Christian Cawley's Blog, page 159

All New Doctor Who Wave 4 Action Figures At Forbidden Planet

Drew Boynton 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.

Okay, Kasty kiddies, it’s time to slip on your Steven Moffat masks and re-enact your favorite scene of his from The Five(-ish) Doctors, but this time with a whole new set of action figures!

The new releases are officially Wave 4 of Character Options’ Doctor Who line and are currently available to pre-order. Not too long into the future, they will be found at all of your finer Forbidden Planet Stores.  The figure line up includes a blue-suited Tenth Doctor (ooh!), a green-jacketed Eleventh Doctor (ah!), the Twelfth Doctor (yay!), a brown-jacketed Amy Pond (huh?), the Skovox Blitzer (whaa–?), and a Gold Supreme Dalek (boo!).

Here’s the official word from the toy gurus on the upcoming Wave 4: “A great gift for fans of any age, these highly detailed, realistic and poseable action figures include some iconic characters from the hit TV show Doctor Who. Re-enact scenes from your favourite storylines or simply create your own adventures across space and time. Battle against some famous foes like the supreme beings that are the Daleks and the Skovox Blitzer, which are also included in this exciting collection of Doctor Who 3.75-inch scale action figures.”

Sigh.  I know.  They’re still the 3.75-inch scale.  It appears that fans who weren’t happy with these smaller-scale figures may just have to grin and bear it for the time being.  …Even when your Clara Oswald looks like she was modeled on 1997-era Simon Cowell…

Anyway, getting back on track, every character in Wave 4 will come packaged with its own “Doctor Who display base”, except for those dastardly Daleks–always the rebel, they are!  Each action figure will come with a price tag of about RRP £7.99.  But hopefully you won’t have to spend a thing and Santa (or maybe even Nick Frost?) will leave them for you under the Christmas tree this year!

Just think of the hours you can while away re-enacting Danny Pink’s crazy gymnastic leap over the Skovox Blitzer (in Series 8’s The Caretaker)… but this time using either the Tenth, Eleventh, or Twelfth Doctors!  What fun to be had!  Who knew the Twelfth Doctor was so spry for his age?!  (Or you can just keep them all hermetically sealed in mint condition in their packaging, carefully placed on that TARDIS-blue shelf in your room.  Blah.)

So, Kasterborites, will this new wave of figures be excitedly dancing around in your head like a bunch of Sugar Plum Fairies, or were you hoping that Santa might be delivering better toys?

The post All New Doctor Who Wave 4 Action Figures At Forbidden Planet appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

John Guilor and Rupert Booth Talk Doctor Who Omnirumour – PLUS Orac Skiffle!

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.

Instead of just mulling over the latest missing episodes news, this week’s podKast brings in two guests, fans (who are also actors) John Guilor and Rupert Booth to talk about the omnirumour and much more. Brace yourselves, Kasterborites, for a podKast containing lofts, basements, penpals, appreciation society presidents, professional voice work, interactive movies but sadly, no James McLean. Hosted by Christian Cawley and Brian A Terranova.

Warning – there is some adult language in this week’s podKast!

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 44 Shownotes

Ian Levine’s Shada
Contradiction chat with John Guilor and Tim Fillon on the CultCast
Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart Adventures
Omnirumour latest and The Underwater Menace release
Legendary Yorkshire drink, Mather’s Black Beer
Brian A Terranova’s Fan Films
Rupert Booth’s Fan Films reviewed
Gary Le Strange: ‘Is My Toaster Sentient?’
Last of the Summer Wine Appreciation Society
Tim Treloar cast as Third Doctor
Doctor Omega, read by John Guilor
Recommendations: The Complete Adventures of Young Indiana Jones , Siege Mode TARDIS from Rubbertoe Replicas, Ripper Street, Season 3, Beatles in mono on vinyl, The Strange World of Gurney Slade ,

Intro by John Guilor; podKast theme by Russell Hugo.

