Christian Cawley's Blog, page 160

Capaldi Says Next Doctor Could Be Female: Do You Agree?

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.

That old fandom-splitting topic, whether the Doctor could regnerate as a woman, has reared its nicely made-up face today thanks to Peter Capaldi, whose interview with SFX sees him declare that “There easily could be a female Doctor.”

Talking to the horribly reformatted, once great sci-fi magazine to promote Last Christmas, the Twelfth Doctor actor said “I think the next time might be a female Doctor. I don’t see why not. I think it’s good to do that.”

Naturally, he takes his lead from the recent move to make the Master a female Time Lord, a revolutionary move within the show. However, as with every other exponent of this idea, Capaldi singularly fails explains to why this would be a good idea, both in real terms and in a narrative sense. Steven Moffat recently told Bang Showbiz “We’ve been laying in the possibility for an awfully long time, but you don’t cast that way. I know I’m going to get in trouble for saying that – you cast a person, you don’t cast the gender.”

But this doesn’t address the real issues. And if you had any doubt that Steven Moffat might be against a female Doctor, don’t forget his 1999 Comic Relief spoof, Curse of the Fatal Death, in which the Doctor gets a new life cycle after wasting five bodies and walks off as Joanna Lumley.

Back to Capaldi. “I think with Missy that was just a great idea. You wanted to keep it a surprise and that was the best way to do it, but yes, it does suggest all kinds of interesting stuff. They have a total love/hate relationship anyway but they were both men for a long time, and still have that love-hate relationship, and we will see more of that probably. It’s interesting, being able to swap like that. I think it’s good.”

Do you think it’s good? I’ll be honest, I don’t believe you can swap gender “just like that” and not deal with the consequences. I don’t believe that making the Doctor female is anything other than a trendy pander to those hard-right organs that use liberal sensibilities as a stick to bash the BBC with. What would be the point? Swapping the Doctor’s gender at the snap of a finger doesn’t highlight gender dysphoria or transexualism, it trivialises them.

And this is before I even begin to address the lack of responsible male role models in society. As I’ve done this before, however, I won’t bore you with my thoughts on that again.

Are the BBC Wales producers of Doctor Who so shallow that they think that this would be a good idea?

Take Our Poll

As well as voting, you can comment below. We’d love to read your thoughts on this.

The post Capaldi Says Next Doctor Could Be Female: Do You Agree? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

BBC Releases Last Christmas Gallery, Minimal Spoilers

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.

Christmas is coming, and the BBC PR department is closing down for th “Winterval”. So with just under three weeks to go until the Big Day, they’ve released a collection of images from Last Christmas, which we’ve already learned airs at 6.15pm on Christmas Day.

We’ve brought you video clips and the synopsis already, as well as collections of interviews and quotes about this episode, all of which you will be able to find in our Last Christmas section here on Kasterborous.

The gallery release is really the last step of the promotional drive for this episode, perhaps followed by one or two more trailers if recent years are anything to go by.

So, cast your eyes below, and enjoy!

Last Christmas by Steven Moffat stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman as the Doctor and Clara, and guest stars Nick Frost as Santa Claus, Michael Troughton as Professor Albert, Faye Marsay as Shona, Natalie Gumede as Ashley Carter, and Dan Starkey as Ian.

Don’t miss it!

The post BBC Releases Last Christmas Gallery, Minimal Spoilers appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Moffat Confirms Missy Will Return, But Who Would You Resurrect?

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.

You can’t keep a good, deranged Time Lord down. Steven Moffat has confirmed that Michelle Gomez will return to the show as Missy.

Maybe it was the deliberate move to another tombstone, the genre itself or that fact that nothing, not even the end of his regenerations can keep the Master from returning, but ever since she was vaporised, it was only a matter of time before she was confirmed to return.

Speaking to the Radio Times about the non-secret, secret Steven Moffat said: “I can’t imagine anyone who’s ever watched this genre being convinced that she’s dead. The Master is never dead, no matter what happens to him or her. She’s entirely unzappable!”

