Christian Cawley's Blog, page 129

The Ninth Doctor Debut Cover Variants Revealed By Titan Comics

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.

The new Ninth Doctor series of adventures from Titan Comics launches in March, and to accompany the standard covers a trio of variants have been announced today.

First up, a pair of variants from BuyMeToys.com, bot by artist Casey Heying; the first has colours by Admira Wijaya, while the second is coloured by Andrew Hibner. Also announsed is the Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor #1 Books-A-Million store variant cover, by artist Joe Carroney.

Written by Cavan Scott, the series features the Doctor, Rose and Jack, and is titled Weapons of Past Destruction.

The Ninth Doctor is BACK with a brand-new miniseries: WEAPONS OF PAST DESTRUCTION!

Leaving World War II behind, The Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack discover that Time Lord technology, lost in the wake of the Time War, is being sold on the intergalactic black market!

Now the threat of a NEW temporal war brews on the horizon. Can the Doctor stop history repeating itself?​

All three covers can be viewed below.

If you’re in the UK and have concerns about grabbing this series – whatever the cover variant – it can be ordered from Forbidden Planet, where, incidentally, Cavan Scott is signing copies in the Bristol branch on March 18th. Signed copies of Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1 can also be purchased online if you’re unable to get to the event.

The post The Ninth Doctor Debut Cover Variants Revealed By Titan Comics appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Exclusive Interview: The Soldier Stories’ Ethyn Gutierrez

Barry Rice 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.

Early last week, we told you about an exciting new fan series called Doctor Who: The Soldier Stories. It’s a darker take on Doctor Who, featuring a Gallifreyan assassin named the Soldier and his companion Emily. The first episode has been completed, and a crowdfunding effort is underway now to finance a full season. As a follow-up to our original story, I’ve had the opportunity to chat with the show’s head writer and showrunner, Ethyn Gutierrez:

What was the genesis of this project? Where did the idea for  The Soldier Stories  come from?

Cory Phillips, who is the lead actor, approached me in June of 2014 with the idea of an original Time Lord known as “The Soldier.” At first, I wasn’t all that receptive to making this. It had to do with a lot with incomplete ideas, and lack of detail when he originally pitched it to me. But about a month later he returned with more detail on who “The Soldier” was, what his TARDIS could do, and what his companion (who at the time didn’t have a name) would be like. The thing that won me over was: “I want you write a Doctor Who spin-off for non-Whovians.” That has been the key to this entire project. We will be making a lot of references to Doctor Who; using monsters and places etc., but all of the principal characters are original.

How many episodes would a full season contain if your fundraising goal is met?

We have plans to do six episodes for the first season. As it stands right now, we have plans for three seasons. I already know the last line of the last episode. I’ve spent the better part of six months with various writers on our team drafting out the plot, and I would love to see the entire thing to completion.

Do you have a production schedule in mind? In other words, how soon would we see additional episodes?

Yes! We will be releasing episode 1 on Rose day, and episode 2 will be sometime in May, after Dallas Comic-Con. After that, our plan is to release an episode every six to eight weeks, depending upon the needs of the schedule. But between those episodes, we will be doing small three to five minute shorts that help to fill in the gaps between episodes. We will be releasing a pretty constant flow of content.

Are you planning to show the pilot at any more conventions in the near future?

Yes, but I can’t say much more than that until the conventions formally announce us. The best way to find out is by following us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/doctorwhotss

What makes the Soldier different from the Doctor?

A lot of things. It really is comparing apples to oranges. The Soldier is about 1/4th the age of the Doctor (around 500 years old). He has never been wounded to the point of regeneration. They have different ideologies, different socioeconomic backgrounds, different educations, although they did both attend the Time Academy. The Soldier respects the Doctor a great deal, and understands his ideologies both pre-Time War and during, but he doesn’t necessarily agree with them. He lands somewhere between the Doctor and the Master in terms of morality. He sees the human race as a lesser species like the master, but like the Doctor, he believes that all life has the right to flourish and carve out it’s own destiny, which makes him indifferent to humanity, if not slightly annoyed when he has to deal with them.

Does The Soldier Stories take place during the Great Time War, or after?

It takes place after, but the Soldier isn’t aware that The Time War has ended.

What can you tell us about Emily, the Soldier’s companion?