Listen to the PodKast

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

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

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

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

 

The post John Guilor and Rupert Booth Talk Doctor Who Omnirumour – PLUS Orac Skiffle! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

DWM 481 Previews Last Christmas in 100 Page Special

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 the new Doctor Who Magazine (issue 481, released Thursday 11th December), head writer Steven Moffat unwraps this year’s Christmas Special, Last Christmas, and gives Doctor Who Magazine the lowdown on the Doctor’s face-off with Santa…

“I think I’m being pretty open that it’s Santa meets Alien meets The Thing from Another World meets Miracle on 34th Street,” Steven laughs. “It’s a weird mash up! There’s a base under siege, there are scary monsters. It’s one of the scariest Christmas Specials we’ve made, actually…”

Also inside this giant-sized Christmas issue…

DWM talks exclusively to Santa himself, Nick Frost, along with his elf helpers, The Wolf and Ian, played by Nathan McMullen and Dan Starkey. Meanwhile, Michael Troughton, who plays Professor Albert, talks about making his television Doctor Who début, and his close family connection to the series.
Rachel Talalay, director of this year’s phenomenal two-part finale, Dark Water and Death in Heaven, talks to DWM about the challenges of bringing this masterful Cyber-story to our screens.
DWM comic strip artist Mike Collins goes back to the drawing board and reveals all about his new role as a storyboard artist for the latest television series of Doctor Who.
Former showrunner Russell T Davies reveals new facts about 2007’s Voyage of the Damned in The Fact of Fiction!

2014 gave us a new series and a fantastic new Doctor, and DWM looks over the past 12 months with the Review of 2014!
The first part of a brand-new comic strip for the Twelfth Doctor and Clara as they embark on a wartime desert adventure in The Instruments of War, written and illustrated by Mike Collins.
The intrepid Time Team passes comment on 2008’s festive Cyber-Special The Next Doctor.
It may be Christmas, but Steven Moffat still has time to answer readers’ questions in his exclusive column.
Jaqueline Rayner compiles her Christmas wish-list for Relative Dimensions.
The Watcher presents his annual Fiendishly Festive Christmas Quiz!
Have your say on Peter Capaldi’s first series as the Doctor in the DWM Season Survey.
Dark Water and Death in Heaven are put under the spotlight in The DWM Review.
The Watcher goes back to the early days of Doctor Who merchandise in Wotcha!.
The DWM Crossword, competitions, and much more!

Doctor Who Magazine 481 – including a giant double-sided poster – is out on Thursday 11 December, priced £5.99.

The post DWM 481 Previews Last Christmas in 100 Page Special appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Top 10 Moments When Doctor Who Fans Went “Squee!”

Drew Boynton 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.

After nearly a decade of new Doctor Who, there’s been a plethora of big reveals and mystifying moments. Shocks, surprises, regenerations, returns and more to make fangasms aplenty. But which ones make you go “Squee!” when you think back on them?

Here’s a Top 10 of the moments that made my jaw drop over the last 10 years – see if you agree!

10.  We hardly knew ye:  The Ninth Doctor regenerates

Many of us knew it was coming for weeks and weeks, but it was still a powerful, emotional moment:  the Ninth Doctor regenerated after absorbing the power of the time vortex.  It signaled a good-bye to a true Mr. Fantastic and ushered in a guy who many fans still consider to be “their” Doctor.  It was also the first time the revived show truly acknowledged that the Doctor changes his face from time to time, and allowed a whole new generation of fans to embrace the concept of regeneration.  (Parting of the Ways, 2005)

9.  Keep your hat on:  The Tenth pleads the Fifth

It is still the most important Children in Need short that Doctor Who has ever been involved in.  After accidentally lowering the TARDIS’ shields while on the way to the (Spaceship) Titanic, the Tenth Doctor literally runs into an old “friend”: the Fifth Doctor.  Sure, it’s a little too brisk and a little too jokey, but it packs a lot of fun and feeling into its 5 minutes.  And it’s also the first time that the post-2005 Doctor Who acknowledged the classic Doctors.  It is almost a perfect bridge between old and new, as Fifth Doctor Peter Davison also acted alongside the “First”, Second, and Third Doctors in 1983’s The Five Doctors.  (Time Crash, 2007)

8. Dude looks like a (Time) Lady:  Missy is revealed

Was she really the Rani?  Was she Susan?  Was she Romana?  Was she the Valeyard?  Was she a version of Clara sent from the future by John Connor in order to terminate the Doctor and keep Skynet from falling into the wrong hands?  Er, well, you get the point.  Missy–that coolly crazy Mistress of the Nethersphere–finally revealed herself to be the newest incarnation of the Doctor’s “best enemy,” the Master.  Only time will tell if Michelle Gomez makes the character as memorable as the first person to play the Master, Roger Delgado.  (Dark Water, 2014)