It’s great news; Death in Heaven was possible the best new Doctor Who Master story, albeit with not much competition (if only there was a way to distil the magic of Utopia into a whole episode) – a more successful Journey’s End and, at the heart of it, a new interpretation of an old character.

If you had to draw one consistency out of the mess of inconstancies – some intentional, some the product of incongruent writing – then probably the most pertinent would be that the Master e wants to conquer the universe by bringing order to it; even though he embodies the same kind of chaos he seeks to eradicate.

Whatever your thoughts are of Death in Heaven, it had a point. Stripped of the meretricious embellishments of John Simms incarnation, the story benefited from a clarity of thought. Despite the grand scale of Missy’s evil schemes, there’s something strikingly small and simple at the heart of her diabolical endgame.

To quote the old clichéd line, she wanted to prove that ‘we’re not so different, you and I’ and she has a point although admittedly, and rather wonderfully to this Master fan, perhaps her choice to make the impossible decisions that the Doctor will not consider ultimately answered the query for her and the question that has been vexing the Doctor from the start of this series: Am I a good man?

It’s this contradiction that makes the Master such an enduring character and what makes him such a delightful foe for the Doctor.

In the aftermath of Dark Water when the reveal was made and Michelle Gomez confirmed what we already knew, there were some quibbling about why Steven Moffat had made the choice to make the Master the first Time Lord to switch gender when the Rani, a female Time Lord, was already available (there is Romana but never for a moment did I think that she was a possibility. I mean it is possible – but think of the continuity that would have to be scrapped! You’d be able to see a u-turn like that from E-Space).

Lalla Ward: she doesn’t do Tom’s washing these days.

Firstly, you have to assume that the decision to swap gender and to bring the Master back were made simultaneously with the development of Series 8. Once that decision was made then you would have to assume character was the overriding factor.

You couldn’t simply swap out a character based solely on them now sharing the same gender. It would be like swapping Bobby Zamora for Lionel Messi because they both happen to be strikers. It could only be the Master because his character is markedly different to the Rani and is necessary for the point the episode was trying to make. That the Master just wanted her old friend back albeit on her terms.

It still doesn’t answer the question: Why make the change at all? It’s not a question I find myself particularly worried by. Sure it’s a big change with greater implications for a future Doctor but by making what has been politely hinted at into a living, breathing lady Time Lord, I can only see it as a good thing.

Quite what that means for the Doctor and for the traditions of the show are perhaps still open to debate: the Doctor is written in a certain way with a certain perspective wired into his character from its inception and, even though the Master has demonstrated that gender is no barrier for consistency, gender does inform perspective; how could it not? Is that a barrier to ultimately changing the Doctor? Should tradition stand in the way of development?

Character is everything and so finding the best person to inhabit that character and build upon what has come before, with the groundwork laid out, it’s simple a matter of finding the best performer for the part and, for the Master, Michelle Gomez was perfect.

So what does this mean for other characters? Who else could come back? Should we even indulge this kind of thinking? If character is key then should we be so caviller with the cannon? Isn’t this the kind of thinking that rubs traditionalists the wrong way?

As for death in fiction; rules have to be obeyed.

As Steven Moffat said, genre informs those decisions. Creators are dealing with so many levels of perspective – from the macro universe, to the micro, individual’s interpretations of that worldwide perspective – meaning travels in all directions. Sometimes shifting one of those pieces back into play, can overthrow the whole thing.

Should Osgood be resurrected? The Missy/Master change goes some way to prove that Moffat is listening but how do you rate importance in this regard? The show should always come first even if fans are clamouring for a character’s return as sometimes characters have to stay dead

As the Ninth Doctor (less memorably) said: “Everything dies.”

So for the sake of indulging our inner creators; who would you choose to resurrect? Osgood? Astrid Peth? I’d probably plump for Kamelion…. but maybe that’s just me…

The post Moffat Confirms Missy Will Return, But Who Would You Resurrect? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Pirate Any Doctor Who Material

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 haven’t heard recently, there was an enormous attack on Sony’s networks that allowed for massive amounts of content (released and to be released) and personal information to be leaked and distributed to the masses on the Interwebs this week.