Emily is a retired Staff Sergeant in the US Army, who served 3 tours overseas. Her specific role was that of a combat medic. She suffers from PTSD and is in a pretty stressful place in her life when we see her in Episode 1. She is dealing with an irresponsible younger sister, who is a single parent. Emily is the modern companion that I’ve always wanted. She is both physically and mentally capable of handling herself.

We got a little bit of that with River Song, and fans loved her for how she was often more capable than the Doctor. I like the idea of someone who would travel with a time lord but was not dependent on them. If she and The soldier get separated there is no doubt that she can’t handle herself and be just fine.

The trailers released so far have a darker tone that’s very evocative of  Torchwood . Is that a fair comparison?

I think so. We do pull from that more gritty side of the DW universe, although there will be significantly less sexual undertones to the show. I feel like we are doing something more in line with BBC’s Sherlock than Torchwood, in terms of tone and moral ambiguity.  Also we are pulling a lot of content from the Big Finish audio dramas.

The last season of  Doctor Who  focused a great deal on the Twelfth Doctor’s sudden dislike for soldiers in general. Is it a coincidence that The Soldier Stories focuses on soldiers and war? Either way, will TSS make any allusions to the Doctor’s aversion to soldiers?

That was just a happy accident, to be honest with you. When we started on this journey, Deep Breath hadn’t been released yet. By the time episode 1 was finalized and TSS was on it’s feet, we were two or three episodes into Series 8. As the series progressed, I began to play around with this new idea, and to me it just added more credence to what we where doing. It was as if Doctor Who was screaming for a Time Lord Soldier to be thrown into the mix.

I spotted a Weeping Angel in one of the trailers. Can we expect to see any other established  Doctor Who  aliens/enemies in TSS? The Daleks, perhaps?

Yes. The weeping angel you see in Episode 1 was created by the fantastic Tate Steinsiek (Syfy’s Face Off, Ill Willed Productions), and you’ll see many more aliens and monsters. It wouldn’t be Doctor Who without the Daleks, but we have some plans for those monsters that are very different than what you’ve seen in DW. There are some bad guys at play in our series that make Daleks look cuddly by comparison.

I would imagine from a budgetary standpoint, keeping your stories earthbound would be ideal, but I understand that the Soldier does possess a TARDIS. Will we be seeing any alien planets/locations in TSS?

The Soldier does possess a TARDIS, but it doesn’t work in the same way that the Doctor’s does. It can travel through time and space, but has a different way of doing so. All of Season 1 takes place on earth-like planets, and deals primarily with humans because that is what the story called for. All the choices we are making are story driven. I have the pleasure of coming up with some crazy ideas, showing them to our Executive Producer (Chris Ransdell) and saying “Hey, let’s make this happen!” and he has a way of delivering every time. 

Tell us a little about your lead actors, Cory Philips and Jami Harris.

Cory Phillips is my best friend, and the original concept designer for this project. I met him about five years ago at an anime convention, of all places. I joined his nationally touring improv team, Take One Improv, about four years ago.  He’s just a cool guy to be around, and just stupidly talented and driven to be the best Soldier he can be. Cory could have taken the part for the Soldier himself, but he decided that he would audition for the Soldier like everyone else. He had no say in who would be picked to play that character. He wasn’t allowed to see the script, or have any more information than any other actor who auditioned. He killed it at the audition.

Jami Harris is just a sweetheart. You hear this all the time from people doing these interviews but it must be repeated: She is the nicest person I’ve ever met. I don’t think Jami knows how to be mean. What I love about her is her total commitment to doing this part, which is so far outside of her comfort zone as a performer. But she jumps in, and I think she does a fantastic job. I hadn’t met Jami before this project, but after about two weeks of talking, I can say that she is one of my nearest and dearest friends. The way she plays Emily is tough and lovable all at the same time, and I really hope she is put in the same conversation as the great companions.

Anything else you’d like for Kasterborous readers to know?

Thank you for all the support. I hope you enjoy TSS, and if you have a few dollars to spare it would mean the world to us.

http://www.thesoldierstories.com We have some awesome perks to give away for helping us get this thing off the ground.

