Christian Cawley's Blog, page 163

Drip-Drip: Doctor Who Last Christmas Synopsis Surprises No One

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

Following the reveal that the Doctor Who Christmas special would be called Last Christmas earlier this week, the BBC has today shared a synopsis for the seasonal episode.

Unfortunately there are no surprises here. This isn’t a gift wrapped with shiny paper and a ribbon. Rather it’s the toy you found hidden under your parents’ bed a few weeks ago while they were downstairs watching Children in Need.

“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!”

There is, you’ll agree, little in the previously released Last Christmas trailer and subsequent Children in Need clip that would leave anyone in any doubt that the synopsis would read along these lines.

You want surprises from Doctor Who Last Christmas? Best wait until Christmas Day!

The post Drip-Drip: Doctor Who Last Christmas Synopsis Surprises No One appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Series 8 Audience Figures Confirmed Totals Analysis

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.

They’ve got Ben Wheatley for the opener?!

If you’ve seen any of Wheatley’s work you’ll know why I was surprised and you’ll know why I was excited. It’s individual, witty and intelligent. It’s sort of the *opposite* of Love & Monsters (no I’m never letting it drop). We were promised something darker, moodier, scarier – perhaps even GRITTY. Much like Bond’s re-imagining with Daniel Craig, there was a departure from the lead man’s overall look (be it blonde or salt-n-pepper hair), there was a new feel and a new beginning with some of the old guard standing by to keep things steady (be it Judy Dench or Jenna Coleman).

Yes, Kasterborites. Doctor Who Series 8 was Who’s Casino Royale… (the gritty one. Not the one with Woody Allen).

And you liked it. It was quite a departure from what had gone before but it’s not the first time we’ve had that. Smith’s debut series ushered a fairy tale-feel and a LOT more blue light. Arguably Tennant’s first run was as dramatic a change at the time having only had Ecclestone’s single run to set the tone.

And you recently voted Doctor Who Series 8 your FAVOURITE debut series since 2006. That is to say just under a third of you voted Series 5, the Eleventh Doctor’s debut run as your favourite, a shade less than that voted for Series 2 with the Tenth Doctor, but the remaining 44% of you all said this was the best of the new Doctor runs.

AND NOW FOR SOME STATS!

It is the prerogative, nay, vocation of Doctor Who fans to fret over, examine, debate and nurse the show’s viewing figures – willing them the be bigger and healthier and kicking them when they’re down. Like your favourite football team (if you have one, I understand lots of people do), the scores matter…

And the final ratings for Capaldi’s first series are in. These are the average live broadcast figures with time-shift and those recording to watch later added in. They’re not the Live+7 figures which tot up the numbers with iPlayer views giving them and added boost. The reason for this is firstly that those don’t seem to be available yet, and this allows us to compare with Series 5 and Series 2 in a moment. Take a look at the graph below…

(A word of warning – I’ve shortened the vertical axis (starts at 5 million) to focus on the comparison between episodes…)

Now you’d be right if you said it wasn’t fair to compare Series 8’s ratings without iPlayer views with Series 5 and Series 2. Though you’d also be right if you said the opposite so let it go! We’re primarily interested with the response to the Series as it airs – the fact is TV viewing is a wee bit different now to 2006 and there’s ‘nowt’ we can do about that. Apart from get *really * technical – but that’s what the comments section is for…

The first thing to mention is the big audience for Deep Breath that fell away for the second episode. This is to be expected as you’ll see below. The first appearance of a new Doctor is a big deal and the publicity is always louder.

The audience doesn’t know what the episode is like until they see it, so while there will be some ups and downs during the broadcast because of people viewing either switching off or messaging their friends to turn on BBC 1, the viewing figures aren’t about how good it was. Rather they tell us more about the advertising and anticipation

The main thing I want to point out is the overall “U” shape we’ve got going on – this is a show that can hold its own and attract viewers over time. There are loads of different factors involved in shaping this chart – what was being shown in direct competition, how people had responded with word-of-mouth to the previous week, the press previews and national events – the most significant of which is always good weather.

Dig out the TV listings or scrutinise the calendar and you may find an explanation for the zigzag between Mummy and Flatline – you’d have thought that things would start to climb even higher after the Daddy of the episodes had screened (see what I did there? …Yes I’ll get on with it).