7.  The Girl, the Professor, and the Fob Watch:  You are not alone

For a brief, shining few minutes in 2007, we all got to witness the jaw-dropping revelation that doddering old Professor Yana was really the Master.  Not only was he the return of the terrible Time Lord (in the character’s first appearance since 1996), but he was arguably the most menacing and evil incarnation that had ever been seen.  And not only that, but the man fatefully opening the Gallifreyan fob watch was none other than Sir Derek Jacobi, one of the finest actors on the planet.  A person can only wonder if the show would have been changed in some way if Jacobi had not regenerated (into John Simm’s hyperactive, younger Master) and had become a recurring enemy.  (Utopia, 2007)

6.  Who’s that girl?  Companions make surprise appearances

Rose Tyler was over and done with.  Her character bowed out in 2006’s Doomsday, trapped in an alternate dimension.  But in one of the best kept secrets since the show’s return, actress Billie Tyler made a jaw-dropping cameo in the very last scene of 2008’s Partners in Crime.  It was a signal of even bigger things to come, with Series 4’s massive Journey’s End series finale.  Another amazing Top Secret appearance was Jenna (-Louise) Coleman’s role as Oswin Oswald in 2012’s Asylum of the Daleks.  Perhaps even more surprising was the reveal that Oswin had, in fact, been transformed into a Dalek.  How could the Doctor’s future companion turn out to be a Dalek and seemingly die in her first appearance?!  Impossible!

5.  “Basically… run!”  The Eleventh walks through history

When Matt Smith made his debut as the youngest Doctor ever in 2010’s The Eleventh Hour, many people were skeptical.  Well, that skepticism disappeared as Smith got into history and literally walked through the faces of the past Doctors, thanks to a projected hologram scan by the Atraxi.  Smith readied his bow-tie and emerged through the other Doctors, declaring: “Hello.  I’m the Doctor.  Basically… run!”

4.  “Introducing John Hurt as the Doctor” The forgotten one is revealed

The words crashed onto the screen as the dark and mysterious figure (Is it the Master?  Is it Omega?  Is it the Valeyard?) turned toward the Eleventh Doctor and a fainting Clara (and us, the viewers).  Actor John Hurt was finally shown to be the Doctor–a Doctor none of us had ever known–the War Doctor!  He fought to save Gallifrey, he was forgotten by the other Doctors, and he was… played by John Hurt!  Fantastic!  (The Name of the Doctor, 2013)

3.  “I’m the Doctor… but probably not the one you were expecting!” Eight comes up aces

2013’s The Night of the Doctor was so full of Whovian thrills that it’s hard to believe that it barely runs seven minutes.  Not only did Paul McGann return as the Eighth Doctor after almost 20 years (and nailed it!), but he acknowledged many of his past companions (seemingly making his Big Finish adventures canon), and finally had his regeneration revealed (into a young War Doctor).  Even the very existence of Night was so secretive and well-kept that its surprise web-based debut nearly broke the internet for a day.  (It’s still unfathomable how its success didn’t lead to further appearances by McGann, either in the show itself, or in a series of webisodes.)

2. “All 13!” The Doctors save the day

Nothing has probably induced more “Squee!” moments than 2013’s The Day of the Doctor.  The 50th anniversary celebration featured two applause-worthy moments featuring all of the Doctors: the 13 TARDISes racing to save Gallifrey once and for all, and the moving final moments as the featured Doctors (War, Tenth, Eleventh) are shown amongst a line-up of every single one of the other Doctors (who are finally fully pictured after glimpses in The Name of the Doctor).  Matt Smith’s broadly smiling face says it all… well, almost all…

1.  “You know I really think you might!”  Tom Baker returns

A surprise appearance to top all of the surprise appearances, Tom Baker made a cameo for the ages near the end of The Day of the Doctor.  Proving that’s he’s still got all of his Fourth Doctor magic, Baker’s scene as “The Curator” still gives me goose bumps every time I watch it.  His interaction with Matt Smith is goofy, funny, heart-warming, and exciting all in one go.  It still amazes me that Baker’s cameo was somehow kept a secret, even after press showings and internet rumblings.  What a way to celebrate the 50th!

So, Kasterborites, do you agree with my picks, or were there other moments that made you go “Squee!”?

