Christian Cawley's Blog, page 161

The Top 10 Tremendous Time Lords (That Aren’t The Doctor)!

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.

It’s generally accepted that, when asked who their favorite Time Lord is, 9/10 Whovians will gladly tell you it’s the Doctor (note: for every fan that loves Batman, there’s always one or two that think the Joker is the hero of the story. Applying that logic to my approximation).

That’s fair; after all, television shows rarely last over 50 years without a protagonist as endearing as the Doctor. However, that span of years has also given us a wealth of Gallifreyan mythos; a mythos that has spawned legendary Time Lords (and Ladies) ranging from powerful to completely insane. Dear readers, as we enter this season of celebration, join us in celebrating this storied race with a top ten list of Time Lords that have appeared in Doctor Who, as chosen by yours truly! A disclosure as we begin; we’re sticking with Time Lords that have appeared on screen over the past 51 years. While there exists quite a few other notable Time Lords in other media (novels, Big Finish, etc.), we’ll stay with in the framework of the main television programme for our list. Savvy?

10.) The Rani

Cold, calculating, brilliant, and primarily known for big hair and starring in one of the worst classic Who serials, Time and the Rani, the Rani crossed paths only thrice on screen but has left a large impact in the Whoniverse. Willing to sacrifice anything, including morality, in the pursuit of science, the Rani’s dedication to her experiments often put her at odds with the Doctor. She is one of only remaining major Time Lords that hasn’t appeared in the revival series, though many thought that she may have been Missy in Series 8; granted, we know how that turned out.

9.) Rassilon

Best portrayed by Timothy Dalton in the Tenth Doctor’s final adventure, The End of Time, legends of Gallifrey’s most powerful and ruthless leader span throughout all of the show’s continuity. While his history is at times contradictory, Rassilon’s contributions to Gallifrey and Time Lord technology are vast. What is also vast is the incredible array of accessories that are attributed to him and are begging to be used as exclamatory phrases by Ron Burgandy. Events in The Day of the Doctor have left room for Rassilon’s return, should Gallifrey be found.

8.) The “Crack in the Wall” Time Lords

This is a bit of cheating I suppose, but these Time Lords may have played the most important Time Lord role in modern Doctor Who. As the unknown and unseen catalyst for most of the events during the Eleventh Doctor era, their mere presence in the universe caused the Doctor’s enemies to try and use him and the Pandorica as a bomb to stop the crack and an entire sect of the Church dedicated itself to keep the Doctor from speaking his name and bringing the Time Lords back from the pocket universe, reigniting the Time War. Not all bad though; they were also the “Game Genie” solution to the Doctor’s “out of extra lives” regeneration problem. We may seem them again, we may not.

Who knows, hmm?

7.) The General

Coming in at seven may very well be one of my favourite Time Lords in NuWho. While only appearing once, in the 50th Anniversary special, the General was full of piss and snark and provided comedy and gravitas in the face of his planet and peoples’ annihilation. Should we live to see the return of Gallifrey, I sincerely hope that the General makes a return to our screen.

6.) Romana

Depending on your preference (Romana I or Romana II), this is one of the most attractive Time Ladies to appear on the countdown. Not seen on screen since deciding to stay in E-Space rather than return to Gallifrey, spin off media tells us that she eventually did go home and went on to become Lord President. While this wasn’t the case during the end of the Time War (The End of Time/The Day of the Doctor), there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that she didn’t survive the Time War and may yet come around to visit us on the television. Of note, Romana was also a candidate for Missy’s true identity up until the reveal cliff hanger at the end of Dark Water.

5.) Omega

The other super Time Lord on the list, Omega, is almost as steeped in legend as Rassilon and is one of the three founders of the Time Lords. Omega is also credited for creating the black hole that allows the Time Lords to travel through space and time, and also credited by the Third Doctor as their greatest hero. In spite of such accolades, Omega only appeared twice in the classic series and, while rumored, has yet to appear in the revival series.

It’s a bit unfortunate, honestly, because while we’ve had a brief run with Rassilon at full power, Omega hasn’t been given the same chance with updated visual effects and the character deserves an opportunity for redemption. After all, leaving the “Time Lord’s greatest hero” insane and either destroyed or stuck in an antimatter universe is hardly befitting his legacy.