How did the new chap compare?

Here’s a comparison of the debut series for David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi in Series 2 (2006), 5 (2011) and 8 (2014) respectively.

First off, some explanation – you may see things differently but the “first episode” wasn’t the debut for all three Doctors here. Tennant made his first full appearance in The Christmas Invasion which aired on Christmas day, months before Series 2 started-proper. So on the chart, Series 2 (green) starts one block earlier than the other two to show off his first appearance while bearing in mind that it had the benefit of being a heavily publicised Christmas episode when EVERYONE is at home and unable to move from the sofa (“couch”).

Also Series 8 was one episode less than 2 and 5 – I’ve chosen to align the first episodes and have the Series 8 finale line up with the penultimate episode of the other series. Sue me.

SO! What do we think? The initial feeling might be a bit of pessimism – did Capaldi’s debut series (Blue) underperform compared to the others? At first glance it may look that way but consider – in the second half, Capaldi’s series easily outdoes Tennant’s and easily keeps up with, perhaps outdoing, Smith’s. Not that any of this is a competition [Ahem].

Then there’s the sudden peak that Tennant’s first series had the 5th episode, lining up with Time Heist. That was 2006’s Rise of the Cybermen. The peak makes sense given that it was the well-publicised return of the show’s second favourite monster after a 17 year absence! Note the sudden drop back down to the general trend with the following week’s Age of Steel. I imagine the 1.5 million that decided not to tune in were listening to Spare Parts instead. (OhyesIdid!)

Another thing to note is that Series 8 seems to be less histrionic than Tennant and Smith’s debut series which seem to go up and down like, um, a bootleg time rotor. Why the smoother and less variable audience for Capaldi? iPlayer again?..

Something else that might be happening is that the longer availability of episodes after broadcast and increased familiarity with iPlayer may mean that we’re seeing a more stable *core* of stay-in viewers of the ‘live’ broadcast while the more frivolous additional audience can and will catch-up later on rather than make sure they tune-in for *event * episodes. Back when iPlayer was less popular, it may be that those who were tempted by headline monsters or press coverage would squeeze in in front of the telly for Tennant and Smith whereas now they just catch up on their laptop in the lunch break.

Even I may have ventured out on a Saturday night date or two when I should have had my bum on the sofa. But when single and gorgeous one has obligations. [It was either “gorgeous” or “desperate” – I forget which].

Final thoughts: In terms of series averages, Capaldi’s debut run beats Tennants by about 0.2 million and comes in at about 0.5 million under Smith’s. And that’s counting only those specific series and not Christmas specials. The show is just as healthy as it ever has been, and plausibly that 0.5 million and more besides are catching up on iPlayer. Certainly the show has a bigger international audience than it ever has done in the NuWho era.

(Though that would be interesting – could we get an estimate of the number of people that watched the missing 60s serials that were sold on, or “cycled” from country to country?)…

What are your thoughts? Observations? Interpretations? Happy with how things are going – what do we think has happened to all the tearful teens that struggled with Smith’s departure… have they adjusted to the Attack Eyebrows or jumped ship to Sinbad or somesuch? Have we inherited a whole new audience that are partial a bit of political satire? Either way – I am one happy fan!

Last thing – we used data from Wikipedia, praise be, for Doctor Who Series 8, Series 5 and Series 2 here. There *are* some discrepancies online depending where you look. A reliable source should you be be curious is BARB – and here’s a wee treat (if you’re as geeky as me): I’m pretty certain this animated infogram about the changing ways of assessing viewer behaviour is voiced by one of my favourite companions…

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Early Adventures Cast Interviews and Details/Covers for Requiem for the Rocket Men and Dark Eyes 4!

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 a good week, dear readers! Those of us in the States are preparing for a fantastic turkey day and a little time away from the normal daily grind and spend some time with our loved ones. For those of us (read: me) that have a tendency to get a little stir crazy during the beginnings of the holidays, it’s a wonderful thing that the world of Doctor Who never really sleeps.