The post Top 10 Moments When Doctor Who Fans Went “Squee!” appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peter Capaldi & Nick Frost Talk Last Christmas

Drew Boynton 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.

Aahhh… Christmas is in the air here at Kasterborous!  In this snow-covered News Blast, Jack–er, I mean–Nick Frost talks about spectacles, Peter Capaldi reveals the Doctor’s gifts, and Clara’s fate hangs in the balance!  HO, HO, HO–let’s go!

Peter Capaldi Presents… Presents

Now that Mr. Capaldi has been the Doctor for a full series, just how does he feel about getting to do a Christmas special?  “…I’ve always insisted on watching it [Doctor Who] on Christmas Day! It’s a little bit terrifying, because it’s moved into the Morecambe and Wise slot, as it were. It’s just the way it is. It just shows how the show has expanded its constituency and is so popular among people that it successfully works on Christmas Day.  But it’s that very British mix of something a little bit scary and a little bit festive. It’s like that thing of always having a ghost story late on Christmas Eve, or New Year’s Eve or whatever. I think it fits into that tradition, which is wonderful.”

And, even though he’s filmed 13 episodes, can he still watch the show and enjoy it as a fan?  “Well, even more so, because the funny thing is you suddenly have a greater understanding of how clever and how gifted they are… I mean, I was watching Tom Baker, and he – more so than I – has to deal with things that are a little bit cardboard, but he elevates them to utterly cosmic levels. …So you suddenly understand much more about the work they’re doing, how committed they are and how their truthfulness makes it work.”  (Thanks to Den of Geek.)

Capaldi Part II:  Clara’s return!

In the same interview, Capaldi confirmed that Clara will definitely die once and for all in a tragic reindeer incident in the upcoming Christmas special–OK, OK!  Not really!  Sorry, just kidding! When asked, Capaldi hinted–but did not go into any detail–about the fate of Clara.  All the tight-lipped Twelfth Doctor actor would say was, “There’s something quite profound that happens to her in this story… but of course I can’t go into that.”  Whether that means something as simple as believing in Santa Claus again, or Clara deciding to stay (or leave) the Doctor, or even Clara valiantly dying in order to save the universe is anyone’s guess!  Mr. Capaldi is already the master of the vague (but still interesting!) non-spoilery answer!

Nick Frost Knows Spectacles When He Sees Them

In a recent interview with BT.com,  Nick Frost revealed that when he is seen playing the role of Santa Claus in the upcoming Christmas special, Last Christmas, he will be wearing some famous eyewear as part of his jolly costume.  “The little glasses are Richard Attenborough’s, that he wore on Miracle On 34th Street [the 1994 version], which is kind of amazing.”  And when Frost accidentally dropped them from 15 feet above the ground!?  “…they were fine. I think the spirit of Richard Attenborough held them together…”

Frost is also a Doctor Who fan (his friend Simon Pegg appeared in 2005’s The Long Game), and was very happy to be asked to be a part of Last Christmas: “My age will tell you I’m a Tom Baker Doctor [fan], but my passion for Doctor Who was reignited in the latter half of David Tennant’s reign. Then I loved Matt Smith, I thought he was amazing… I like Peter very much as an actor, and then finding out he was becoming the Doctor and seeing him as Doctor Who, I think he’s fantastic.”  Three cheers for Santa!

I’m Dreaming of a Who Christmas

And finally, BBC Worldwide sent out the following message to fans:  “Hello Whovians!  The countdown to the Doctor Who Christmas episode has begun and we wanted to get in touch in case you’ve missed this… Everyday in the run up we’ll be unlocking new video content with Doctor Who cast, product previews, discounts and festive treats to really Whoify the holidays. You can access the Countdown at either of the links below.  View on Facebook: http://bit.ly/DWChristmasFB.  Mobile users: http://bit.ly/DWChristmas.”  So, Kasterborites, keep an eye (of Harmony) on the Doctor Who Facebook pages for special goodies leading up to Last Christmas!

Well, that’s it for today Kasty Blasties!  Make sure to watch for the next bone-chilling Blast… and we’ll bring the mistletoe!

The post Peter Capaldi & Nick Frost Talk Last Christmas appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Missing Episodes News Blast: Final End of the Omnirumour?

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

The Omnirumour: Could this be the end…? If so, I’m not sure it’s one we’re all prepared for.