While piracy has been an issue for many years prior to this last breach, it’s brought the issue back to the forefront. After all, our own fandom experienced a leak just prior to the Series 8 premiere, when several unfinished episodes and scripts were loaded up for willing pirates to take advantage of. As fan of many geek centric properties and someone has a career in IT, I’d like to take the opportunity to give the unpopular opinion; that perhaps there are plenty of valid and good reasons to not pirate any digital media, but specifically to not pirate Doctor Who.

1.) It’s Illegal!!!

This is no doubt THE reason to not pirate media. Even if there were no other qualms associated with the practice of downloading copyrighted material, it still is 100% against the law and is punishable by fine and, in some cases, imprisonment. I love Doctor Who, but I promise you that the prospect of saving a little cash by obtaining the latest episode or series is not worth going to jail and my wallet isn’t near fat enough to pay those incredible fines if I were to get caught doing so.

2.) It Increases Costs of Media

This isn’t rocket science; it’s very simple math. If a company looses money on something, they either have to quit producing said product or find other ways to increase profitability. If the pirating of digital media cuts into the company’s cash flow there stands an excellent chance that they will try and recoup loses by increasing the cost of their media, making some profit back at the expense of those who play by the rules. Once upon a time, albums hardly ever went north of $9.99 on iTunes. It’s not uncommon now (because of piracy and the declining music business) to see standard albums around 12 bucks and some as high as $16. Don’t think for a second that a company like BBC Worldwide wouldn’t do the same thing if the problem continues to escalate.

Before I bought the iTunes Season Pass for Series 8, I bought Deep Breath the day after it aired on BBC America for $8.99. It very well could have had the price jacked up to what the physical media costs (or future episodes like it) if enough people pirated the feature length episode.

3.) It Hurts the Companies that Create Doctor Who

One of the biggest arguments that people use to justify piracy is that these companies that produce the media are so big that they can’t be hurt if a few people download it for free. The main problem with that argument is that it’s false. Those “big companies” are full of real individuals that depend on their jobs. While the act of piracy may not bring down the company itself, it may very well cost these talented folks their livelihood. And while Doctor Who‘s success is largely tied in with its lead actors/actresses and its showrunner, it’s quality often falls upon those whose names and faces you’ll probably never know. If some of those individuals lose their job and aren’t replaced (it’s the new reality in the job market; unless there is a massive case for it, companies often elect to do more with what they already have), quality does have the opportunity to suffer.

And remember, we’re not just talking about the BBC/BBC Worldwide here. Doctor Who Magazine, Titan Comics and Big Finish all hold extremely popular licences. Not paying for their products but consuming them via illegal downloading and sharing is irresponsible and potentially destructive.

4.) It Can Be Dangerous to Your Technology

Malware, viruses, you name it; there are new ones that crop up almost daily. Their creators often prey on those who torrent illegal material. While some of it maybe more or less harmless, there are too many stories of lives being destroyed by identity theft and hardware rendered to nothing more a glorious paperweight to ignore the dangers that lurk in the seedy corners of the web. If you think just having a antivirus or anti-malware program installed keeps your technology safe, you are sadly mistaken. Some people spend the entirety of their days creating these programs and working to beat what is supposed to keep them at bay. It’s just not a gamble worth taking.

5.) Quality of the Product

Pirated media is frequently a rip from physical media, and often copied at a quality lower than best to decrease upload and download time and to save the ripper’s storage space. This means that what you get illegally is very rarely in the quality it was meant to be seen or heard. The question I always have asked is, “why bother?” If the film quality is below expectations or the audio is too compressed to be properly enjoyed, what’s the point? Maybe you’re not an audiophile or a film buff, but I’ve never walked away from a HD film or television programme and thought, “you know, that whole experience would have been better if it could have been shown in a lower quality?” Why settle for less?

6.) Piracy Devalues Media Value

This is a hard truth; when you choose to download something illegally you’re making the statement that the media you’re torrenting isn’t worth it’s cost. We established that torrenting hurts businesses but it also hurts the consumer. Big Finish cancelled its line of Sapphire and Steel audios, in part because of the amount of piracy that the line generated. When media’s value is taken down by piracy and no longer generates the revenue necessary to pay performers, writers, producers, etc., the only choice is to abandon ship, so to speak. Thankfully this hasn’t been the case with Doctor Who, but it’s still a looming fear.