_____________________________________

Although originally slated to premiere on March 26, The Soldier Stories team recently announced that they will release the first episode early if a crowdfunding goal of $5,000 is met before that date. You can find out more at the website Ethyn mentioned above and by watching the fundraising video below:

 

The post Exclusive Interview: The Soldier Stories’ Ethyn Gutierrez appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Are Doctor Who Autographs Too Expensive?

James Lomond 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 Daily Record online has splurged a headline about David Tennant charging fans an “astronomical” sum of £100 per autograph at an upcoming US convention – that’s about $170 in your monochromatic American money. The tone of the article sways from his being unreasonably steep to being a popular charitable sort. It is, in an Internet first, aimed to get you to click on it. Something we’d never stoop to here at Kasterborous Towers…

The article notes that he compares unfavourably with original Star Trek captain of the Enterprise, William Shatner at £52 and Eleventh Doctor’s companion, Karen Gillan at £39 in a different convention.

But is this unreasonable? How much *should * he be charging for an autograph. A moment of his time and a flick of the wrist. My first thought was to introduce some market forces into this and peek at the starting price for comparable celebrity autographs on eBay… (by which I mean other incarnations, of course..)

It seems, at the time of writing, that one might hope to pick up Mr Tennant’s monicker for anything from under a fiver (we’re talking well under $10) to around £20. Less than a fifth the amount he’s charging for fresh ones. In fact a combo Doctor Who autograph from the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors was going for the starting price of £77. Obviously bids may send these way up, but it does look from this particular test as though the Daily Record could be right in their allegation of grandiose pricing…

Sylvester McCoy, a Classic Doctor and Hollywood film star in the fantasy genre since the Hobbit films, has autographs starting at under a fiver as does Tom Baker – the prototypical Classic Doctor and sole returnee for the 50th anniversary. In fact it seems, and quite rightly, that one needs to be deceased with (one hopes) a finite number of autographs on the planet to fetch a chunkier asking price – First Doctor, William Hartnell’s personalised flourish starts from anywhere between £325 to £750 (that’s around $1150 at the higher end).

This is all, of course, provided you are happy to part with your cash for something that may well not be genuine and might be made out to someone other than yourself. And the thing that’s really missing here is what exactly you are paying for – a pre-booked autograph at a convention is not just a little slice of your hero’s history for you to take home and show-off to friends or dangle to the bidding masses. It’s a chance to meet the actor and make a memory which you don’t get from just the piece of paper and ink marks – genuine or otherwise.

I am reliably informed by those involved in previous London Comic Con events that this is not necessarily an alarming price tag. Tennant is enormously popular and still very active with his UK and US versions of Broadchurch and various other projects and this is apparently a realistic price for a key guest. And it looks as though people are very prepared to pay the asking price…

And, frankly, if my signature was worth a hundred bob, I’d be sticking to that! He’s undoubtedly signed some fan’s books and photos for free and given some kids the best souvenir ever. If those hitting the conventions with enough dosh to get in can and will pay that amount, why wouldn’t he ask it? Keeping it a bit more exclusive also helps to keep the total numbers down and maintains the value of his signature – he’s protecting his assets. As it were.

And presumably there’s something of a convention to this sort of thing – Shatner hasn’t been on the big or small screen for a long time – he can’t *keep* on asking huge sums for his siggy. And Gillan, while a very talented actor and very popular with the fans, has not had as long or successful career as Tennat (yet) and it seems to make intuitive sense that this would also feed into what is an appropriate asking price.

But enough meandering from me. What do you think, Kasterborites – is this an astronomical fee and an abuse of vulnerable fans wallets? Or is Mr Tennant entirely entitled to set the bar this high? And crucially – will you be parting with your hard earned cash for swish of his wrist? Tell us below…

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Trailer and Details for Doctor Who: The Defectors!

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.

I can unequivocally say that one of my favorite things about Big Finish is that it allows the “what if” questions to be explored in a way that the television series doesn’t take frequent advantage of. For example, as it oft happens, a person’s favourite Doctor may be completely unlinked with their favourite companion.

It’s no secret that I fall in the Eleventh Doctor camp; it may be news to you, dear readers, that my favourite companion is Rose Tyler. The 50th notwithstanding, I’d have loved to see the two of them interact on screen. Maybe someday, should Big Finish take on more modern Who. However, if your fantasy team up scenario features the Seventh Doctor and Jo Grant (a top 5 personal companion for me, by the way!) then you’ll want to take a closer look at April’s main range release, Doctor Who: The Defectors!