4.) The Valeyard

Am I cheating now? While technically an “amalgation” of the Doctor, he’s really not the Doctor. Thus, his place on the list stands. While much of the Colin Baker era was left wanting, the Trial of a Time Lord was a rather enjoyable serial and the Valeyard’s reveal is also praiseworthy. Of course, the real issue now is what happened with the Valeyard? As regenerations progressed towards the end of the Doctor’s first cycle of regenerations, most Whovians (this writer, included) were anxious to see how this twisted version of the Doctor came into being between the 12th and final regeneration. The character even got a name drop in Series 7’s The Name of the Doctor, so we waited and are still waiting. It’s only more problematic now because the Doctor is on into his new set of regenerations.

While it would have been easy to place him against Matt Smith’s Doctor, revisiting with Capaldi or a future incarnation will require a bit of plot gymnastics to understand why we’re just now seeing the Valeyard. Then again, we do have Moffat in the driver’s seat for now and that’s the kind of plot twist he may relish.

3.) The Woman

An odd choice, perhaps, but I remain to this day intrigued with her inclusion in Rassilon’s coterie during The End of Time. She never spoke, but the look between her and the Tenth Doctor spoke many volumes. The most popular theory is that she may very well be the Doctor’s mother, but that remains conjecture at this point and will be until Gallifrey is found and assuming that the Woman survived the events of story she was in.

It would be interesting to see the interaction between her and the Twelfth Doctor, with his no hugging stance and general dislike of eyes getting bigger.

2.) Susan Foreman

The Doctor’s very first companion and granddaughter; how could she not be towards the top of the list?! She is also one of the few Time Lords with no recorded regeneration. Inquistive, slightly quirky, and loyal to the Doctor, Susan is (in my estimation) of the reasons for Doctor Who’s early success. Much in the same manner that Capaldi’s Doctor needed Clara for interfacing with other people, Susan played a similar role for her grandfather, most notably seen in the earlier serials as Hartnell’s Doctor was very gruff and contakerous. Time for a confession from your writer: I had secretly hoped that it was Susan who was actually Missy. Spending a good portion of her televised time travelling with the Doctor as sweet and naïve.

How amazing would the turn have been had Susan actually resented being locked out of the TARDIS and wanted to exact revenge for the slight. Completely out of character? Oh, yeah. Worth the price of admission? Without a single doubt. There has been only brief mentions of her in NuWHo, but it would be great if a new incarnation encountered the Doctor, maybe even travelled with him a bit.

1.) The Master

 

This was the only obvious choice for this spot on the list. How could it be any different? To revisit the comparison from the opening, this is the Joker to the Doctor’s Batman. Forever destined to tangle with the Doctor through time, space, and gender changes, the Master is the ultimate Time Lord (that isn’t the Doctor). No other Time Lord has graced the screen with his/her presence as much as the Master and it would be hard to argue that there is another more popular Time Lord (again, discounting the Doctor). While she appears to have met her doom (yet again) at the close of Death in Heaven, the Mistress is rumored to be back soon (crossing my fingers for Series 9).

A few honorable mentions: The Inquisitor, the Monk, the Halflings (River Song, Donna Noble).

That’s a wrap, my esteemed fellow Kasterborites! With a list like this, I’m sure some of you may have called it differently or added some I omitted. Please feel free to hash it out in the freshly regenerated comments section below!

The post The Top 10 Tremendous Time Lords (That Aren’t The Doctor)! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peter Capaldi At Motormouth, It’s Good 2 Give Association

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

Hello fellow Kasterborites! Welcome to an all Peter Capaldi edition of the New Blast! We’ve got news for you on some of the charitable work Mr. Capaldi has done recently as well as a lovely clip from one of his past television roles. Enjoy!

Capaldi’s First Convention as the Doctor

So it seems Peter Capaldi has survived his first convention of sorts as the Doctor – he was one of the guests at the recent Project Motormouth 3 event hosted by Janet Fielding. While on hand, Capaldi posed for photos with attendees and had a small q&a session. During the q&a, he let slip a few details about a number of things, including his feelings about that announcement of him as the new Doctor, how his costume came about and hanging out with Frank Skinner while filming Mummy On The Orient Express.