The Wind Is Blowing In The Wrong Direction

The so-called ‘omnirumour’ – that a considerable amount of missing episodes have been found – has rumbled on for far too long now, and nobody quite knows what to make of it all. If it’s true, we’ll all be over the moon. Frankly, if not, there’s been too much teasing and us Whovians have been through a tough time.

So what’s happened now? Well, quite simply… Ian Levine, who has previously stated he’s seen proof that a wealth of Doctor Who material has been found, now reckons it’s all a big fat fib.

So after all the hot air, I guess it REALLY looks like Philip Morris has found no more Doctor Who whatsoever after seven years of searching.

— Ian Levine (@IanLevine) December 7, 2014

Okay, so this all seems rather odd. Maybe in 30 years’ time there’ll be a book detailing EXACTLY what’s been going on behind the scenes, but for now, we’re all in a state of confusion.

We also have to note that Philip Morris hasn’t once stated that he’s found more Doctor Who serials. He has, however, said that “the wind is blowing the right way. Be patient.”

Really, it’s probably best if we all have a sit down, simmer, calm, and watch The Moonbase or something.

At Last The Philip Morris Show

In other Philip Morris news… Here’s something I never expected to see!

The man himself has cropped up on BBC Breakfast in a rather interesting interview after the unveiling of At Last The 1948 Show, a sort of forerunner to Monty Python.

Certainly a pleasant surprise. We have to remember that Phil returned both The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear (mostly) to us, and for that, we should be forever grateful.

Under The Sea; Under The Sea; There’ll Be No Accusations…

(Just friendly crustaceans – and a mad old Professor.)

It looks like The Underwater Menace will be released on DVD after all! Hooray!

This really is great news for us completists: episode two, found in 2011, is the only Classic Who not to have been put to disk. BBC Worldwide said:

“We hope to release ‘The Underwater Menace’ in 2015. We delayed the release to ensure that our publishing schedule is phased appropriately across the year and the episodes will be animated.”

Ah, alright – so not a proper confirmation. But it’s still the best news regarding the ‘missing episodes’ we’ve had in… ooh, about a year or so? And can I just say that “we delayed the release to ensure that our publishing schedule is phased appropriately across the year” is the biggest nonsense I’ve heard for a while. Especially considering that the Restoration Team has basically disbanded and the DVD range wound down.

C’mon, BBC: just say you lost ep 2 behind the settee again and instead of retrieving it, you accidentally found Marco Polo! No? Worth a try…

The post Missing Episodes News Blast: Final End of the Omnirumour? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Legend Begins: Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart In New Adventures!

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.

Yes, you read that headline right! Forget CyberBrig, the legendary Lethbridge-Stewart is back in a new series of novels set after The Web of Fear, written by authors Andy Frankham-Allen, Lance Parkin, David A McIntee and Nick Walters.

There are simply not enough exclamation marks to follow that sentence. So,take a moment, compose yourself, and find out more…

Available from People’s Book Prize winning publisher, Candy Jar Books, Lethbridge-Stewart is a new series of novels revealing the untold story of Colonel Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart set shortly after the 1968 serial, The Web of Fear.

These books are fully licensed by the Executor of the Haisman Literary Estate, Mervyn Haisman’s granddaughter Hannah Haisman, and endorsed by Henry Lincoln. So you have good reason to be excited, Kasterborite!

The first series consists of The Forgotten Son by Andy Frankham-Allen (an occasional contributor in these parts), Horror of Det-Sen by Lance Parkin, The Schizoid Earth by David A McIntee and Mutually Assured Domination by Nick Walters.

Created by authors Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln for the six-part Doctor Who serial, The Web of Fear, Lethbridge-Stewart was intended as a one-off character and it was over a year later when he was brought back to Doctor Who, promoted to Brigadier and the head of UNIT. Forty-six years on and the Brigadier has become one of the most iconic characters in Doctor Who, having appeared with ten different Doctors in countless TV episodes, books, audio dramas and comic strips! The character’s death was acknowledged in the 2012 Doctor Who series starring Matt Smith, and was resurrected briefly in the 2014 series finale starring Peter Capaldi. On TV the character’s story is over, but there is so much more to tell.

Andy Frankham-Allen has been a Doctor Who fan since his childhood and serves as line editor for the series, as well as penning the opening novel. Andy is the former line editor of Untreed Reads Publishing’s series Space: 1889 & Beyond, and has penned several Doctor Who Short Trip stories for Big Finish and Candy Jar’s very own celebration of Doctor Who, Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants. He said: “It’s an insane privilege and responsibility to put this series together, to reveal the real story behind such a legend of Doctor Who.”