The Defectors finds Jo meeting the McCoy Doctor and here’s an idea of what to expect:

“Jo Grant is shocked to find most of her colleagues are missing. Then she discovers that the Doctor has inexplicably changed. But there’s little time to worry about it all, as she and her misplaced Time Lord friend are whisked to the mysterious Delphin Isle on a matter of national security. There, they encounter a disturbingly odd form of local hospitality and learn of a highly classified incident that took place during the Cold War. Why exactly have they been brought here? And what is the truth concerning the bodies in the harbour and the vast project being undertaken under a cloak of secrecy?”

Big Finish has also released a trailer to whet the appetite and it appears to be shaping up as a fantastic adventure! Doctor Who: The Defectors is available for preorder now. What do you think, fellow Kasterborites? Is this interesting coupling of interest to you? Will you be picking up the release? Let us know!

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Who is “Foreman”?

Barry Rice 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 is “Foreman?”As it turns out, the question is its own answer.

As you’ll recall, it was the very first image ever shown when Doctor Who premiered in November 1963: a sign for I.M. Foreman’s junkyard at 76 Totters Lane, standing before an incongruous old police box. It’s only fitting then that the name “Foreman” should also come to represent an ambitious new unofficial fan series — one that doesn’t just spin-off from the Doctor Who canon, it reboots it entirely. You see, Who IS Foreman.

Foreman is the brainchild of actor/illustrator Jack Miles and Blackveil Entertainment, described as a “collective” of creative minds collaborating on various artistic ventures. And when I say this is a reboot of Doctor Who, I mean a TOTAL reboot. Miles stars as the First Doctor, but don’t be fooled: this is not William Hartnell we’re talking about. This is a young, adventurous Doctor…which also means we won’t be seeing Susan or any other grandchildren anytime soon. It wouldn’t be Doctor Who without companions, though, and the first companion revealed by the production team is Nirvi Chandeytra, played by internet personality Claudia Boleyn.

Born of a dissatisfaction with the current direction of Doctor Who, Foreman‘s creators intend to create an exciting hybrid of the Russell T Davies era combined with the best of the classic era. A main point of contention for Miles and his crew is a perceived lack of diversity in the recent series, and it’s an issue they intend to tackle head on. Miles identifies as gender-fluid (and prefers they/them/their pronouns), and Boleyn is an outspoken bisexual feminist. She’s also British-Indian, and will obviously bring that quality to her character, as well. Described as a “lapsed Muslim,” Nirvi is a twenty-one year-old Politics student, swept into a live of thrills with the Doctor.

One element that will stay mostly true to its original self is the TARDIS, recently unveiled at the True Believers Comic Festival in Cheltenham. The TARDIS retains its famous blue police box exterior, but in Foreman sports a taller, thinner physique. Artwork has also been revealed for the Doctor’s redesigned sonic screwdriver and some preliminary designs for Axos and the Axons, getting a new look from their original appearance in 1971’s The Claws of Axos.

Possibly the most exciting part of the Foreman project is that it’s open-source; Blackveil welcomes auditions from all artists: actors, writers, musicians, illustrators, graphic designers, and more. I said above that Foreman is a “fan series,” but that description is perhaps a bit limiting. Foreman is intended as more of a multimedia franchise, if you will. In addition to filmed episodes, there are plans for prose adventures, audio dramas, and even illustrated art projects.

No release dates have been announced, but the team is deep into pre-production, with plans for an initial run of six episodes. For more information and updates, check out their official website/Tumblr at BlackveilEntertainment.org, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Do you think Doctor Who suffers from a lack of diversity, Kasterborites? Will you be watching Foreman?

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Snakedance’s Martin Clunes Stars as Arthur Conan Doyle Tonight on ITV!

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.

Broadchurch series 2 may have ended, but ITV has another show with Doctor Who connections to take its place, and tonight Martin Clunes plays celebrated author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Arthur & George. The Sherlock-aware among you will realise the significance of this, and since ITV previously produced (Granada, to be precise, now swallowed up by the ITV monolith) the seminal Jeremy Brett-starring version of Sherlock Holmes in the 80s and 90s, they’ll be keen to get back into the Conan Dyle groove with this three-part adaptation of Julian Barnes’ novel.