More exciting than the dash for the last delicious turkey leg, the Kasterborous Big Finish News Blast is here to help kick of your holiday (or celebration of the week being half over, if more applicable) in style! Today, we’ve got brand new interviews with the cast of Doctor Who: The Early Adventures, a new cover and synopsis for Requiem for the Rocketmen, and the cover and release date for the highly anticipated Dark Eyes 4! Without any more ado, let’s get rolling!

Early Adventures Cast Interviews

If you’ll turn your attention to the video embedded at the top of the article, you’ll be treated to an interview with a trio of Doctor Who royalty that just so happen to be starring in Big Finish’s Doctor Who: The Early Adventures range. The video catches up with Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Frazer Hines (Jamie), and Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) and gets their opinions on their new stories and reprising their iconic roles for the new range. As someone who loves a good special feature on a DVD/Blu-Ray release, it was great to see Big Finish release this as promotion for the newer range. You can check out the series the Big Finish website.

New Cover and Details for Requiem for the Rocket Men

Based on what we’ve covered so far, 2015 looks to be a good year for the Fourth Doctor meaner of audio adventures. This story is no exception:

Requiem for the Rocket Men finds the Doctor, Leela, and K-9 facing off against the Master and the Rocket Men:

“The Asteroid – notorious hideaway of the piratical Rocket Men. Hewn out of rock, surrounded by force-fields and hidden in the depths of the Fairhead Cluster, their base is undetectable, unescapable and impregnable. In need of allies, the Master has arranged to meet with Shandar, King of the Rocket Men. But the mercenaries have captured themselves a very special prisoner – his oldest enemy, the Doctor. What cunning scheme is the Doctor planning? How does it connect with Shandar’s new robotic pet? And just what has happened to Leela? The Master will have to work the answers out if he wants to leave the asteroid… alive…”

The release is set to drop in March but is available for preorder now.

New Details for Dark Eyes 4!

Every good thing must to come to an end, so it is said. On the heels of the release of Dark Eyes 3, Big Finish has unveiled the cover and details for the final chapter in the award winning Dark Eyes series – Dark Eyes 4. Here’s a glimpse of the splendid artwork:

Big Finish has also released a brief synopsis for the four-parter:

“4.1 A Life in the Day by John Dorney

The Doctor and Liv return to post-World War I London, where the Doctor meets Kitty Donaldson (Beth Chalmers), and Liv strikes a friendship with her brother Martin (Barnaby Kay). But what mysterious force is hunting them?

4.2 The Monster of Montmartre by Matt Fitton

The Doctor and Liv’s investigations bring them to Paris, where a monster stalks the streets.

4.3 Master of the Daleks by John Dorney

The Master and the Dalek Time Controller have forged an alliance. History hangs in the balance, and this time the Doctor can’t help…

4.4 Eye of Darkness by Matt Fitton

It’s the endgame. Truths will be revealed, and a hero will make the ultimate sacrifice.”

This last chapter has a lot to live up to, as the prior installments have been magnificent. This writer is truly looking forward to how this particular run ends. The release also drops in March, but can be preordered now.

With that, we call it an end for this edition of the Kasterborous News Blast. Thanks for hanging out with us and be sure to drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts on these upcoming releases.

The post Early Adventures Cast Interviews and Details/Covers for Requiem for the Rocket Men and Dark Eyes 4! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Blood Cell: Can The Doctor Escape?

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.

Doctor Who has always had a thing about prison cells but James Goss takes things a step further with this novel, choosing to set the entire story within the confines of the most secure prison in the galaxy. ‘The Doctor gets banged up in space’ certainly makes for an appealing one-line pitch of the kind favoured by Steven Moffat, although whether a TV script with quite such a bleak setting as this one would ever make it to the screen is probably questionable.

Readers raised on the bright and breezy tone of the Matt Smith era may need a bit of time to adjust to the cold, desolate environment of the asteroid prison, so far from civilisation that, even if an inmate manages to escape the prison confines, there’s no hope of getting away. But if they persist they’ll find plenty to enjoy in The Blood Cell, ‘the one set in outer space’ of the latest trio of releases from BBC Books.

