one DW episode, Tooth and Claw! Ron Donachie, Queen Victoria’s Steward in TaC was Sir Rodrik Cassel in seasons 1 and 2; Jamie Sives who played Captain Reynolds was also Jory Cassel in season 1; and Ian Hanmore who played one of the ninja-like preists, Father Angelo. was Pyat Pree in season 2.

There have even been two actors who appeared in classic era episodes as various characters that have now also played on GoT – Julian Glover and Donald Sumpter.

Is this Doctor Who…or Westeros?

(For a more comprehensive list of those that have been on both shows, check out IMDb. The list is a little bit out-of-date, since there were a few more actors from Series 8 that haven’t been added yet but still fairly comprehensive!)

The post Game of Thones’ Richard Madden Wants a Doctor Who Guest Role appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who: Time Tunnel Out Now!

Nick Kitchen 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 reading this and thinking to yourself, “Mate, I could certainly use some new Third Doctor action in my life,” I’m pleased to inform you that particular need can be filled…immediately! That’s right, dear readers, the Third Doctor themed, latest release in Big Finish’s Doctor Who – Monthly Short Trips line (Time Tunnel) is available now!

In case you’ve missed our continuing coverage of the range, Short Trips features a brand new short story being read by a companion of the featured Doctor. In March’s case, Time Tunnel is narrated by Katy Manning (Jo Grant) and here is a brief preview of what to expect:

“Reports are coming in to UNIT of trains emerging from a railway tunnel in Sussex, their passengers and drivers dead. The Doctor elects to drive a train through the tunnel himself, but when he emerges Jo sees to her horror that he is covered in ice. Something in the tunnel has driven him close to the point of death. What can it be?”

Oh, and did I mention, the story also features CyberBrig the Brigadier? A classic trio for £2.99; truly a hard deal to pass up from where this writer is sitting. 

Time Tunnel can be purchased here. Will you be checking this out, fellow Kasterborites? If you’ve already taken the audio for a spin, what did you think? We’d love to know!

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Titan Comics’ Twelfth Doctor #6 Preview

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.

Out on Wednesday 18th March, The Twelfth Doctor #6 from Titan Comics is a great jumping-on point as a new storyline begins. And we’ve got a preview of three interior pages.

WHO OR WHAT ARE THE FRACTURES? 

Molly’s father was killed in a terrible accident. UNIT scientist John Foster suffered the same fate. But are they really gone? Both play a part in the universe-hopping new arc! The Doctor and Clara race against time to both stop a dreaded new peril – The Fractures – in a bid to stop reality unraveling around them.

Written by Robbie Morrison, with art by Brian Williamson, here’s just a little preview of what that stick-insect alien and his stroppy teacher companion are getting up to…

We’ve had an extra look inside and would just like to commend Brian Williamson: it looks beautiful, and oh boy, we are in for a treat! It’s great to see  again!

Priced $3.99, The Twelfth Doctor #6 is available from most comic stores from Wednesday 18th March 2015.

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Time Lord Movie Roles News Blast

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.

Who-ray for Hollywood! Today’s news blast will be running at 24 frames per second; complete with IMAX sound and a small child kicking the back of your seat. Yes, the Doctors are going to the movies!

First up, Sylvester McCoy will star in Journey Bound – the prequel to Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey where he’ll play a Dachshund with a deadly secret…

…oh, no wait. It’s actually an independent romantic comedy set in Scotland very much in the vein of Gregory’s Girl and Local Hero.

Journey Bound follows city lawyer Neil, played by Kenny Boyle, and his trouble-hit attempt to salvage his relationship with neglected fiancée Karen, played by actor and co-writer Clare Sheppard.

To put things right he must travel to Cape Wrath in the north of Scotland where she has taken a job as an environmental researcher.

So a ‘roam-com’ then?

In a bit of a coup for the film, starring alongside the Seventh Doctor will be Blade Runner and Batman Begins star Rutger Hauer – who has seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion don’t you know – who responded very positively when approached about the project.

Director and co-writer Ryan Hendrick said: “We decided that we would aim high with this film. What is the worst that can happen, people say ‘No’? Rutger is perfect for this role; he is in the unique position to make a real impact in this film. I don’t know what we would have done if he had said no.”