7.) Owning the Physical Media Isn’t An Excuse

Another popular justification for weaseling out of paying for media is that it’s completely ok if you own a physical copy of what you’re downloading.

It doesn’t matter how many VHS or DVD copies you have of The Tenth Planet, downloading it because you don’t want to create your own digital copy is wrong and just lazy, to be honest. If you truly need it digitally, it’s easier than ever to make a digital copy of DVDs for personal use and a great deal of these serials/audios/etc. can be purchased digitally, which brings me to my next point…

8.) “The Juice Isn’t Worth the Squeeze”

As I grow older, the only other resource as important as money, to me, is time. If you’ve ever tried to torrent or straight download pirated media, you know that the process is slightly complicated and it is time consuming. For that reason, the effort and time put forward to obtain illegal media just doesn’t pay the dividends you’d think it would. I can be watching an iTunes purchase with in seconds of purchase. It may be hours or days before I can watch what I torrent, not taking into account the process to getting said media from my PC to my television (let’s be honest, unless there is good reason to do otherwise, Doctor Who should be seen on television (or theaters). I value my time too much to waste it on saving a very small amount of money.

9.) Digital Media is More Than Reasonably Priced (In Most Cases)

A post in a Big Finish Facebook page recently took a poll of its members to ask why BF audios are so much more expensive than iTunes videos. The notion is somewhat flawed. There are good and valid reasons for digital media pricing difference, but the reality is that digital media is a “steal” (pun intended) when it comes to pricing. The ecosystems have matured in pricing across the lines and, in most cases, digital goods are cheaper than their physical counterparts and often available much sooner. For example, Series 8 comes out in the US on the 9th of this month. To get the Blu-ray version, I’m looking at just south of $70. I’ve had the whole of Series 8 since the day after Death in Heaven aired, in HD, for $35.

At an episode level, most episodes are $2-3. Who can honestly say that is unaffordable? Big Finish’s digital versions run about $10 and given what goes into each one, that’s more than fair pricing. To say that costs are a valid reason for pirating is completely off base and refer back to #2 for what piracy does to the cost of media.

10.) “Doing the Right Thing Is Cool” – The Doctor (assumed paraphrase)

I would imagine that the Doctor probably thinks pirate hats are cool, but taking something that they didn’t pay for? Not so much. I realize that he’s a fictional character but I think part of the hold Doctor Who has on its fandom is that he is inspiring. I would be hard pressed to say that the Doctor is 100% ok with stealing. Morally speaking, it’s completely wrong and I like to believe, and I’d think the Doctor would agree, humanity is better than that. So don’t spend time debating on being a good person, just be one. That includes not stealing, right?

To recap (or ReKap if you prefer), should you pirate anything Doctor Who related? Nope. Just you continue on being the respectable members of the Whoniverse we all know you are. When we attack a topic like this, I know there may be many of you that will not agree with our position. Feel free to respectfully discuss below.

The post 10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Pirate Any Doctor Who Material appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Steven Moffat Teases Doctor Who Christmas Special

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.

Like lights twinkling through snow-laden branches or a sugar plumb fairly peaking coyly from behind the tinsel, we’re being teased with snippets of info. The Radio Times has interviewed the great and the good about the imminent Doctor Who Christmas Special, Last Christmas…

Capaldi has described it as both “very scary and very jolly” and it sounds as though there’s some history between the Doctor and Father Christmas (I will, for the record mostly be referring to him by his FC title as calling him “Santa” feels a bit like calling Father Time, “Ticktock”).

The Radio Times also touches on the suspicion some fans are viewing the appearance of a fantasy Christmas icon in the Doctor Who universe. Moffat said in his interview that “It’s certainly the strangest bloody thing that I’ve ever written.”