The story is told from the point of view of the Governor, the man in charge if not in control of this desolate galactic jail. He’s not so much an unreliable as an unlikeable narrator, capable of cruel vindictiveness as he seeks to ‘break’ the prisoners in his care. It’s clear from the start that the Governor is someone you really don’t want to get on the wrong side of, so naturally that’s what the Doctor does…

The first person narrative makes for an effective way to illustrate how this most difficult of Doctors is seen by people who don’t know him as we do, and Goss captures Capaldi’s ornery portrayal extremely well (especially so when you consider he would have been writing well before Deep Breath aired). He may only have had access to limited information about what sort of man the new Doctor was, but he clearly didn’t miss the memo about his dislike of hugging and soldiers.

A line such as “On my bad days, Katy Perry wonders who’s stolen all her twee” has the feel of something a writer is proud of thinking up but that no one would ever actually say in real life.

The idea of Doctor Who doing Porridge (or Orange is the New Black, perhaps, if programmes made this century are more your thing) is appealing but a closer comparison to what we get here is The Shawshank Redemption, with the Doctor as Andy Dufresne, using his intellect and guile to turn an unenviable situation to his advantage by manipulating those in authority over him.

So what of the plot? The Doctor as dangerous criminal Prisoner 428, locked up for the good of society as just punishment for his terrible crimes is certainly an intriguing premise. How did he come to end up in prison? Why is he so convinced that people will die if he isn’t released? What is causing the alarming power outages which threaten to starve the prison of oxygen? And why does Clara keep turning up at the prison gates when no visitors are allowed?

Goss is clearly a believer in old writer’s adage that it’s always best to start the story as late as you possibly can and we’re posed all of these questions right from the off here, making for a gripping mystery that wrong foots the reader more than once. The answers do emerge but, after such a winning set-up, at times the book can feel slow going. Small casts of guest characters seem to be very much the order of the day for the television series these days but there’s no reason for such limitations to apply to the books, and it would have lifted the rather dark tone of the novel if we could have seen more of the Doctor as an inmate, forced to interact with a range of other prisoners (something the shows referenced did so well). As it is, it’s very much the Governor and the Doctor show and we don’t really get to know the likes of prison librarian Lafcardio as well as we might like.

Small casts of guest characters seem to be very much the order of the day for the television series these days but there’s no reason for such limitations to apply to the books.

Clara is kept separate from the Doctor for most of the book and this works to the story’s advantage. Goss captures her quiet determination well, and it’s through meeting her that the character of the Governor starts to become more rounded. He emerges as a broken figure, one to be pitied rather than feared, who made some bad choices in horrible situations. It’s fair to say I wouldn’t have expected a real-life major medical controversy concerning vaccination to have been mirrored in the plot of a Doctor Who book but that’s the flexibility of the format for you, and it forms a key part of the Governor’s journey to his current station in life.

An aspect of the book that will either jar or delight depending on your point of view is the use of contemporary references. Here we get the likes of Trip Advisor, Candy Crush and Eastenders all being mentioned in either the Doctor or Clara’s dialogue. The danger with this sort of thing, arguably more so on the page than on the screen, is that it takes the reader out of the fictional world the writer wants them to feel immersed in. A line such as “On my bad days, Katy Perry wonders who’s stolen all her twee” has the feel of something a writer is proud of thinking up but that no one would ever actually say in real life.

The revelation of exactly what the Blood Cell is isn’t made until close to the end of the book (and readers of a spoiler-phobic disposition may choose to look away now, although no specifics will be disclosed). When it comes it’s grisly and disturbing, although depicted sparingly and with restraint by the author. At the risk of saying too much, if you’ve felt that the Moffat era of the show has relied too heavily on the idea of technology gone wrong you may think it’s a little familiar, but it certainly fits with the book’s theme of a world where bad stuff happens for often mundane reasons and things don’t work as they should.

An effective chiller, The Blood Cell will appeal to readers who like their Doctor Who to be hard-edged and rather more, well, grim than much of what we see in the television show. You have been warned…

Out now, you can order The Blood Cell from Amazon in print, Kindle and audiobook format (read by Colin McFarlane).

The post The Blood Cell: Can The Doctor Escape? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

BBC Releases Doctor Who Special “Last Christmas” Promo Image [UPDATED]

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.