Set in 1903 in Staffordshire, Hampshire and London with the backdrop of Conan Doyle’s family home, Undershaw, Sir Arthur joins forces with his trusted manservant, Alfred ‘Woodie’ Wood with whom he has a very strong bond.

Conan Doyle recaptures his zest for life by pursuing and challenging a notorious miscarriage of justice. It is the case of George Edalji, a hard-working solicitor and the son of Hampshire vicar, Reverend Shapurji Edalji and his wife Charlotte. George has served seven years in Pentonville Prison for allegedly mutilating animals and sending threatening letters. The offences have become known as The Great Wyrley Rippings.

Following the death of his wife, Louisa, Conan Doyle has become a “bore and a sulk” by his own admission. All around him do their best to bolster Arthur from his grief and mourning including his beloved ‘Mam’ who implores him to “sink his teeth into something.  If not a book then some new pursuit.”

On learning of George’s plight and glimpsing the headlines concerning the Great Wyrley Rippings, Conan Doyle urges Woodie to arrange a meeting with George, who is released from prison after serving three years of his seven year sentence. Now at 27, George is desperate to clear his name so he can return to his career.

Clunes – who played the unpleasat Lon in Snakedance (1983) and was connected with a role in nuWho for quite some time – is joined by a considerable cast, including Arsher Ali (Four Lions, Complicit, The Guilty, Silent Witness) as George Edalji, Art Malik (The Jewel in the Crown, True Lies, Upstairs Downstairs, Holby City) as his father, the Reverend Shapurji Edalji, Emma Fielding (Silk, DCI Banks, Kidnap and Ransom) as his mother Charlotte Edalji, Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey, Trying Again, A Young Doctor’s Notebook) as Woodie Wood, Hattie Morahan (The Bletchley Circle, Outnumbered, Eternal Law, Sense and Sensibility) as Jean Leckie  and Sandra Voe (Breaking the Waves, Vera Drake, The Winter Guest, Holby City) as Mam.

Of course, since Snakedance, Clunes has forged a huge TV career, with Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin among his many successes.

Written by Ed Whitmore (Silent Witness, Waking The Dead, He Kills Coppers), Arthur & George begins at 9pm tonight on ITV1, and is the first in a three-part series of one-hour episodes.

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Bedford Who Charity Con: Man and Dalek on cover of local paper!

Simon Danes 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 possibly the most exciting Doctor Who related news this decade, a man and a Dalek appeared on the cover of a local paper.

The man is called Simon Danes and the Dalek is called Genevieve (she is a Genesis-type Dalek, you see).  The man is dressed up like Tom Baker.  The Dalek is naked.  The local paper in question is Bedford’s Times and Citizen newspaper.  Simon Danes is 49 and he lives in a house.  He has just joined the team of Kasterborous’s reviewers.

Simon and Genevieve are pictured outside the local Sainsbury’s, where they had spent a day publicising the forthcoming Bedford Who Charity Con.  To see the picture and the article, go to the Bedford Times & Citizen online; it is a very nice picture, showing a man and a Dalek outside a Sainsbury’s.

But seriously, folks:

Bedford Who Charity Con is being held, amazingly enough, in Bedford, on Saturday 11th April.  Once costs are covered, everything raised will be going to Bedford Foodbank; they provide emergency food for local people in crisis.  Simon is one of their volunteers and he’s the convention organiser.

Simon comments, ‘It was very good of Sainsbury’s to let us come.  The Dalek went down well, on the whole, though lots of shoppers were being frightfully British and walked straight past with a “There is nothing to see here” expression on their faces.  One little boy stood in front of the Dalek and asked his mum, “What is it?”  “It’s a Dalek.  They’re really scary,” she said.  (Pause.)  Little boy (in bafflement):  “Why is it scary?”  At least two children saw Genevieve and said, “Star Wars!  Cool!”’

Simon forgot the name of the Dalek when he was speaking to the newspaper’s reporter, and called her Geraldine.

Guests at Bedford Who Charity Con are Paul Cornell, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldred, Terry Molloy, Anneke Wills, Mike Tucker and Ailsa Berk.  There will be the usual mix of individual and panel interviews, signings, dealers – plus Mike Tucker will be doing a presentation on the programme’s special effects, and Ailsa Berk (the programme’s choreographer) will be leading a monster-movement workshop for those who’d like to take part.  So, if you want to learn how to stomp like a Cyberman, lurch like Other Dave, or lollop like a scarecrow, this is for you!