In short –

He wasn’t totally keen on the whole televised announcement thing.
He was in agreement with the costumer for the show in keeping his costume stark and simple, not something they could merchandise.
He says the people that worked on the classic era shows were “immensely creative”
He doesn’t have any of his DW memorabilia from childhood – he destroyed it all including autographs and a letter written by William Hartnell’s wife.
He and Frank Skinner talked all the time on set about the show; calls Skinner a “real expert”
Janet Fielding noted he will be part of Comic Relief 2015.
Fielding is a fan of the rebooted show and called Capaldi “wonderful”

Janet Fielding has posted an interview that Peter did with BBC South East Today about the event as well as some quick questions about the upcoming Christmas episode and his involvement in the new movie Paddington. Capaldi says the Christmas episode is scary!

Thankyou to everyone who came along yesterday. You can see a clip with Peter Capaldi from PMM3 here https://t.co/hazjTmogJv

— Janet Fielding (@jfmouthonlegs) December 1, 2014

Capaldi’s Charitable Endeavours

With great power comes great responsibility.

Given how popular Doctor Who is, how long the show has been on the air, and how many people have been a part of it, it’s not a surprise that many of those involved with the show have used their fame during and after their turns on the show to help others. Every year since the reboot began, the show itself has been involved in some way with the Children In Need specials as well as other worthy causes. The Project Motormouth event mentioned above is the brainchild of DW’s own Janet Fielding, as a way to raise money to overhaul a disused and derelict building in Thanet to help the area’s young people.

Peter Capaldi is no different in his want to use his fame to help others, and to that end, he is partnering with It’s Good 2 Give in Edinburgh to help raise £1 Million to help the charity build a retreat for cancer patients and their families.

Capaldi learned of what It’s Good 2 Give does for families and cancer patients after meeting a girl diagnosed with a rare cancer and seeing what the charity did for them. He has kept up with the family over the last two years, although unfortunately the girl passed away just last month.

“I was introduced to It’s Good 2 Give after the charity had helped a family I know. I was hugely impressed by their approach and ambition. By spreading the word I hope to help them raise the funds they need. It really is Good 2 Give, please help them by giving what you can.”

To find out more about It’s Good 2 Give and to help support them, please visit ItsGood2Give.co.uk – there are a number of ways to support them including their own online retail shop.

Capaldi Clip from Waking The Dead

The man currently thrilling us as the Doctor has had quite a long varied career as an actor. When it was announced that he’d be taking the role of the Doctor, many fans already knew him from his appearance on the show and from his series of Torchwood. He is also famous for his role as the foul-mouthed Malcom Tucker in The Thick Of It, among other tv shows he’s been a part of and had just recently been seen on the big screen in World War Z.

But along with those roles he has also done a number of one-off parts, including as a suspect on an episode of Waking The Dead. Below is a clip of his character being interrogated.

That’s all for now, folks! See ya next time!

The post Peter Capaldi At Motormouth, It’s Good 2 Give Association appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

PodKast With A Filthy Mouth

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.

Christian Cawley, James McLean and Brian A. Terranova inadvertently take the podKast into adult territory this week as the Doctor Who discussions find themselves dwelling on the idea of a sonic screwdriver sex toy.

Obviously there is much more than this within the 51 minutes of this week’s guest-less chat, but let’s face it, that’s the bit you’ll be looking forward to so just hit play and wait, okay?

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 43 Shownotes

George Lucas edit of Star Wars Episode VII trailer (satire)
Jenna Coleman: going or staying?
BBC Christmas trailer starring William Hartnell
Paddington movie trailer with Peter Capaldi
Odd Doctor Who merchandise on eBay 
Recommendations: The Invasion , Sonic Screwdriver vibrator, Ripper Street, Season 3, The Complete Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Hardware (here’s a YouTube clip), Joking Apart: Complete BBC Series 1 (and a clip for this too)

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 PodKast With A Filthy Mouth appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

March-April 2015: Titan Doctor Who Comics Preview

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

Oh, but what do we do when Last Christmas has come and gone? The wait between series will seem endless. Good thing Titan Comics have three series detailing the continued adventures of Doctors Ten, Eleven and Twelve to thrill, entertain, and chill us!

Here’s what’ll hit comic shelves worldwide in March and April…

The Twelfth Doctor #06

Written by Robbie Morrison, with art by Brian Williamson, and a cover by Blair Shedd.

