Christian Cawley's Blog, page 167

The Worlds of Doctor Who Reviewed!

Meredith Burdett 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.

Everyone likes a good spin-off. Doctor Who had Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, Buffy had Angel, and Casualty has Holby City. You can’t help but think if The Green Green Grass had had Del boy popping in once in a while, it may have been better.

Big Finish has spent many years cultivating the rich characters from Doctor Who to create some amazing spin-off series. Jago and Litefoot, Countermeasures and Gallifrey have all been hugely successful and, most importantly, hugely enjoyable. All of these series have the characters protecting the planet Earth and the Doctor’s home planet in different eras when the Doctor cannot be there; they survive on their own and always pull through to make sure that everyone else is defended, just as the Doctor taught them to. But once in a while, everyone needs to be reminded of how important these various teams are. Regular listeners may need an injection of the epic; newer listeners may need a focal point having just stepped into the world of Doctor Who to find out exactly what theses spin-off characters and adventurers are all about.

And that’s where The Worlds of Doctor Who comes is.

To state the obvious, this box set needs to be in your collection. Each story stands up well on its own but the coming together of some of the Doctor’s closest friends is truly a wonder to hear. This is not a Journey’s End style adventure where everyone is together in the same room swapping notes and exchanging pleasantries: each story takes place in its own world and each team adds layers to the overall narrative which is, by the way, absolutely epic.

For Jago and Litefoot, there’s Mind Games, a fitting tribute to the eminent pathologist and the local impresario. The New Regency Theatre’s resident act Mr Rees seems to be behind the gruesome murders that are plaguing Victorian London, but never fear, Jago and Litefoot will save the day. This sets the wheels in motion for events that will reach as far as Gallifrey itself but writer Justin Richards keeps things strong and simple here with a straightforward mystery for the duo to solve and a satisfying conclusion. At the end, the listener knows all too well that things are not over but it’s certainly satisfying to have these tales told in digestible chunks.

The Reesinger Process is the Countermeasures quarter of events and again written by Justin Richards. A self contained story this may be but one can already feel that events are starting to weigh heavy on the world by the end of the very Avengers-like story. Rees is heavily involved here but has moved beyond the physical form and now works in thought only. His power and corruption serve him as an excellent villain and ruthless as well. Anyone who’s not on tenterhooks for the gripping conclusion should probably take stock of how they view high quality drama.

Moving forward from these ‘house’ styles of storytelling, we come to this boxset’s third act, The Screaming Skull. This is where things get interesting. Writer Jonathan Morris takes the characters of Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato, previously encountered in two Companion Chronicles regarding UNIT’s top secret vault, and teams them up with the legendary Captain Mike Yates to head back into said vault after it is mysteriously locked down. Not only is this story rife with rich references into Doctor Who’s past, it is also incredibly well written. The stakes are high, Rees has events that have taken fifty years to move forward with rolling out and no one is safe. This is not simple Doctor Who spin-off stuff where the reset button has to be hit at the end; this is genuinely enthralling stuff. If we don’t see a spin-off with these three working together in the future, Big Finish has missed a treat.

Finally, things come to an incredible conclusion in Second Sight by Nick Wallace and Justin Richards. Rees’s actions and plans have caused alarm on Gallifrey and President Romana has despatched her top agent Leela to take care of things but Leela has gone missing after arriving on Earth. Is all hope lost? Of course it’s not, because at the end of the last tale, Captain Mike Yates used the Space-Time telegraph to summon the Doctor to save the day.

Old Sixy takes charge here and wonderfully owns the room as he deals with the events that are now spiralling to a huge conclusion. Whilst mentioning earlier on in this review that the separate teams are not all brought together for a big party, they come as near as possible in this final adventure and all serve part of the bigger whole with aplomb.

The boxset’s overall conclusion is extremely satisfying as well; the pace is pushed to the absolute limit; the Doctor and his friends really seem to have very little time at all to save the entire Universe and when the Doctor confronts Rees at the end for a final showdown, it’s heartbreaking. If your bottom lip is not wobbling by the end of it, you’re made of sterner stuff than this reviewer.

This wonderful set is a complete success, taking the old, the current and the new, and brazenly showing off just how far Big Finish have come over the last 15 years. Let’s hope that we get something equally as remarkable for their 20th anniversary!