Describing it as “The Thing meets Miracle on 34th Street” (strong words) he’s confident that, rather than the camped up bit-of-fluff that some fear it might be, it’s actually very much traditional Doctor Who and Father Christmas is realised “properly, in a science fiction way…”

Looking beyond to Series 9, Moffat has said in Doctor Who Magazine that he’s considering more two-parters for Capaldi’s Doctor. There’s something about the Twelfth Doctor that makes Moffat think that longer storylines could work well, “It’s the way he handles a scene, the way he presides over an episode… you want the scene to run a bit longer. I don’t know why that is. The gravity of Capaldi?”

Before the Series 8 finale there hadn’t been a two-parter since Series 6 and The Rebel Flesh/ The Almost People. Might we have some more good old cliffhangers heading our way? Though we’ll need that sting at the start of the end credits to be just a bit louder and just a bit scarier…

Lastly, turning back to things-Seasonal, the big red man himself, Nick Frost, waxed lyrical on his method-acting trip to Finland. We are told he shadowed the actual Saint Nicholas who helped out as his mentor and dialect coach for the part. Well of course. If there’s one sure way Father Christmas can deliver a present to large numbers of children in a short space of time, it’s by helping to make new Doctor Who for their tellies!

What are your thoughts, fears and hopes, Kasterborites? Happy that we may have more two-parters heading our way? And are you happy with the portly Christmas icon appearing as the *real* FC in our show or is this a leap too far into the absurd?

Personally I’m hoping for some acknowledgement on the Doctor’s part on where and when he chose the red-and-white colour scheme. Did his Arctic PR department just happen to reach the same conclusion as a popular American beverage or has he sold out for a hefty sponsorship deal? For shame, Santa!..

The post Steven Moffat Teases Doctor Who Christmas Special appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Friday News: Games, Disneyland and the Perks of Being Perkins

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.

From Disneyland to doughnuts, this News Blast has it covered!  So, put on that scarf, dust off that fez, and grab some Jelly Babies… it’s time for action!

The Long Game

Are you a big fan of Doctor Who, but wish you could control the characters? Does not having Steven Moffat-like powers get you down? And hey, do you love to play videogames, too? Then Indie Gala has got a deal for you!

The company is offering all five of the online Doctor Who games in one convenient bundle! According to Wired, “The Indie Gala ‘Monday Bundle’ offers all five episodes, centred on Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams. The pay-what-you-want bundle can be had for as little as $1.99 (about £1.30)…” And since the five adventures are no longer available on the BBC website, this is a steal of a deal!

I’ll bet you Daleks to doughnuts that they’re delicious!

It’s not every day that there’s any Doctor Who news coming from Kansas, much less delicious and tasty news! A shop in Witchita called Donut Who is offering Who-inspired doughnuts on Saturdays. The tasty treats go by names like “Lime Lord”, “Sonic Bluedriver”, and “Bad Wolf”, and are decorated in fitting fashion.  (The shop also offers a variety of coffees, teas, and smoothies, but there’s no word yet if any of those are also inspired by everyone’s favorite Time Lord.) If ever there was a story idea for a full Simpsons-Doctor Who crossover, this would be it! Mmmmm… Who-licious doooooughnutssss…!

Skinner frankly loves Doctor Who

The companion who might have been, Frank Skinner (playing Perkins in Series 8’s Mummy on the Orient Express), recently told Digital Spy that he loved being in his favorite TV show and would love to come back!

“Anyone who’s in Doctor Who always gets asked if they would come back, and I can’t imagine many people, with the possible exception of Christopher Eccleston, who wouldn’t… Of course, if they said to me, ‘Would you like to be in Doctor Who for the rest of your life’, I’d probably sign on for that.” And Skinner genuinely seems touched to have been asked to appear on the show: “Steven Moffat sent me an email that said, ‘You are now a personal friend of Doctor Who and nothing can change that’. Even saying that sends a tingle down my neck and spinal cord.” Say, if Clara really isn’t leaving until partway through Series 9, the Doctor could do worse than having Perkins ride with him for a few adventures…

Something for the wall of your TARDIS

Those eye-catching posters that accompanied each episode of Series 8 will soon be available as limited edition prints. Designed by Stuart Manning, and commissioned by the Radio Times, each poster was a retro-tastic symbolic teaser for each new Twelfth Doctor adventure.