ARTIST BRIAN WILLIAMSON (TORCHWOOD) JOINS AWARD-WINNING WRITER ROBBIE MORRISON (SPIDER-MAN, BATMAN)!



THE DOCTOR AND CLARA RACE AGAINST TIME TO STOP A DREADED NEW PERIL FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE: THE FRACTURES!

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

Release date: 11th March 2015.

The Eleventh Doctor #10

Written by Rob Williams, with art by Boo Cook, and a cover by Blair Shedd.

“Could someone stop that SCREAMING please?”

The Doctor has lost himself in a hostile takeover of SERVEYOUinc, and it’s up to Alice, Jones and ARC to bring him back to his senses. And if that takes a little judicious cosplay, well, Alice is all for it!

Release date: 18th March 2015.

The Tenth Doctor #11

Written by Nick Abadzis, with art by Elena Casagrande, and a cover by AJ.

NEW STORY ARC! PERFECT JUMPING-ON POINT FOR NEW READERS!

THE FOUNTAINS OF FOREVER!

Cindy and Gabby have a falling out after Gabby’s homecoming – as an ancient artefact from the centre of the universe, a rogue Black Ops organisation, and a secret auction conspire to cause galaxy-shattering chaos!

Release date: 22nd April 2015.

These are really enjoyable series, and as at least two are good jumping-on points for new readers, I’d advise those who haven’t indulged yet to grab these new Doctor Who Comics next year!

The post March-April 2015: Titan Doctor Who Comics Preview appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Christmas Special UK Air Time Confirmed!

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.

So there you have it – it’s December 2nd and already you know what you’re doing on Christmas Day evening! The BBC has today confirmed the broadcast time for Last Christmas, the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas special.

This year, Christmas lands on a Thursday, so as long as you’re in front of the TV on 25th December at 6.15pm you’ll be able to experience Peter Capaldi’s first seasonal episode as the Doctor. Joining a BBC One Christmas Day lineup that also includes Strictly Come Dancing and Call the Midwife, Doctor Who will face off against Paul O’Grady’s risible For the Love of Dogs on ITV1.

If you’re fresh to the Christmas episode details, it guest stars Nick Frost as Santa Claus (does anyone call him Father Christmas anymore?!) and sees the Doctor and Clara reunited – at least for a short time.

Here’s the synopsis for Steven Moffat’s FIFTH Christmas episode:

“The Doctor and Clara face their Last Christmas. Trapped on an Arctic base, under attack from terrifying creatures, who are you going to call? Santa Claus!”

And the clip from Children in Need:

Finally, the Next Time trailer…

Let me know what it’s like on Boxing Day, Kasterborites. I’ll be hitting the Crabbies around 3 o’clock…

The post Doctor Who Christmas Special UK Air Time Confirmed! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Legacy 1st Birthday Celebrations Commence!

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.

A couple of weeks ago we told you that a special anniversary was imminent, and today Tiny Rebel Games, Seed Studio and BBC Worldwide are proud to announce that Doctor Who: Legacy, the award winning free to play mobile game, which has already surpassed one million installs, is celebrating its one-year anniversary.

In celebration of the anniversary, Doctor Who: Legacy will be releasing free daily content with brand new levels, characters, and costumes as part of their second annual Advent Calendar promotion. Tiny Rebel Games also want fans to know that Kylie Minogue’s Voyage of the Damned character Astrid, and Frank Skinner’s Mummy on the Orient Express engineer Perkins will be joining the game, as well as extended universe characters and content from all of the Titan Comics’ Doctor Who comic book series, extended universe content from the Big Finish audio series, and also Cinder from the War Doctor novel, Engines of War.

Since its launch, Doctor Who: Legacy has added all of the canon Doctors from the television series, more than doubled the amount of playable content to over 60 hours, and recently completed a first ever-weekly tie-in of episodes to coincide with Season 8 of Doctor Who. Widely lauded as one of the best examples of free to play mobile gaming, Doctor Who: Legacy is also one of the few mobile games to add constant on-going story driven content, which is created in in conjunction with the Doctor Who brand team.

“When we set out to make this game, we had a very clear, very personal vision of what a Doctor Who game should be and this is what we delivered at launch of the game,” said Lee Cummings, Creative Director of Tiny Rebel Games. “But what we didn’t expect is the amazingly supportive and engaged community of players that has emerged from it – the vision for the game has evolved to become what our players want a Doctor Who game to be and it continues to evolve and grow thanks to their enthusiasm and involvement. We consider ourselves the caretakers of the game.”