The Worlds of Doctor Who Limited Collector’s Edition is available from Big Finish now.

The post The Worlds of Doctor Who Reviewed! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Michelle Gomez Reveals Master’s Return in DWM 480

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.

Michelle Gomez, who plays the latest incarnation of that galactic jackanapes the Master, speaks to Doctor Who Magazine about her evil role…

“Everything about making the Master the Mistress kind of ups the ante,” says Michelle. “It makes everything that little bit more dangerous. It blows open this Pandora’s box.”

Michelle probably can’t reveal whether or not she’ll be back as Missy next year, but DWM asks her anyway, apropos of nothing.

“Yes,” replies Michelle.

Now, that was surprising!

“‘Yes’ is my answer. I’ll be back. Can I say that? Am I allowed? If not… well, I guess we’ll have to see how she’s received…”

The full interview with Michelle Gomez appears inside DWM 480.

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

DWM interviews Douglas Mackinnon, the director of Listen, Time Heist and Flatline.
Steven Moffat answers readers’ questions in his exclusive column.
DWM investigates the question: ‘Is the Doctor a good man?’
Toby Hadoke pays tribute to the late Lynda Bellingham, the actress who played the Inquistitor in 1986′s The Trial of a Time Lord.
Siobhan Redmond, the new Rani, talks exclusively to DWM about her first audio story.
The Doctor and Clara’s comic strip adventures continue in The Eye of Torment written by Scott Gray, with art by Martin Geraghty.
The Fact of Fiction investigates the classic 2005 Ninth Doctor adventure The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances.
The Time Team comments on the blockbuster 2008 Tenth Doctor episode Journey’s End.
Jacqueline Rayner has to stay up late for her Doctor’s appointment in Relative Dimensions.
The DWM Review examines Flatline and In the Forest of the Night.
The Watcher looks at subtitle howlers in Wotcha!
The DWM crossword, prize-winning competitions and much more!

Doctor Who Magazine 480 is on sale from Thursday 13 November 2014, priced £4.99.

The post Michelle Gomez Reveals Master’s Return in DWM 480 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #01 Reviewed

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.

So what do we do in the fallout from Series 8? A lot of us will be searching for something starring Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. But there’s a lack of Twelfth Doctor merchandise: we have three fiction books and that’s about it.

Thanks to Titan Comics’ new series, that grisly Scottish voice remains with us in downtime between serials.

It’s an immediately enticing proposition: the comic feels fresh and exciting, and has the capacity to help ground this new era a little. Series 8 has been so different to previous runs; perhaps the comics can bring it in-line with the past.

Terrorformer is a great introduction to a new set of adventures that manages to link Capaldi’s tenure in the TARDIS with various tales from previous seasons. The story, written by Robbie Morrison, sounds like a pretty standard affair – an icy planet has been terraformed to create a tropical paradise, but something is reacting badly to the change and the environment is ready to fight back – yet that is exactly what this debut issue needs to be. If you’re picking this up, you want old school Doctor Who. And you get it.

There are echoes of The Doctor’s Daughter and a splice of State of Decay, but overall, this feels like it would fit well into the Third Doctor era, late in that incarnation’s life when he’s afforded the luxury of exploring Metebelis III and Peladon. The Doctor even brings up the fact that he knows Venusian karate!

Yet this remains a solid tale for the Twelfth Doctor. He fits into every scene, and his voice is captured perfectly. So, too, is Clara’s, whose jokes and jibes at the ‘Stick Insect’ are spot-on.

There’s a rescue mission (over and done with almost as soon as it begins) that reminds this reviewer of Into The Dalek, then there’s a ‘journey’ reminiscent of Time Heist and In The Forest of the Night. On top of that, we have robots either being controlled or embracing their own sentience: either way, Scary Robots is a frequent occurrence in the Twelfth Doctor era so far. I can only imagine how much of Series 8 Morrison had access to in order to base the Twelfth Doctor’s comic tales on; regardless, he does so admirably.

Artist, Dave Taylor is obviously a talented guy too. His renditions of Isen VI are superb, bringing to mind the styles of 2000AD more than anything. His Twelfth Doctor, however, is less accomplished and his Clara almost unrecognisable. Now, these two must be really difficult to capture, so you can forgive to a certain degree. Somehow, he manages to make the Doctor, in one panel, look like a grumpy football manager. Nonetheless, there’s a great shot of his eyebrows, definitely homage to The Day of the Doctor and the Series 8 title sequence.