The Bafta-nominated film-maker added: “We did suffer a setback in the tail end of 2014 and filming had to be postponed, but this is the kind of day to day risk that exists with film production, especially in the current climate. Lessons were learned.”

And all those setbacks were lost…like tears in the rain.

Also appearing in Journey Bound will be little Amy Pond herself Caitlin Blackwood, Red Dwarf star and Altered Image singer Clare Grogan and Natalie Clark who co-starred with Director Ryan Hendrick in the 2011 Doctor Who fan film, Besieged.

Up next, filming has begun on Patient Zero, the latest big screen outing for Matt Smith. The film sees Matt Smith play Don Diego de la Vega, a California nobleman, and the secret identity of ‘The Fox’ a black clad figure who during the Spanish rule of Los Angeles, defends the people against tyranny…and also zombies.

No, wait. It’s Patient Zero. Not Patient Zorro, sorry.  So Zorro doesn’t carry the cure for a deadly form of rabies that turns people to zombies? So what am I going to do with all these ‘official’ tie-in flat-brimmed black sombrero cordobés? ¡Ay, caramba!

The movie also stars Game of Thrones‘ Natalie Dormer (she’s so hot right now) and John Bradley, and not Game of Thrones’ Stanley Tucci.

The actual plot of the film follows the impact of a global pandemic; In this case, it’s caused by a strain of rabies, which is the catalyst for a new species with a tendency towards being a bit bitey.

As the title suggests, the search is on for patient zero to help save the world. So kinda like 28 Days later only with an ending (boom! *drops mic, picks mic back up as mics are expensive and Christian needs it for the PodKast and he’ll also pick up a score lending out to the Lieberwitz bar mitzvah this weekend).

Since departing Doctor Who, Matt Smith has carved out a quite a burgeoning film career. He’s show us his muscles in the critically panned directorial debut of Ryan Gosling, Lost River (formerly How to Catch a Monster), filmed his first of three scheduled Terminator movies, the ridiculously titled Terminator: Genisys and he will also appear in the adaptation of mash’em up novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as the self approving Mr Collins.

Patient Zero will be shooting in and around London until mid-April. Stefan Ruzowitzky, director of the excellent The Counterfeiters, is directing from a script by Mike Le, the former Vice President of HQ Pictures, the film and TV Company of Transformers star Tyrese Gibson.

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Terrance Dicks Discusses Malcolm Hulke at ‘An Audience With…’

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.

Lass Productions, always a great friend of the good ship Kasterborous, is holding a very special event with Terrance Dicks celebrating the brilliant Malcolm Hulke.

Held at Manchester’s Fab Cafe on 19th April, Dicks will discuss the work of his friend, Hulke, who is perhaps most famous for creating the Silurians and Sea Devils, but also wrote stories like Colony in Space, Frontier in Space, and The Faceless Ones. The pair co-wrote The Ambassadors of Death (with several others), and the Second Doctor’s swansong, The War Games.

This event celebrates the release of Doctor Who and the Communist, a pamphlet by Michael Herbert, and will also include a screening of one of Mac’s episodes, chosen on the day by the audience! There will be an opportunity for signings and the chance to buy Red Flag Walks’ brand new publication on the day.

TERRANCE DICKS @FabCafeManc Sun, Apr 19th to celebrate the launch of @MJHerbert's Doctor Who and the Communist. £4 pic.twitter.com/DJEHVvWRAW

— Lass Productions (@21stcenturylass) March 10, 2015

“It’s really just a continuation of the smaller, niche events we used to run at the Lass O’Gowrie. I think the larger conventions do a great job of providing a surface celebration of the programme, but sometimes you just want the opportunity to delve a little beneath the surface of the subject,” Lass Productions says. “By getting Terrance to talk about his close friend and writing partner, Mac Hulke, I think we’ll deliver a fitting tribute to the man who brought us not only the Time Lords, but also the Silurians, Sea Devils, Draconians and some of the best remembered Target novels of the Seventies.

“We hope to be back with more of these sensibly priced, suitably in depth events throughout the year. Best way to find out what’s coming up next is by tuning into Kasterborous or by following us over on Twitter @21stcenturylass”.


Tickets cost just £4 and available in advance or on the door. There will be no charge to have items signed, but please don’t bring your entire Target collection along…

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