Thanks to the BBC, we now know a bit more about the 2014 Doctor Who Christmas special. That bit, however, is little more than the image you see above, and the title Last Christmas…

Starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman with guest Nick Frost as “the fat man”, the special is the TENTH such seasonal special since Doctor Who returned to television back in 2005!

We don’t imagine there is an awful lot in the image above that can help anyone divine the secrets of the special episode. Just in case there is, however, here’s the hi-res version for you to browse and enjoy at your leisure.

For the rest of you, don’t forget the trailer, which was released a couple of weeks ago, and the clip broadcast for BBC Children in Need.

(With thanks to Castellan Spandrell)

The post BBC Releases Doctor Who Special “Last Christmas” Promo Image [UPDATED] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Podkast Talks Lego Doctor Who, Clara Leaving/Not Leaving [UPDATED]

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 podKast time! This week we again relied on Google Hangouts for our weekly discussion of all things Doctor Who, and while without James McLean we were nevertheless able to invite Gareth Kavanagh, editor of the Vworp Vworp! fanzine and producer of various Doctor Who flavoured productions in Manchester.

Gareth joins usual hosts Christian Cawley and Brian A Terranova to talk Lego Doctor Who, whether Jenna Coleman is staying or going, and offer some very interesting recommendations.

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 42 Shownotes

Doctor Who is 51!
Jenna leaving/not leaving
Lego Doctor Who rejected
Matt Smith’s new movie role
Daleks not contractual (or are they…?)
Recommendations: Ripper Street S3 , Dark Eyes 3, Out of the Unknown (7-Disc DVD Set)

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 Talks Lego Doctor Who, Clara Leaving/Not Leaving [UPDATED] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Podkast Talks Lego Doctor Who, Clara Leaving/Not Leaving

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 podKast time! This week we again relied on Google Hangouts for our weekly discussion of all things Doctor Who, and while without James McLean we were nevertheless able to invite Gareth Kavanagh, editor of the Vworp Vworp! fanzine and producer of various Doctor Who flavoured productions in Manchester.

Gareth joins usual hosts Christian Cawley and Brian A Terranova to talk Lego Doctor Who, whether Jenna Coleman is staying or going, and offer some very interesting recommendations.

Audioboo/m, Stitcher and iTunes version will arrive later, as will the full shownotes. Until then, click play above and enjoy!

The post Podkast Talks Lego Doctor Who, Clara Leaving/Not Leaving appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Robocop Daleks, Blurred Lines Pastiche, Tom Baker Talks (A Lot) & Moffat Bigger Than Bono

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.

Truth seekers! It’s time once again to take your tired old news to one of our news gurus and get a flashy, brand news upgrade including Mircosoft’s robo-apocalypse, Steven Moffat: Rock God, and a few snap shots of Doctor Who history.

Dystopian Dalek Future Unveiled

Borrowing a dystopian nightmare or two from your DVD collection, Mircosoft have gone all Skynet and hired Dalek-style Robocops with Pre-Cog abilities to guard their Silicon Valley HQ.

The Knightscope K5 robot security guards are fitted with lasers, GPS and heat-detecting technology, and can predict where criminals will strike next and the likelihood of future crimes.

The 5ft tall robots are designed to operate without human control and are equipped with surveillance cameras and sensors, a thermal imaging system, scanners that can read 300 car registration plates a minute, and odour detectors because crime stinks.

But like their Dalek counterparts they share one common weakness: stairs.

Rachel Metz, a reporter for MIT Technology Review, said: “I noticed that a K5 in the distance had somehow toppled over the edge of the sidewalk onto the parking-lot asphalt several inches below. A couple of Knightscope folks were needed to pull it upright.”

So criminals beware, if you’re going to limit your crimes to mostly flat level, ground floor thievery; your days are numbered!

Blurred Lines/Time Lines/Word Crimes

Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ (well Pharrell William’s ‘Blurred Lines’, well, actually, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Blurred Lines’) the misogynistic hit of 2013 which has already been expertly parodied by ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic has been given a Doctor Who make over by Triple Threat Produx.

‘Time Lines’, which features a cast of Doctor Who characters attempting to sing the confusion of time travel away, was chosen by Krypton Radio as their Video of the Day and is, of course, a lot of very silly fun.