Give him time: his style throughout Terrorformer is fantastic. If his TARDIS team takes a little while to settle in, that’s forgivable given the rest of the issue.

The threat is intentionally unclear: whatever it is, it moves in strange and sinister ways. The first scene is undeniably brilliant. I really love it. Lava reaches out, rocky tendrils reaching into the air, and pulls in its victim. It’s such an obvious idea, yet I can’t think of an instance where Who has done it before. That scene alone guarantees that I’ll pick up next issue.

It’s all topped off with a cover by Alice X. Zhang. Of course it’s beautiful. I challenge Zhang to produce a piece that looks anything less than stunning.

The variant covers, too, are awesome. They’re pretty much all wonderful designs, but if I have to choose any favourites, I simply must go for Christian Ward’s haunting Dr Strange-esque painting for Forbidden Planet, and Brian Williamson’s perfect rendition of the Doctor for BBCShop.

Titan is really knocking it out of the park at the minute, with lovely helpings of The Tenth Doctor and The Eleventh Doctor. The Twelfth Doctor matches these quality titles with ease. Pick #1 up now: you’ll want to tag along on this ride from the off.

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #01 is out now in all good comic stores. British readers can head to Forbidden Planet and order it for £2.65.

The post Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #01 Reviewed appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

How Fans Reacted To Death In Heaven!

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.

It’s over – we’ve been teased and baited for twelve weeks, and dumped like jilted lovers! Series 8 (or Moff Wars – Episode IV: A New Bloke) has been and gone. That, ladies and Gentleman was the Twelfth Doctor’s first run. But what did YOU, dear reader, think of the parting shot?

Death in Heaven was broadcast last Saturday to an overnight audience of 5.45 million. This tops the overnights for all of Series 8 bar the opening episode Deep Breath that snared 6.8 million. So while not spectacular, this is good and makes sense given it’s the part wth the *big bad*. As usual the final figures will go up by at around 2 million with catch up and repeats and the BBC’s Live+7 figures will add-in all the iPlayer requests over the first seven days.

And what of the casual viewer? The Audience Appreciation Index (AI) is rated out of 100 and gives an indication of the average viewer’s enjoyment. Death in Heaven scored an AI of 83 – given that a score of 85 is considered “excellent” and the average BBC One AI is 81.5 this is pretty good, though represents a drop in appreciation compared to last week’s score of 85 for Dark Water.

The Kasterborous Appreciation Index (KAI) is a similar score out of 100 extrapolated from Kasterborite votes in the first 24 hours after the episode airs. It can’t be directly compared but gives an idea of how much you enjoyed an episode compared to the rest of the series. Death in Heaven scored a KAI of 59.7 which is a pretty big step-down from the first part of the finale with a KAI of 78.2 for Dark Water. In fact this is the second worst rating Kasterborous users have given an episode in Series 8 and well below the Series average of 71.1! More on Series 8 KAIs later…

We should note that a significant majority of people still rated the episode positively (53.3% versus 31.17%) though there were two camps with a bimodal distribution as for last week – this finale has certainly split the audience!

And what did you have to say?…

On the whole you were working through the things that seemed wrong or out of place. The Brigadier as a Cyberman and the appearance of Father Christmas (“Santa Claus”) mid-credits were common sticking-points.

For Ranger, Cyber-Brig was a particular quibble… “And my ultimate hatred, for which Moffatt should be hung, drawn and quartered repeatedly until he doesn’t like it anymore: the Brigadier as a Cyberman, even a good one. What a horrible, despicable thing to do to such an iconic character… A thousand times NO!! It’s even more ghastly than a female Master.”

Bonobobananas got in there minutes after the credit rolled with crushing disappointment… “Words can’t express how much I hated that episode of Who. Sloppily written, mawkish, weeing on the graves of the great and good. And when I thought the last 5 minutes might get something back up pops Santa.”

 

He later cooled down (a bit)… “…a cyberman with a heart of gold? My word. Goodness me I am fuming. Still, only a program you love can do that to you eh? … I think I left fingernail marks in the armchair.”