Doctor Who: Legacy is currently available on Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Appstore and on Facebook. Meanwhile, you can keep up to date with Legacy on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Doctor Who Legacy 1st Birthday Celebrations Commence! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who/Grinch Mashup T-Shirt Today Only! [ENDED]

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.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good Doctor Who t-shirt from TeeFury, but that changes today with the TwoFury context, in which a brand new design, Cindy Lou WHO is waiting fo fans to order it!

The Dr Seuss-inspired design – featuring Cindy Lou Who from How The Grinch Stole Christmas and a certain police box – is by Karen Hallion and hasn’t been available to buy before.

The design is available in sizes for men, women and youths, in green, charcoal or turquoise, and is just $11 plus shipping!

In fairness, Cindy Lou WHO is outselling the competition today by 2:1, but we think it’s such a great t-shirt that you should order it regardless.

Head to TeeFury before midnight PST to buy your tee!

This offer has now closed.

The post Doctor Who/Grinch Mashup T-Shirt Today Only! [ENDED] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Firing Loose Canons: My Fascination With Alternate Doctors

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.

November was meant to be novel writing month or some such. That bothers me, it’s always bothered me, but it’s bothering me more this year than in previous ones. It’s not the suggestion that a novel is something that should be blurted out in as short a space of time as possible or that social media seems to have trivialised novel writing as a gimmick for one month out of twelve. No, this year it’s annoying me because it’s reminding me of my own stalled project. Not a novel as such, more of a reference guide.

‘Loose Canon – An unofficial guide to the unofficial Doctors.’

And it’s stalled; has been for a good few months now and this NaNoWriMo business just reminded me of that.

It is, in theory, going to be a guide to all the Doctors out there that haven’t had top billing in the main series. We’re talking about alternate Doctors – the Peter Cushings, Shalkas, Valeyards and Watchers that are out there. I’ve been a fan of these kind of Doctors for a long time, ever since Battlefield in fact when the knights discussed a future incarnation of the Doctor that they knew as Merlin. But it was when I was browsing through a copy of The Gallifrey Chronicles by John Peel (not the DJ, despite what Amazon tells you; also, this book has the same title as the final BBC Books Eighth Doctor story from 2005 by Lance Parkin) that the obsession started to take hold.

That was where I found the Valeyard.

I wasn’t quite old enough to remember much of Colin Baker’s era with any great clarity and I only had a handful of Target novelizations to hand and none of them mentioned the Valeyard at all. So, you can imagine how shocked I was to discover this whole new version of the Doctor that I’d never heard of before. It was especially encouraging to read about the Doctor’s future at a time when it was becoming more and more apparent that he probably didn’t have one. Anyone that has read any of my work will appreciate just how much of an influence the Valeyard has proven to be to me over the years.

I spent hours reading and re-reading his entry in The Gallifrey Chronicles (I’ve just gone and ordered a copy on Amazon. Right there. Dammit.) and hunted through the rest of the book to try and unearth any other references to him. The closest I could find was the entry for the Watcher, yet another uncertain version of the Doctor.

After The Gallifrey Chronicles I picked up a copy of The Complete Guide to Middle-earth by Robert Foster and started a love of reference and guide books that took me through The Discworld Companion by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs to The Babylon File by Andy Lane (which I’ve replaced half a dozen times. Great book, lousy binding) right through to getting a copy of the The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia when it was finally translated into English. It’s a point of pride for me that I own a copy of the book that finally knocked 50 Shades of Gray off the number one best sellers list.

For years now I’ve been desperate for a reference book that deals with all the other Doctors not completely covered by canon. It’s been driving me mad that the few references I have to them are scattered over different books.

Then I wrote An Infinite Number of Doctors and that seemed to go down quite well with a number of folk and the idea occurred that maybe I could expand my knowledge into a full blown reference guide and so work began.

However life and other miscellanea conspired to get in the way and the project got shelved temporally.

Until now.