If it doesn’t work for you, however, the ‘Weird’ Al Yankovic version might. It certainly works for us.

Steven Moffat “Bigger Than Sting” In Mexico

Sure he might not have the shades of Bono nor the off putting mental images of tantric sex that haunt Sting but, according to Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat commands the same kind of frenzied adulation of Rock stars down Mexico way.

That’s right, I’ve just replaced Sting in your off putting mental images of tantric sex with Moffat. Once you’ve imagined it, you can’t unimagine it! You can thank me later…

Speaking to the Radio Times, Capaldi revealed Moffat is the primary object of Mexican Whovians affections on Earth Conquest, a 45 minute film that documented the Doctor Who World Tour that kicked off the eighth season since the 2005 re-launch of the long-running BBC sci-fi drama.

“[W]e went on stage in Mexico and [the reaction to Moffat] was like Sting or Bono,” says Capaldi after earlier saying that Moffat plays down his popularity despite the evidence to the contrary.

Jenna Coleman goes on to add that Moffat is indeed a golden god: “Steven is more popular here. I went outside the hotel yesterday to sign [autographs], and they were like ‘Where’s Moffat?! Where’s Moffat?!’”

In the documentary, some Mexican fans of Moffat are interviewed and asked to explain their love for him: “We all in Mexico adore, admire, Steven Moffat, because he’s a hell of a writer…We all love to him to play with our feelings.”

Earth Conquest is a part of a number of DVD extras for the Series 8 box-set.

Early Behind The Scenes Photos

The Green Box have some lovely images of the men behind the monsters from several early serials of Doctor Who.

The photos – which include William Hartnell joking around on set, some handcrafted Daleks under construction and a Zarbi receiving some TLC – were all taken in 1965 and are utterly charming.

2004 Dalek Test Image Released

Dalek 6388 – a website dedicated to telling the story of the Dalek props – have posted this enticing image of a fleet of invading Daleks at the old, iconic Television Centre courtesy of author and Visual Effects Designer for The Model Unit, Mike Tucker.

The image is of a frame render from the test footage done by the BBC 3D and Digital Effects Department as part of their pitch for Doctor Who back in 2004 and if nothing else will make you pine for that old colour scheme.

It was modelled by Andy McNamara and composited by Ian Simpson.

Thanks Mike!

Tom Baker Talks For 90 Minutes At Timey Wimey One

This Sunday saw Tom Baker reminiscing with Toby Hadoke about a life with the Doctor at the Timey Wimey One convention in Brighton, along with other famous faces from the show’s 51 year history.

Joining him were Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Wendy Padbury, Sarah Sutton and Sophie Aldred who all took part in interviews, chose their favourite episodes and provide some live commentary, answered fans questions and also signed a few autographs.

Proceeds from autograph sales and a merchandise auction went to the Domestic Abuse Volunteer Support Services (DAVSS) charity and the Brighton-based abuse charity Rise.

The event was set up by Louise Jameson, the actress who played Leela and a patron of DAVSS, and Matt Evenden, the director of Timey Wimey Events.

Mr Evenden said: “The idea came from Louise as she normally attends these events and thought it would be good to host one to raise money for DAVSS.”

Stamping On Doctor Who

And finally, Members of Lanarkshire Philatelic Society enjoyed a fascinating talk that illustrated how stamps, postmarks, air letters and postcards have dealt with the fourth dimension – and who tends to stroll about in that very dimension? Why the Doctor of course!

The topic of time keeping and postage intertwine with developments such as sundials, the invention of the marine chronometer, and finally the depiction of the millennium all proudly adorned on stamps, postcards and postmarks.

The talk, chaired by the society’s Elsie Miller, ended with covers depicting Star Trek and the Doctor and his TARDIS

The post Robocop Daleks, Blurred Lines Pastiche, Tom Baker Talks (A Lot) & Moffat Bigger Than Bono appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Commenting Changes At Kasterborous

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

Following some issues with spam and general comments performance (including the annoying issue with user avatars!), we’ve decided to take the step of abandoning the previous commenting system (the native WordPress feature) and bring in the Disqus system.

What does this mean?