Whereas Time Chaser was stoical… “This was in no way the worst finale, that’s for sure. I can deal with this better than I could magic-pixie Doctor in Last of the Time Lords, that’s for sure.”

Fair enough! Some were outraged at Missy’s plan to get the Doctor back on-side which seemed like a betrayal of the character’s MO. Castellan Spandrel answered… “Remember Colony in Space? The Master is awfully keen for the Doctor to rule the galaxy with him.”

Touche! Bonobobananas later returned with a more considered appraisal including the bulleted queries:

“• How do non corporial beings come out from the nethersphere. I can get that Missy can go in and out but dead people? Nope.”

Exactly! And…

“• Why does the Doctor put so many sugar lumps in his tea and then drink from the saucer? (ok never mind)”

Yes. Let’s move on from the tea… DonnaM picked up on the way we’d been told that Danny and Clara loved eachother but never really saw it… “The big problem is the Clara/Danny romance, which never really cut it with me as The Love That Overcomes. It’s probably a matter of the way it was written – Coleman and Anderson are both fine actors, but I had to be told their characters were madly in love because I never actually felt it. Add in the fact that the whole idea has been – pardon the pun – done to death in recent years and there’s a whole plot strand that doesn’t really work…”

While Ranger lamented the lack of agency on the Doctor’s part… “Having another think, I was struck once I got over the sheer dazzling display of Capaldi’s acting, of how little the Doctor does in both episodes of the finale, he actually doesn’t do anything except hang around and chat with a few people. It’s an episode that belongs wholly to Danny Pink as saviour of the human race. That grates a bit, I want a more proactive Doctor and I thought we were getting it in episodes like Mummy and Deep Breath.”

Good point! Though, while there wasn’t any science-cleverness, his decision to give the army over to Danny involved both an answer to his “am I a good man?” question and a rejection of the “blood-soaked general” label…

Then Law S burst onto the scene… “I’m really new to reading the comments and adding my own meagre thoughts on this site. However all the comments iv read have proved interesting and challenged my own perception of Dr Who.”

Hurrah! They continued… “Big unresolved question is what do we all talk about between now and Christmas??”

Don’t you worry

DonnaM gets the final say, “…Yes there are what some of you will call plot holes, things I will use as challenges to my imagination between now and Series 9. No, it didn’t all make perfect sense, but you can say that about many a story over the years. Not a classic, but a solidly enjoyable tie up to a massively enjoyable series, from my sofa at least.”

And with that we are set adrift in the inter-Series seas… I am quietly confident. And with the new chap at the TARDIS controls, very excited about Series 9 (or Moff Wars – Episode V: The Eyebrows Strike Back). There are good things ahead of us, Kasterborites. But first Christmas! Did anyone else notice that the Doctor seemed to be nodding off as the seasonal knock came on the door?…

The post How Fans Reacted To Death In Heaven! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Lego Who Likely, Capaldi’s Video Message Barrowman Talks (!) & Minister of Chance Movie Update

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.

Bigger than Clara Oswald’s eyes, larger than a flying fleet of Cybermen in the skies, and more enormous than the Master’s lies… it’s the Kasterborous News Blast!

In today’s blast of un-Delete!-able information, Peter Capaldi’s kind message goes viral, John Barrowman gets all Scottish, Missy masters all of YouTube, and the Minister of Chance gets updated! For those about to read, I salute you!

The Doctor Helps Out

Peter Capaldi sent a short video message to a young boy whose grandmother had recently passed away. The boy, Thomas Goodall, has autism and was having trouble dealing with the emotions of his nan’s passing. In the 42-second video, Capaldi “plays” the Doctor and says that he and Clara deal with some scary things and they are glad to know that there is someone like Thomas on their side. The video went viral–and was even a trending topic on Facebook last Saturday–after the boy’s father posted it for family members to view after the funeral.