According to the Radio Times, “The prints, produced by BIG Chief Studios, will be available as a series of 12 in a bespoke string-and-washer envelope, complete with cover letter and certificate of authenticity, and also as single limited edition art prints. The 12-print Doctor Who: The Retro Poster Collection – Series 8 is priced at £49.99, with the single art prints at £49.99 each.” From Deep Breath to Death in Heaven, they are now available to pre-order!

Amy goes across the Pond to Disneyland

Apparently trying to answer the age-old question of why the Doctor has never landed the TARDIS at the most fun place on Earth, Karen Gillan was recently photographed enjoying her birthday at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Wearing a princess-like tiara and a giant pair of dark sunglasses (like no one would notice her!), the six-foot-tall flame-haired star seemingly wandered the park and took a ride on a rollercoaster. Maybe she was trying out the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to see if she wants to try for a part in the next movie? (She could probably use something to fall back on, in case, y’know, that whole Guardians of the Galaxy thing doesn’t work out…)

Will she stay or will she go?  It’s Impossible to tell!

With speculation and rumors still running rampant on whether Jenna Coleman will be staying on after the upcoming Yuletide special, Last Christmas, the Radio Times has tallied up just how many episodes the Clara Oswald actress would need to become the longest-serving companion of NuWho. And according to their numbers, “if Jenna Coleman wants to become the Doctor’s longest-serving companion since the show returned in 2005, she’ll need to stay until episode ten [of Series 9], to notch up a total of 34 episodes.” This would edge out Karen Gillan’s 33 episodes as Amy Pond-Williams and Billie Piper’s 31-ish appearances as Rose Tyler.  I can already hear the debates a’brewin’…

And on that note, Kasterborites, our journey for today has sadly come to an end.  But don’t despair–keep a watchful eye for the next installment of the mighty Kasterborous News Blast!

The post Friday News: Games, Disneyland and the Perks of Being Perkins appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Classic Series Actor Ian Fairbairn Has Died

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.

Sad to report that the rumours you may have heard earlier are true; classic era actor Ian Fairbairn has passed away.

Fairbairn appeared in four Doctor Who serials ranging from 1967-76, alongside the Second, Third and Fourth Doctors. His first role was Questa in The Macra Terror, one of serials from which no episodes (and sadly very little in the way of clips or production stills) survive. He would feature in the Troughton era again in classic Cyberman story The Invasion playing a researcher for International Electromatics.

In Jon Pertwee’s debut season Fairbairn had a small but memorable turn in Inferno as Bromley, the first to mutate into a Primord, and finally in 1976’s The Seeds of Doom he played Doctor Chester in that story’s third episode.

Ian Fairbairn was one of that legion of actors who could be relied on to give a solid, dependable performance in the often modest roles required by Doctor Who’s scripts. Director Douglas Camfield, who famously ran his set with military precision and valued the comfort of knowing he could rely on those he employed, gave him regular work. His Doctor Who appearances formed only a small part of an impressive list of credits, however and his  page reads like a list of top British dramas from the 1960s onwards: Emergency Ward 10, Z Cars, Van Der Valk, The Onedin Line and The Professionals among many others. Genre fans with long memories may remember him from roles in Adam Adamant Lives! in 1966 and Timeslip in 1970.

It’s for his role in Inferno that Doctor Who fans will probably best remember Ian Fairbairn though. His transformation into a Primord is one of those classic Doctor Who moments that encapsulate the other-worldly horrors the programme has visited on living rooms over the years, and pictures of him in his mutated state have been a staple of features about the programme in the media ever since. In the Can You Hear the Earth Scream? extra on the Inferno DVD he’s a good value interviewee, cheerfully describing his unease at having to climb high up a water tower to fight Jon Pertwee via a precarious metal-runged ladder, and then being on the wrong end of a blast from an all too real (and all too cold) CO2 fire extinguisher…

Our condolences to his partner and friends and family he leaves behind.