Basically, when you comment, you do so using a slightly different form. You will also have a choice of login options (Facebook, Twitter, Google or Disqus itself) which will use the avatar of the chosen account login, which easily resolves that problem.

For running the comments, Disqus provides us with an advantage – namely that we’ll be able to deal with spam in a timely manner and deal with any problems that are flagged (offensive posts, etc.) in a way that simply wasn’t possible previously.

Keep in mind that our comments policy still applies:

Comments must be on-topic, not insulting to other readers and treat the contributors of Kasterborous – who offer their time free of charge – with appropriate respect.
Anyone who has criticism of a particular post – including whether they think it is factually or grammatically inaccurate –  should email me. Factual errors will be resolved, and the person(s) who contacted us will be credited (comments along these lines will of course be accepted, but the preferred route is a direct email so I can make the changes as immediately as possible).

This may seem like a big deal today, but I’m sure that within a few days we will have adapted and adopted.

Do you have something to say on this matter? Try the brand new comment box below!

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Exclusive Interview: Mark Strickson

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.

Whovians know Mark Strickson best as Vislor Turlough, the red-haired alien who travelled with the Fifth Doctor in 1983 and 1984. But since then, he’s become a big name in the world of documentaries, even working with the late, great Steve Irwin, aka The Crocodile Hunter.

I recently spoke to Mark on one of his brief trips to the UK about Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary, producing acclaimed wildlife films, and dodging bullets in South Africa!

KASTERBOROUS: You’ve previously mentioned that you weren’t 100% happy with the 50th anniversary events. What would you have liked to see for the show’s half-Century?

MARK: I would’ve just liked it to be more of a celebration of Doctor Who, and I didn’t think there was enough fun. Now, [with the Doctor Who Celebration convention] I think the BBC had a problem, which was that they had to make it a family friendly event; there were loads of people there. You couldn’t make it like a convention where you can just talk one-to-one with the actors.  That wasn’t going to work with all those people. They had to move people through very fast. To be honest, in terms of the convention side of it, I thought they did a pretty good job. I can’t see they could’ve done it any better.

My only complaint, if there is one, was the 50th anniversary special [The Day of the Doctor] which I thought was just a bit tedious. I thought it should’ve been a lot more fun; it should’ve been much more a celebration of Doctor Who. And I think it was probably very enjoyable if you were a Doctor Who fan who had got all the references – that would’ve kept you going – but the whole point, it seems to me, was that the special should’ve been to celebrate a programme which generations have watched, families have watched – they might not have watched it for ten years, but they should’ve still really loved it, and it should’ve brought back memories, and those sort of things, and for me, if didn’t tick that box. So I was, in a sense, a bit disappointed.

One suggestion was that older Doctors and companions should’ve been recast as different people.

Yeah – that would’ve been great. Good idea!

Do you remember what it was like on the set of The Five Doctors?

It was an occasion. And it was very, very special because that was 20 years. So you sort of thought, ‘well, how many of these people are going to be here in 25 years time?’ and that always goes through your mind.

And it was great for me: I was able to meet My Doctor, which is Pat Troughton, and things like that. We’ve always got ‘our Doctor’ as Doctor Who fans, y’know?

Did he live up to expectations?

Yeah, he was lovely! He’s an absolutely gorgeous guy.

You now work on documentaries: how did you get into producing?

I’ll try to simplify it. It’s not difficult. At 29 or 30, I decided I wanted to save the world! I was very worried about the environment, and I didn’t know what to do about this – but I did know I had no science training, so I thought I should get one. I went to Australia and I taught Theatre Studies for 5 years, which helped pay my way through an Honours degree in Zoology.

I then came back to England and I sat in a flat in West Hampstead and I wrote three films. I sort of thought I’d be a wildlife presenter. I mean, you’ve been an actor, you’ve got a Zoology degree: surely you become a wildlife presenter! I wrote three films, two of which got commissioned. One was a special on kangaroos for National Geographic; one was the Ten Deadliest Snakes In The World (2001), which was Steve Irwin’s first film. It was a huge success, was massively popular across the world, and from that point onwards, I just became a name as a director/producer.