Lance Parkin has written over twenty books and audio dramas for Doctor Who since 1996, including the 35th Anniversary novel, The Infinity Doctors, and the 2008 Tenth Doctor novel, The Eyeless. He also worked on British soap Emmerdale and wrote Magic Words, the definitive biography of Alan Moore. Lance said: “Lethbridge-Stewart was always a steady presence in the Doctor’s life. Even in The Web of Fear, he instinctively trusted the Doctor from almost the moment he met him. I wrote for the character in The Dying Days, and that was the version of the Brigadier we all think of now, I think, an old soldier, semi-retired, seen it all. It’s been interesting writing for a younger, hungrier Lethbridge-Stewart – not even a Brigadier at this point in his life. It’s also been nice writing a story that’s set in the aftermath of The Web of Fear, with Lethbridge-Stewart only just starting to realise that the Earth’s facing a whole new type of enemy.”

David A McIntee has written novels for Star Trek, Final Destination and Space: 1999 and over fifteen books and audio dramas for Doctor Who since 1993, including the Brigadier-centric novel, The Face of the Enemy. David said: “To be honest it (the series) is something I’m amazed hasn’t been done before – it’s just such a natural and obvious thing. The form it’s taking is also cool because it has the flexibility to move between styles and genres – thriller, SF, horror, etc – while maintaining a definite identity. As for the Brig himself, he’s one of those characters where the casting was so perfect that it just made the character so memorable, and who (usually) feels so right.”

Nick Walters has written five novels for Doctor Who since 1998. Nick said: “After the Doctor himself the Brigadier is the best-loved character in Doctor Who. I met Nick Courtney a number of times and he really is a splendid fellow. He brought a real humanity and vulnerability to the role without compromising the essential toughness of the character. Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is the chap you’d want on your side in a fight – any fight – and it is a real privilege to be exploring what made him into the character we came to know and love.”

Simon Williams, the man behind the cover art, is a former artist for Marvel UK having drawn for The Transformers, The Hulk, Spider-Man and Death’s Head. Simon said: “I’ve always been a big fan of Doctor Who and the Brigadier and having the opportunity to draw this iconic character is a huge privilege.”

Hannah Haisman said: “This project has been a long-time coming. I had to be certain that I was entrusting my grandfather’s legacy to a publisher and authors who would respect what he created. Candy Jar and Andy have assembled a team that are sympathetic to the Brigadier, and these are very exciting times that we can all be proud of.”

Lethbridge-Stewart will be launched on 22nd February 2015, the fourth anniversary of Nicholas Courtney’s death, the actor behind the Brigadier. The first series of novels will be released one book per quarter throughout 2015.

Frankly, dear reader, we cannot wait. You probably can’t either, and you can head to the Candy Jar Books online store right now to purchase your copy of Andy Frankham-Allen’s opener, or even the whole series. The books are available individualy or as part of a bundle, with the first option to get all four for £35 before general release, and the second to pre-order Lethbridge-Stewart: The Forgotten Son and get Andy Frankham-Allen’s Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants for just £6 straight away.

We plan to feature these books in more detail as they are released, so keep your eyes open.

The post The Legend Begins: Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart In New Adventures! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Firing Loose Canons – The First Hurdle

Alasdair Shaw 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.

This is what I get for stopping.

I have almost everything saved from the last time I gave this a shot. Sample chapter, sample essay, chapter layout and a mostly complete list of Doctors.

Almost. Mostly.

You see after I got my first (and thus far only) rejection I went back and looked at the format of the guide. There was no real structure to the way the Doctors were listed in the chapter layout. It looked for all intents and purposes as if I’d laid them all out in the order that they’d occurred to me. They looked like this for a very good reason; that’s exactly what I’d done.

So I went back and separated them out into categories that actually made sense. ‘Doctors that have appeared on the show’, ‘Turned up on Audio adventures’, ‘Appeared in stage plays’ and ‘Appeared in the novels’ to give you an idea. Now I’m old fashioned when it comes to writing and a lot of the time I write my work down on paper first before committing it to an electronic format. I went through several drafts putting the new chapter guide together, even found a few more Doctors that I’d neglected to add the first time around. By the time I was finished with it I was pretty happy that this was the way I wanted to put the guide together. So I tore it out of my notepad and put it in a safe place to type up at a later date.