The post Classic Series Actor Ian Fairbairn Has Died appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Sculptress of Sound: The Lost Works of Delia Derbyshire

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.

Wow. Well, this is fascinating.

If you’re anything like me, you always mean to tune in to BBC Radio to listen to all that fantastic, exclusive content, but never manage to find the time. Thankfully, a YouTuber has uploaded a complete documentary about someone whose work everybody reading this will know and love.

Delia Derbyshire is responsible for the Doctor Who theme tune, an arrangement based on a score by Ron Grainer. It’s amazing work, and Derbyshire herself was an incredible person. Her life story, however, is very sad. It’s likely to upset you. But I think we owe it to Delia, for all the hours of enjoyment she has given us, to learn about her.

Sculptress of Sound is presented by Matthew Sweet, who gave us last year’s great 50th anniversary documentary, The Culture Show: Me, You and Doctor Who (where is the DVD of that, BBC?!), so you know it’s going to be good. It’s from Radio 4 in 2010, but there’s a timelessness to it regardless.

So grab some sweets, turn the lights down low, light an advent candle, and turn up the volume. Relax for an hour and listen to the life of a true pioneer.

The post Sculptress of Sound: The Lost Works of Delia Derbyshire appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Last Christmas DVD and Blu-ray Coming in January

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.

The seal on the Quality Street hasn’t even be broken yet and already you can pre order this year’s Christmas special – Last Christmas on DVD and Blu Ray or the ‘tangible formats’ as no one calls them.

The festive episode which charts the Doctor’s involvement in the rise and fall of Wham (including playing the maracas on Andrew Ridgeley’s Son of Albert), from their early years performing at… no wait, hang on.

The festive episode sees the Doctor and Clara face their Last Christmas: Trapped on an arctic base and under attack from terrifying creatures, who are you going to call? Santa Claus! We’ve already been promised an edgy ‘gangster’ Santa by Nick Frost, a ‘very scary and very jolly’ episode by Peter Capaldi and who knows just how definitive that ‘last’ Christmas really is for Clara?

So should we expect a whimsical mix of John W Campbell, The Tenth Planet, Alien, and John Carpenter then?

An interesting point to be gleaned from this early release is the certification which, yet to be confirmed, is a ‘12’ – although that could be because of the bonus content and, of course, it is being broadcast at 18:15 Christmas Day.

The extras include a sole behind the scenes feature.

Starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Nick Frost, Doctor Who: Last Christmas is set to be released in the UK on 26 January 2015 and is available to pre-order for £11.49 on Blu-ray and £9.49 on DVD.

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Classic Doctor Who Streamed On 31-Year-Old TRS-80 Home Computer?!

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.

Do you fear nuclear armageddon? Concerned that the apocalypse might prevent you from watching Doctor Who as pestilence and war shatters the fabric of human society? Petrified at the loss of the Internet?!

Don’t be. A hacker who goes by the nickname gp2000 has demonstrated how Doctor Who can be viewed on a 31 year old TRS-80, a home computer that was available on both sides of the Atlantic in the early/mid 1980s. Equipped with a pair of 5.25″ floppy drives (remember those?!) and a chip capable of processing at just 4 Mhz (the one in your desktop computer is typically around 2 Ghz), the 30 second video – while monochrome – is at an impressive 25 frames per second.

As ExtremeTech explains,

The resolution of the video is 118×48, which equates to roughly 1KB per screen. The floppy drives (only one can be active at a time) can read a byte of data every 32 microseconds, giving a max theoretical bandwidth of 30.5KB/sec — so, 25 fps is possible, with bandwidth to spare. Gp2000 says the program that plays the video works in 32-microsecond steps; 13.5 microseconds are dedicated to reading data from the disk, with the remaining 18.5 microseconds spent decoding the data, drawing the screen, and driving the speaker. (The audio, incidentally, is 31250Hz at 1-bit per sample — which would usually be used for simple beeps and bloops, but can just about be coerced into playing music.)

You may well know that I’m a bit of a technophile, but this is quite simply amazing. It’s the sort of amazing thing that the Doctor himself might knock up during long nights in the vortex, or stranded on lonely planets in an alternate universe…

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