Do come:  it’s going to be a great day.

Bedford is 35 minutes by train from London St Pancras; it’s ten minutes from both the M1 and A1.  There are direct trains from Brighton (just £20 return on Saturdays!), Haywards Heath, Gatwick Airport, Nottingham, Loughborough and Leicester.  Good bus / coach service from Oxford, Cambridge, Buckingham, Bicester, Milton Keynes and Northampton.

Kasterborous readers receive a 10% discount on their tickets.  It’s worth noting that ticket prices are very much at the lower end for conventions, so this represents excellent value – and you’ll also be supporting an excellent cause.  Prices before the discount are:

£40 adult,
£25 university or college student,
£20 for 14 to 18 year olds,
£12 for under 14 year olds.

Family tickets are also available:  £52 for 1 adult and 2 children; £75 for 2 adults and 2 children; and £7.50 each for any additional children on the family ticket.  (‘Children’ here means under 14s.)  Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

To order, please email Simon on info@bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk, meanwhile the convention’s website is bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk    

To claim your 10% discount, please remember to say you heard about the event on Kasterborous!

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Reviewed – Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #02

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.

In Dark Water, Clara tells the Doctor that she’s never seen lava. Turns out, it’s a big fib.

The second part of Terrorformer opens with a few explanatory pages about the Monster of the Month, the Hyperions. Heaps of exposition straight away sounds like a negative thing, but, largely due to the clever ideas behind the Hyperions, it works. Sadly, the same can’t be said about the issue as a whole – at least, not completely.

All the elements are there, however: with an inter-planetary war as its backdrop, the issue sees the Doctor and Clara battling a creature with almost God-like potential. The Doctor puts this particular Hyperion, Rann-Korr, into a bit of a bad mood by mentioning that the Time Lords destroyed its planet. That initial confrontation is over surprisingly fast, but with the tale’s conclusion, I get a sense that this is just the admittedly-not-that-calm before the storm.

Robbie Morrison, in charge of writing for this new Doctor and his impossible companion, voices both wonderfully; the Doctor is blunt, unintentionally-funny, and commanding. He also keeps his anger subdued, a pleasing depth added to this grumpy Time Lord. The so-called last stand is marvellous, contrasting the Doctor’s stillness to the riotous fury of the planet.

Meanwhile, Clara goes a bit Emma Peel. There’s a hint of Amy’s sword fight in The Curse of the Black Spot – which is an unexpected move. It appears they teach fencing at Coal Hill. The Doctor immediately undermines her: “Clara, if you’re quite finished posing…” And yes, we get another scene of malfunctioning robots, really cementing the adventure into Series 8, a run of stories that featured more robotics than an Isaac Asimov tale. Thankfully, though, this second part focuses more on the bigger threat.

How the Doctor defeats Rann-Korr is especially satisfying. It’s smart, beautifully presented, and epic.

So why doesn’t this issue feel quite right? I’m afraid to say that Dave Taylor’s art is too capricious. Isen VI is fantastically rendered. The action sequences work effortlessly. His grasp of movement on a page is on display throughout. But there are niggles too.

For starters, a few panels would lack depth if it weren’t for Hi-Fi’s colours. Clara simply looks like a generic brown-haired girl. Now, Jenna Coleman is a beautiful woman, but she’s not got any distinctive features – no hook nose, big ears, or afro – so I can somewhat forgive Taylor for not being able to capture her perfectly. His Capaldi sometimes loses focus, but is, at least, recognisable. And I have sympathies about drawing a living sun: as a lump of churning black and orange fire, Rann-Korr was always going to look a little sketchy. My problem with him is how he walks. Unfortunately, it looks as if… well, like he’s messed himself!

That certainly undermines the seriousness of the situation.

Issues 2 of Titan’s The Twelfth Doctor comic doesn’t quite deliver what the debut issue hinted at. It’s not a failure – not by any means – but it’s not a massive triumph either. Nonetheless, I’m certain that Morrison and Taylor will deliver a solid, entertaining series as a whole. We’ll just have to wait to find out if I’m right.