I’ve decided to return to it, but I needed something to keep me motivated, to keep me at the keyboard chipping away at it. Poring through other people’s reference books, reading the 91-05 books, listening to the Unbound range (again) and maybe even watching a few episodes of Doctor Who. So after a brief conversation via email with our esteemed editor (he makes us call him that) I started penning this column. See this is hopefully going to be a regular feature from now on. I’m going to be writing about my experiences as I put Loose Canon together. I’m going to be writing about hunting down obscure Whovians items for research, sitting through Scream of the Shalka and the Cushing Movies, being rejected by publishers  and anything else that crops up along the way.

Shall we begin?

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Capaldi’s Daemons: The Crawling Terror Reviewed

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.

Tea and terror – the ‘cosy catastrophes’ of John Wyndham.

We have Brian Aldiss’ ire to thank for that withering description – a not entirely fair dig at Wyndham’s entitled characters perceived blasé attitude to the end of the world, which rather handily, lends itself neatly to describing a whole subgenre of books.

In fact, as author Jane Rogers pointed out, if you take away Aldiss’ assertion that: “…the hero should have a pretty good time (a girl, free suites at the Savoy, automobiles for the taking) while everyone else is dying off”, it basically reduces the books that match that description down to two: The Day of the Triffids and The Kraken Wakes.

However, if we take the word ‘cosy’ to mean familiar and add global implications to ‘catastrophe’,  then we start to see how Aldiss assertion really does lend itself to hundreds of Sci-Fi ideas – ideas that are imbedded in the foundations of Doctor Who.

It bears repeating that Wyndham was one of a number of authors discussed in the 1960 report into Science Fiction in BBC Drama, a report that described him as ‘the best practitioner’ of homespun sci-fi, that led to the creation of Doctor Who – so it’s no wonder that variations on his ideas appear for each incarnation of the Doctor.

The most famous of which is The Daemons.

Needless to say, it’s a serial that occupies a beloved position for two reasons. Firstly, its story, while being very much of its composite parts: The Midwich Cuckoos, The Quartermass Experiment, the works of Dennis Wheatley – it has enough interesting background material: black magic rituals, science vs superstition; to create something truly memorable.

But more importantly, it’s the quintessential Third Doctor serial: UNIT, the Master, Barry Letts, “Five rounds rapid”- this is the stuff of childhood memories and enduring nostalgia.

So you can imagine the lure of pitching Capaldi’s Daemons; here’s a chance to modernise a classic serial, steeped in sci-fi lore, by throwing in a new, incendiary Doctor into the ‘village under siege’ serial.

It must be something of a poison chalice being asked to writer for a Doctor Who, to use a Steven Moffat phrase, is ‘still cooking’. You’re reliant upon the scant information provided by sneaky on location photos to paint a picture of who this Doctor could be but, on the other hand, you have free reign to craft an idealised Doctor Who tale – it’s no wonder that the rich world of The Daemons would prove to be such fertile ground.

Only with Mike Tucker’s The Crawling Terror, it’s neither here nor there.

The Doctor is lacking that trademark snarl; he’s very much at the service of the plot, which, sees the TARDIS drawn to the town of Ringstone, where the mysteries of ley lines and a local standing stone, soon unravel a plot involving humungous insects stalking the tranquil meadows and a riddle dating back to the Second World War (which very much serves to replace black magic as the impeccably researched mystery at the heart of this tale; and it certainly is a fascinating piece of real life history).

Tucker captures Capaldi’s professorial airs but it’s never taken to its logical conclusion. Unlike myriad examples from the series, he never places that curiosity ahead of his concern of the lives of the townsfolk – he immediately abandons most of that burgeoning curiosity once the invasion begins and sadly without that spark that makes Capaldi’s Doctor such a magnetic onscreen presence; he gets lost in the machinations of the plot.

Clara fairs better; you get a sense of how their relationship will develop without drawing too much from the, then yet to air arch awaiting viewers. She knows of the Doctors reluctance to be associated with soldiers and what that means for her relationship with Danny Pink. However it doesn’t really factor into this story allowing Clara to be her spikey, forceful self.

Speaking of the plot, cast your mind back to The Time of Angels and that wonderful speech about the dangers of building a trap around the Doctor – it’s clear that he doesn’t suffer fools gladly, especially ones that attempt to outsmart him.

Here the plot hinges on so many coincidences that you never get a sense of the Doctor being backed into a corner or that he even acknowledges events drawing to a deadly conclusion. Instead, it feels like he’s being manoeuvred into position by the author’s hand. There is a sense of plans being laid but never do you get the feeling that the Doctor or Clara are in any jeopardy.