That was six months ago.

I know where I left it. I know for a fact. However there’s been a lot of things getting moved around my house the last few months and where I know I left it is the one place it isn’t now.

So, what are my options? I can tear the house apart room by room until I find it, living in hope that I wouldn’t have thrown out a single scrap of paper. Which I might very well have done. Or one of my kids might have used it for a multitude of purposes, in which case it’s lost to the ages.

I could sit down with my previous notes and try to reconstruct what I thought was the perfect chapter guide. I’ll almost certainly miss something from my previous draft though. I’m positively certain that there’s a whole category that I just can’t remember.

My final option is to start fresh and build something new. I may come back to this as an option, it’s certainly not appealing at this point in time.

Guess I’d best get looking then.

Well that could have been worse, it only took about half an hour to put my hands on it. Although it’s pretty ragged, so I’ll be transferring it onto my laptop as soon as I’ve finished this column.

My list of Alternate Doctors

The groupings are more or less as I remember them and are as follows:

Prelude – 1 Doctor

Classic – 5 Doctors

New – 2 Doctors

New Adventures – 3 Doctors

EDAs – 7 Doctors

In Print – 2 Doctors

Audio – 2 Doctors

Big Finish – 5 Doctors

Unbound – 5 Doctors

Staged – 2 Doctors

Web of time – 2 Doctors

Fan fiction – 4 Doctors

Whispers – 3 Doctors

Spoofs – 3 Doctors

Which gives us about 46 Doctors. Of course that’s not including the Morbius Doctors which would bring us to 54 Doctors or all of the Fatal Death Doctors which would give us 62. There are as well a further two that aren’t on the list, one that I thought I’d added and one that I came across last week.

That’s 64. I think that’s probably enough to be getting on with. Now if you’ll excuse me I want to get this list typed up before I lose it again.

The post Firing Loose Canons – The First Hurdle appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Mega Christmas Quiz, Doctor Who On Xbox One, Eleventh Doctor Spotted Down Under

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.

TARDIS testers! Xbox Kinects the Doctor! Clara Believes in Santa! Classic Prints up for Auction! The Doctor Down Under! More Christmas treats than a tub of Quality Street! It must be the Kasterborous News Blast!

Christmas Gets Mega

Almost as much of a seasonal tradition as the Doctor Who Christmas special itself, the BBC website’s Adventure Calendar is a great place to pick up tasty morsels of Doctor Who ephemera in the run up to the big day (and it’s more nourishing than a chocolate advent calendar too). Pick of the treats so far is the increasingly fiendish Doctor Who Christmas Mega Quiz, which poses questions of increasingly fearsome levels of difficulty.

Your correspondent was proud to score a perfect 10/10 in Level One (that’s right, it’s a quiz with levels –  they take these things seriously at the BBC) before only managing a rather disappointing 11/15 on Level Two (Red Christmas was a working title for which story? Beat me…). Level Three is still locked as we go to press, happy to make us sweat…

Xbox One Gets iPlayer

Gamers who favour a certain brand of Microsoft console over the competition will no doubt be pleased to hear that technical boffins have managed to overcome the longstanding difficulties in getting iPlayer to work of the Xbox One.

We’re told by those in the know at Gizmodo that the development team have got things sorted in time for Christmas meaning owners will, as they put it, ‘have until well into the New Year vegetate in front of the Beeb’s Doctor Who Christmas special’. Well, yes, and a whole host of other BBC programmes as well, but we don’t really care too much about those, do we?

‘Hearty’ Christmas Trailer

Broadcasters are well and truly gearing up for the festive season now, doing their utmost to persuade us that their channels have got the most enticing selection box of tasty things for us to consume over the two week choc-fest sometimes referred to as Christmas. Snippets from Last Christmas top and tail the latest offering from the BBC, which opens with a newly released clip of the Doctor asking Clara if she really believes in Santa Claus (a pedantic point but somehow it feels like the Doctor would be more likely to say ‘Father Christmas’ than ‘Santa Claus’, doesn’t it?). If you sit through a couple of minutes of David Walliams, Mr Khan and Still Open All Hours you get to hear her answer (if not just read the headline…)

Troughton Prints Charity Auction

The stunning prints produced by Stuart Manning to mark the recovery of The Web of Fear and The Enemy of the World (still the highlight of the 50th anniversary year for many) have been put up for auction online in aid of Breast Cancer Research. The good folk at the Doctor Who Appreciation Society are overseeing this in memory of Verity Lambert and you still have time to bid for a signed print of each design.