The post Reviewed – Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #02 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Gallifrey: Intervention Earth Reviewed

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.

Gallifrey returns to the Big Finish range with the first adventure of a four-part serial, Intervention Earth.

When you promise the return of Omega, voiced by Stephen Thorne, who played the character so memorably in The Three Doctors, you had better deliver Omega in spades. This Big Finish almost does, and that “almost” is a real problem. Thankfully, it’s made up for by the rest of the story.

The story in question features Ace, doing Time Lord stuff, zipping around creation with her own TARDIS. As she’s doing so, another Time Lord, Rexx, pops up. Turns out that the Earth’s sun was turned into a black hole; a feat of impressive stellar engineering. Under the belief that the Hand of Omega is involved, and given that Ace had contact with that back in the day, he takes her to ancient Earh to try and stop whatever is happening.

Meantime, Romana, in her third incarnation, is doing Time Lord president stuff, which lately involves noticing that black hole and working with the Celestial Intervention Agency to try and put a stop to it. Naturally it turns out that Omega is in this up to the eye-holes on his mask, as our happy team find out when they go to the anti-matter universe.Let me say at the outset that I did not dislike this story. There is much here to enjoy, especially Narvin trying to deal with ancient Britons. I was also very pleased by the way Ace’s character has been allowed to develop, and usual Gallifrey politics were fun.

When you promise the return of Omega, voiced by The Three Doctors‘ Stephen Thorne, you had better deliver Omega in spades.

But, but, but…I can’t escape how disappointed I was with Omega. He was only on the story for a short time, and while he was a prime mover of the events, much of it was done in the background. Also, he undergoes a voice change not long after he turns up, so we don’t get much of the joy of hearing Stephen Thorne tear it up. It really feels like a missed opportunity.

Then there’s Juliet Landau, who I met at the Gallifrey One convention. Did I ask if her parents ever made it back from the Moon? Yes, I did. I’m sure that joke is the Bain of her existence. Anyhow, she’s a decent enough actress, but during the political segments on Gallifrey much of her acting felt like it lacked energy. Once she was out on the road doing stuff, things changed. This may be an intentional thing, I don’t know. I haven’t had much experience with her version of Romana.

The story also felt like it needed to be tightened-up a bit, and the cliffhanger was, at least to me, a bit confusing. Well, until I found out who our mystery guest was, and then it cleared-up somewhat. I also very much missed the presence of K9(s) and Leela, both of whom helped make the older Gallifrey stories quite a bit more interesting.

Don’t get me wrong with this criticism; I liked the story. But that’s kind of the problem. I LIKED it, but I wanted to LOVE it. As it stands, it’s a solid B-, but it should have been much more. I do recommend it, but with some hesitation.

Written by Scott Handcock & David Llewellyn and directed by Scott Handcock, the cast is as follows: Juliet Landau (Romana), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Seán Carlsen (Narvin), Stephen Thorne (Omega), Scott Arthur (Lukas), Gyles Brandreth (Rexx), Daniel Brocklebank (Tauras), Laura Doddington (Vale Endrogan), Rachel Atkins (Sol),Toby Longworth (Min), Andrew Pepper (Merkis)

Gallifrey: Intervention Earth is out now and can be ordered from Big Finish in digital format or on CD.

The post Gallifrey: Intervention Earth Reviewed appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #9 Art Preview

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.

Next Wednesday (March 4) sees the release of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor issue #9 from Al Ewing (2000AD) and Boo Cook (2000AD)!

“I DISLIKED MY ENEMY SO MUCH… I BOUGHT THE COMPANY!”

Fresh from a bruising battle with the Amstrons, the Doctor has decided that enough is enough – if SERVEYOUinc won’t stop plaguing him and his friends wherever they land, he’s going to hit them where it hurts – by buying a controlling interest in the company!

But what does the Doctor’s corporate career mean for Alice, ARC and Jones? Is there a place for them in the Doctor’s bold new venture? And what kind of sting does SERVEYOUinc have left to deploy?

We don’t know the answer… but we do know that Titan Comics has sent us a tasty preview of the issue, which we share below!

You should be able to purchase Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #9 from Wednesday, but if you’re having difficulty picking it up locally, try Forbidden Planet online.

The post Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #9 Art Preview appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.