And I haven’t stopped making them since! Goodness knows how many hours I’ve made now: I mean, it must be well over 100 hours. And people say, ‘well, when can I see your programmes?’ The thing is, many, many programmes these days don’t even have credits ay the end of them, so unless you know who made them… You can go to the website and find out. So for example, I’ve just made a six-part series for Al Jazeera channel, which is shown in almost every country in the world, including the UK. But you’d never know I had anything to do with it unless you went on the website because there are no credits on Al Jazeera. Credits are sort of things that are still left on English terrestrial television, the BBC, some German channels, some French channels… They hardly exist anywhere else now. It’s a shame for my Mother, but it doesn’t really matter.

It doesn’t matter who made the programme as long as it gets the message out.

With all your behind-the-scenes work, do you have more of an appreciation for the difficulties the Doctor Who crew went through?

Sure! It’s all about organisation and things like that, yeah. I have a far greater understanding of budgeting because people think – I don’t know – they think I spend a lot of time out in the field, filming dangerous things. But I spend about two and a half to three months a year out there doing that; it might take 8 months of travelling the world to get a commission up; a lot of my life is budgeting, doing staff issues, edit issues.

If you spend more than a third of your budget on filming, you have not got enough left for post-production, which is much more expensive and much more time-consuming than the filming.

Do you prefer that to acting?

I never decided to give up acting. I just got very busy as a Producer. I’m now 55, and it’s getting increasingly physically difficult for me to do what I do in the field. I mean, we don’t stay in hotels; we’re living and sleeping on the floor, y’know – literally getting shot at in appalling conditions sometimes. And it’s very physically tiring.

So you must enjoy conventions!

Yeah! I don’t have to wear a bullet-proof vest for conventions! I don’t think anyone hates me quite that much. There’s nothing like bullets coming over your head to keep you alert, I can tell you.

Where was that?

That was in South Africa. It was about rhino poaching, which is a huge issue.

On a cheerier note, how did you feel when the Doctor Who crew told you you’d have to dye your hair to play Turlough?

Well, the issue was that Peter Davison and I both have very similar hair, cut in a very similar way, as it happens – just by chance! Particularly in the summer, mine goes very blonde. And on a long shot, we looked just too similar, so you had to do something to make Turlough look different.

Also, it didn’t matter to Peter but Turlough was an alien, so when you first saw him, you needed to be a bit suspicious of him: he shouldn’t have looked quite right. People often say, ‘weren’t you too old to play a schoolboy?’ And I could throttle them! I was not a schoolboy; I was an alien who had landed posing as a schoolboy. It’s just completely different. So if, when you first saw me, you thought, ‘oh, he’s too old to be a schoolboy, he looks weird’ – that’s exactly what you were supposed to think! Immediately be suspicious of him.

And so the Doctor Who team said, ‘well, what we’ll do is cut your hair off and be bald.’ And I said, ‘you can… but I’m going to require at least 2 months’ payment after I finish my contract for loss of earnings’ – and mention money in those days anywhere near Doctor Who… They came up with another solution! That was: cut it short, colour it red with a wash-out dye.

And you even had to do your eyebrows!

Yeah, my eyebrows were glued up: they put glue through them and glued them straight up. Not many people notice that. Once you know it and you look at it, you can see it immediately – it looks totally weird!

So I looked pretty weird for about 2 years, yeah. And one of the issues with the red hair was that I was instantly recognisable – because it wasn’t wash-out at all! It was supposed to be wash-out dye, but my hair was just bright copper red.

Kids would recognise me in the street, and things like that.

I went to a restaurant once and I complained about something, which is your right: I don’t go around complaining about things but it was pretty major – I can’t remember what it was – but I just politely said, ‘I’m sorry; that’s not acceptable’ or something like that. And they said, ‘you’re that guy off the television, aren’t you? You’re horrible on television too! You’re horrible in real life!’ And I thought, ‘what?!’

So it had its issues, being Turlough, sometimes. I’m not horrible: I just think the cheese is a bit off!

Massive thanks to Mark. Contrary to one chef’s opinion, Mark is one of the nicest people I’ve met: very giving of his time and goes out of his way to chat with the fans. It was amazing meeting one of my favourite companions and having an in-depth chat with him.

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