Capaldi’s message may lead to some not-so-dry-eyes in your house…

(With thanks to @Andr3wSmith)

Captain Jack Lives

That reclusive star of stage and screen, John Barrowman, recently did an interview with The Daily Record’s Scotland Now page and revisited his time as Doctor Who’s Captain Jack Harkness.   Barrowman remembers going online shortly after his debut in 2005′s The Empty Child:  “When the episode came out, I went on Outpost Gallifrey and all the other Doctor Who sites, typed in Jack and nobody liked me… I wanted him to be the quintessential brassy, in-your-face American. I wanted him not to be likeable… He was meant to be liked later on and that’s what happened.”  The actor expected to be a regular in Series 2, but the producers were worried that Jack might overshadow a new Doctor (at that point, it had not been revealed that Christopher Eccleston was leaving):

“Russell, Julie and Phil – the bigwigs – said we’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is Jack isn’t going to be bad for series two. I was gutted. Gutted. Then Phil said the good news is that he’ll be back for series three.”  Captain Jack was name-dropped in The Day of the Doctor, and Barrowman can currently be seen on the hit American show Arrow.  The status of his next showtunes album is unknown…

Let Go Of My Doctor Who Lego!

Two Doctor Who-based LEGO proposals have come up for review, and one or both may be made into actual LEGO sets!

LEGO Idea proposals have to go through a process before they can become a reality, including getting 10,000 votes and being reviewed by the LEGO board.  And it looks guaranteed that at least one idea will be made, as explained on kotaku.com:  “The ornithology-focused LEGO Birds Project and a set based on The Big Bang Theory are coming, but the real exciting news is that the board is still considering two different Doctor Who sets for release… That’s almost as good as a yes [that at least one will be made]… That LEGO is consider two sets based off of the longest-running science fiction television show in history would indicate that any lingering licensing issues — one of the biggest obstacles for many LEGO Ideas projects — aren’t going to be a problem.”

So there you have it!  It sounds like, some time very soon, I will be stepping on a small blue TARDIS brick on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Mistress of the YouTube Sphere

An industrious Whovian known as, well, Whovian Comley has posted a video on Youtube that edits together all of Missy’s appearances in Series 8 (except for the two-part finale).  Running a staggering 3-and-a-half minutes, Missy can be seen in all her crazy glory, which allows viewers to study the hints to her true identity all in one go.  (Wait, she’s the Master?!  Really?!  No one told me!)

When will the day come where YouTube is so overrun with Doctor Who videos that they have to change the name to Who-tube?

You Can Still Take a Chance On Chance

The Minister of Chance Movie Kickstarter campaign sadly only came up with a little over half of their £100,000 goal, but organizer/creator Dan Freeman recently sent out a hopeful message:  “We failed. We won!  OK, we didn’t make it. We learned a lot, we love you for backing us, and we have a way forward. In essence, we’re going to offer you all shares in the movie. It’s very simple – you put your pledge in, but it’s not a donation: you then own a bit of the movie. We’ll send out details as soon as we have everything in place. Thank you once again from the bottom of our tired hearts.  xxxxx”

Since then, Kickstarter supporters have received a further communique, advising that Rob Graham, Exec Producer of The Machine is on board and that they are “working on a scheme so that you can invest and own a part of the movie instead of just donating.” Sounds exciting!

The movie, a Doctor Who-related spin-off, has several big fan-favorite names attached to it, including Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Tamsin Greig, Paul Darrow, and Jenny Agutter. Follow the Minister of Chance on Twitter to stay up-to-date with their movie project.

That’s it for today, Kasty Blasties!  Make sure to synchronize your time rotors and vortex manipulators to catch the next installment of the ever-evolving News Blast!

The post Lego Who Likely, Capaldi’s Video Message Barrowman Talks (!) & Minister of Chance Movie Update appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

140 Characters: Steven Hill

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

Who fans, by whichever titles they go under, have always displayed a level of interest and devotion that is typical of science fiction, but more detailed, more committed and now, more in charge of the show itself. Through fanzines, fan productions evolving into DVD extras and additional franchises, Doctor Who fandom has produced a level of art form not replicated to such an extent in the UK and perhaps the world, based on a rolling work of fiction.

140 Characters would aim to create capsule interviews, with a series of short, simple questions, worded like a ‘tweet’ or a single text message, requiring an answer in the same succinct fashion. The questions below are all on or below 140 characters, the answers are the same.

This week, Steven Hill, Forum Director for Gallifrey Base, the largest and most active online Doctor Who forum.

What is the single most important aspect of the show?