If tempted you can expect to pay a three figure sum, but they are undoubtedly fantastic items for any fan and it’s all in aid of a worthy cause. Check out the auction page for the latest…

Eleventh Doctor Spotted in Oz

Finally there’s just time for some Australian horse racing news, with an image of Matt Smith’s Doctor included, somewhat bizarrely, in an artist’s impression of the soon-to-be revamped Rosehill Gardens racecourse at Parramatta, a suburb of Sydney. This one has certainly got the local press baffled at why the ‘intergalactic interloper had popped in to shot’. An Australian Turf Club spokesman, clearly more of a William Hartnell fan, was able to shed little light on the matter: “If it was the first Doctor I would have noticed it”. Rolfe Latimer of Atlis Architecture, the company which came up with the designs claims they hadn’t realised they had included the Doctor until it was pointed out. “He just looked like the sort of dapper bloke that would arrive at Rosehill,” says Rolfe.

Not sure we’re buying your explanation Rolfe (Kasterborous suspects Who infiltrators are hard at work in Parramatta) but we like your sense of style…

Until next time… happy times and places!

The post Mega Christmas Quiz, Doctor Who On Xbox One, Eleventh Doctor Spotted Down Under appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

End of an Era: Remembering Survival, 25 Years Ago Today…

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.

“There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, the sea’s asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea’s getting cold. Come on, Ace — we’ve got work to do!”

- Seventh Doctor

Most of us didn’t know it at the time, but on this day 25 years ago the final episode of the original 26 year run of Doctor Who brought Survival to a close. Seventh Doctor actor Sylvester McCoy and Ace companion Sophie Aldred were joined in the story – aptly, in some ways – by Anthony Ainley as the Master (in what was perhaps his standout performnce in the role).

Taking Doctor Who full circle, Survival interestingly echoes 100,000 BC (that stunning first Doctor Who serial that usually gets conflated into An Unearthly Child and then largely ignored) in a couple of ways. First, there is the title of Rona Munro’s serial, which reminds us of the desire of the Tribe of Gum to rediscover fire in order to survive in Anthony Coburn’s tour de force. There is also the setting, which switches from contemporary Earth (specifically Perivale, where Ace grew up) to the savage planet of the Cheetah People. Compare this to two teachers working in Shoreditch in 1963 suddenly finding themselves in prehistory.

Doctor Who‘s passing really wasn’t noticed by most until it failed to reappear the following year. Some in-the-know people within fandom were aware, whispers had come from the stars and writers through conventions and such, but it took an announcement from the BBC to advise that they were looking for partners and placing the show on hiatus for the real situation to become clear.

So remembering December 6th 1989 is quite a strange thing. It was an average Wednesday in December, in the run up to Christmas. No one had any reason to remember it, really.

Thankfully, it wasn’t really the end for Doctor Who. It wasn’t even a hiatus of more than a couple of years. In 1991 Virgin Books released their first Timewyrm novels, a short series of original stories that confirmed that their was demand for Doctor Who in book form, by new and old writers, that continued until BBC Books realised the importance of the licence in 1996. You’re probably aware of the value that these books had in bringing people like Paul Cornell, Mark Gatiss and Russell T Davies into (what was then considered by the BBC to be real, official) Doctor Who for the first time.

When the show returned for one night only, it was clear that their was an audience (9 million viewers for the TV Movie in the UK alone) and despite – or perhaps because of – the BBC/Universal co-production’s failure, the books and comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine got a massive shot in the arm. Rather than developing the Seventh Doctor in new interesting ways, they had a barely drawn Eighth Doctor to play with.

It was sad and bewildering to lose a TV institution like Doctor Who in 1989, but the hard work put in by John Nathan-Turner’s production team, among them Andrew Cartmel as script editor, ensured that the show would survive in other media (and fan fiction!) until TV was ready for the Doctor to return properly, 16 years later.

Let’s remember Survival, but don’t pity it. Without it, we wouldn’t have had Rose, or any of the episodes since.

The post End of an Era: Remembering Survival, 25 Years Ago Today… appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.