What this does is expose some of the structure to great scrutiny than a fast paced, engaging story would necessarily give you space to ponder.

While it isn’t necessarily a criticism of the novel itself, more the need to capture the rhythm of the show, but there are chapters contained within that can easily be seen as cutaways. Take for example the short section where a helicopter is scrambled to the town; Tucker does an excellent job of adding a little character to the faceless pilots but, in the show this would be dealt with in a quick smash cut in between the action, here, within the constrictions of a novel, where escalation comes from character, the exposition feels rather forced.

Then of course, going back to The Daemons once again, what of those fantastic elements that make it such a warmly remembered serial? The story is crying out for UNIT’s presence and their absence, explained away by ‘punk rock robots’ emerging from El Hierro, is perhaps the biggest coincidence in the entire book.

Why not create a tension from the fact that UNIT, an organisation well versed in alien threats, cannot deal with this threat, rather than concocting such a glaring coincidence tcontrive the scenario of ill-equipped soldiers dealing with that same threat? In the end, which one would have more resonance? As for delivering a threat to match the irrepressible Master, our villain is sadly lacking.

It’s a problem that permeates The Crawling Terror. Mike Tucker does a good job of cherry picking from the best sci-fi that Britain has to offer, into a cohesive plot but sadly it lacks the requisite tension, foreboding and, indeed, the magic to make it truly standout. It’s a quick enjoyable read but without the prickly, irascible Twelfth Doctor at the heart of it, its flaws are glaring.

Mike Tucker’s The Crawling Terror is just £5.24 on Amazon!

The post Capaldi’s Daemons: The Crawling Terror Reviewed appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Coleman Question, Frost on Santa and Last Christmas’ Arctic Monsters

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.

WARNING: Do NOT move. Kasterborous is projecting a sprig of digital mistletoe directly above you (and you mustn’t look otherwise the News Interface will be broken…)

December is here and we’ve seasonal news for you! The Coleman Question, Frost on Santa and the Arctic monsters in Last Christmas have been named. Turn your Christmas levels up to maximum because our psychic News-mistletoe is set to stun! Lean in and pucker-up for some yuletide information exchange…

Companion Queries

International Business news reports that we’ve been told Clara’s “fate will be determined for sure” in this years Seasonal special, Last Christmas. It’s not entirely clear what that means – will we know whether she’ll crop up in Doctor Who Series 9 or will we simply know, in a timey-wimey sense, where the character will one day wind up? The site has previously speculated that there might be a clue in the title *Last* Christmas…

They also flag up a rumour that Missy’s Nethersphere-concierge, Seb, as portrayed by Chris Addison may replace Clara as the Twelfth Doctor’s next companion. We know that it was possible for at least on body to be re-constituted (or perhaps just constituted…) from inside the Gallifreyan hard drive. Could programs similarly take on corporeal form?

Personally I think re-pairing Capaldi and Addison in some kind of homage to their Thick of It characters comes under the same category as a Who-Holmes Crossover. Like Gatiss says, it’d never be as good as you think it’s going to be…

Gangsta Santa and Christmas Villainy

has reported on an interview with Father Christmas himself, Nick Frost, talking about his role in the special. The Shaun of the Dead star said he wanted to make the character, “slightly edgy and cross at times and a bit like a gangster… I want viewers to be kept in the dark as to his intentions, so you don’t know if he’s good or if he’s evil.”

Or whether he’s nice or naughty?

The names of the monsters in Last Christmas have also be revealed. We are told that the Doctor and Clara are called to assist, “…the crew of a polar base come under attack from a mysterious band of new villains known as the Sleepers and the Dream Crabs.”

Well well! The big-mouthed slime-covered things sitting up in bed are presumably one (or both?) of those two new monsters. Jenna Coleman has already said that the episode deals with interface between dreams and reality. DenofGeek are rightly worried that Moffat might be about to turn his fear-inducing skills to our dreams.

What are your thoughts Kasterborites? Addison for the next companion? Will Clara meet yet *another* tragic yuletide end after a splinter version of the Impossible Girl fell from a cloud in The Snowmen? Looking forward to this Christmas?…

The post The Coleman Question, Frost on Santa and Last Christmas’ Arctic Monsters appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.