As echoed by many people over the years, it’s that the show can be set anywhere at any time, which means truly unlimited storytelling.

My favourite companion is Sarah Jane Smith, for her heroism, realism, and dedication to her unexpected role in the universe and Lis Sladen’s superb performance.

How long have you been watching Doctor Who?

As far as I’ve been able to determine, I first saw Doctor Who in late October or early November 1975. So, 39 years.

Do you see yourself as one of the Doctors and why that one?

Having played the Sixth Doctor in some fan films and audios, I can’t NOT think of myself as the Sixth. Plus, Colin reminds me of me.

Does The Doctor ever get it wrong?

The Doctor isn’t infallible, but of course, narratively speaking, he wins in the end. Even if he gets it wrong, he gets it right.

If you could travel with any of the Doctors, which one would it be and why?

Of all the Doctors, I suspect I’d suffer the fewest personality conflicts with the Eighth Doctor.

Which, if any, companion would you like to be there as well?

If I could choose any at all: Zoe as she’s resourceful and brilliant, but very down-to-earth and relatable.

Who would you name as your favourite companion and why?

Sarah Jane Smith, for her heroism, realism, and dedication to her unexpected role in the universe and Lis Sladen’s superb performance.

Who was the best Doctor, never cast?

I think I would have enjoyed seeing Stephen Fry as the Doctor.

When you first started watching Doctor Who, how old where you and where were you?

I was 9 years old, living in Hoffman Estates, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, USA. And I was in the downstairs den in front of the TV.

Is there an episode that means more to you than all the others?

The true answer: no. The unfair answer: An Unearthly Child, just because I am in awe of both its economy and its significance.

What was your very first episode of Doctor Who?

Impossible to say for certain, but a best guess is The Mind of Evil or The Claws of Axos.

How would you rate that episode now?

The Mind of Evil is excellent, while The Claws of Axos is just average.

Is the Master the Doctor’s opposite number?

The original Master just wanted to get on with his own missions, but Doc interfered. Later days, his ONLY mission was vs the Doctor. Yawn.

Is there a villain you identify with more than others?

Not strongly, no, but if I must answer, I’d say Sharaz Jek, although I’d never harbor such a potent thirst for revenge.

Is the TARDIS alive?

No, it’s not. It just has an extremely advanced (beyond human comprehension) artificial intelligence.

Which is your favourite TARDIS interior and why?

The Fifth Doctor’s interior introduced in Five Doctors. I *like* the gleaming white brightly lit interior and the flash console.

When the new series arrived, what was your initial reaction?

The wait was too long, but above all I’m grateful we didn’t have to settle for something less than a proper TV show.

Nearly ten years on, how do you feel about it now?

Please don’t stop, not ever again.

Have you always been an open fan of the show?

Yes. I’ve never hidden it.

How involved in fandom have you been?

First convention 1983, got into “organized fandom” in 1986. Been very involved and getting even more so as the years go on. Never waned.

How should the Doctor dress?

Clothes. Spats optional.

Do you ever dress like the Doctor in everyday life?

No, never have.

What is the best thing that being a fan of the show ever given to you?

Friends that last forever and a passion that never dies, custodianship of a gigantic fan community. Occasionally a cool collectible.

The post 140 Characters: Steven Hill appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peri Reunites With The Sixth Doctor For Three New Audios

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.

Well, hello there, you discerning, classic Whovian, you! There has been death in heaven and talk of Father Christmas, but you’ve done the math. There is still quite a bit of time and turkey between now and the Doctor Who Christmas special. Not to worry, dear reader.

When there seems little else to do but fret about the potential leave takings of our current Doctor’s assistant, there is a wonderful opportunity to take your mind off of that. Indeed, a chance to revisit on of Classic Who’s favorite companions, Peri Brown! Big Finish has a trio of adventures, reuniting Nicola Bryant and Sixth Doctor Colin Baker, as they take on “dragons,” Daleks, and the Rani!

Up first (and available for your enjoyment now, I might add) is the Nev Fountain penned adventure, Doctor Who: The Widow’s Assassin, and it’s tease has the makings of a good old fashioned damsel in distress story:

“Once, long ago, in a land of monsters and corridors, a fair maiden was captured, and placed in a deep sleep. She was used to being captured, and she had a hero who rescued her on just such occasions. But this time the hero never came. And the fair maiden slept on. Eventually, a King rescued the maiden, and made her his bride, which many wise old women might tell you is just another way of capturing fair maidens. And still the fair maiden slept on. Then, the hero had another stab at rescuing the maiden from her prison, but he was too late. And, more importantly, he had forgotten the rules of fairy tales. He didn’t slay the dragon.”

In this month’s Doctor Who: The Masters of Earth, the Doctor and Peri find themselves unable to help a resistance stop the Daleks, trapped by one of the most cunning enemies the Doctor has faced yet, time itself:

“The year is 2163. Ten years since the Daleks invaded the Earth. One year until the Doctor, in his first incarnation, will help bring the occupation to an end. But for now, their reign of terror goes on. The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Peri to Scotland – enslaved, like everywhere else on the planet. But there are rumours of Dalek-free islands off its coast. Places where resistors and refuseniks are coming together, gathering arms and armour, preparing to strike back against the enemy. When the Doctor falls in with an unlikely group of freedom fighters making that dangerous journey to Orkney, he finds himself trapped – but not only by the Daleks, their robotised henchmen and their human collaborators. By history. Because history shows that for another year, resistance is useless…

The rebellion must fail – and as a Time Lord, the Doctor can do nothing to help.”

Then in December, Doctor Who: The Rani Elite completes the Peri trifecta as the Doctor and Peri are lured into a trap by the brand new incarnation of the Rani:

“The TARDIS arrives in the CAGE – not a trap, but the College of Advanced Galactic Education, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in colonised space. Not a trap. Or is it? The Doctor’s here to receive an honorary degree in Moral Philosophy. But there’s something rotten at the heart of the Medical Facility. Someone is operating on the students. Someone without a conscience. Someone with access to a Sidelian Brain Scanner – a technology that hasn’t been invented yet.

That someone is the ruthless Time Lord scientist known as the Rani – in her new incarnation. But will the Doctor and Peri recognise the Rani’s hand before her trap is sprung?”

All three adventures seem to promise to be cracking, especially the return of the Rani. If the story lives up to the tease, there may have to be a debate as to who is more diabolical – Michelle Gomez’ Missy/Master or Siobhan Redmond’s Rani.

All three adventures are either up for purchase or preorder at the above links. Tell us, fellow Kasterborites: are you ready to follow Peri and the Doctor on some new adventures? Let us know in the comments below!

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Death in Heaven: No Silver Lining

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.

This was the week Doctor Who went properly mad.

Doctor Who has always been a little bit mental though, hasn’t it? A phone box that’s bigger on the inside, helmed by a loony with two hearts and an ever-changing face? Utterly barmy. Somehow, it works.

Sadly, the same can’t be said about the Series 8 finale, Death in Heaven.

The Cybermen rampaging over the Earth, backed by an insane genius, should be a Heavenly idea, but this is more like The Next Doctor than The Invasion.

It’s Doctor Who, so temperaments rage at both ends of the fandom spectrum; Death in Heaven is, first and foremost, divisive. This is, perhaps, what writer Steven Moffat intended, seeing as Series 8 has been nothing if not provocative. The checklist includes: a Doctor we don’t immediately warm to (not, I have to add, the fault of Peter Capaldi); a companion we hardly recognise, thanks to her transformation between series (again, not Jenna Coleman’s fault); questions over whether the Doctor is a good man or not; a selfish moment where the Doctor disregards his companion due to his curiosity about what lies in the shadows; Danny basically despising the Doctor; the moon’s an egg; the Time Lord pushing Clara to make a terrible decision; the Master is a woman and she’s snogging the Doc… Oh and here’s what the afterlife looks like, ladies and gentlemen.

Michelle Gomez plays her wonderfully, wrestling control of every scene from her co-stars – a considerable achievement considering the talent on display.

Our favourite show pushes boundaries, plays with ideas, but there is an internal logic and appeal that carries the audience along. There is danger, balanced out by romance (not the kissy-kissy-Missy kind, but the let’s-fly-into-time-and-space-and-leave-your-troubles-behind variety). It’s where our own personal boundaries lie that has caused upset this 12-episode run.

I’ll get this out of the way: I hate the idea of the Master as a woman. This isn’t a chauvinistic thing – if it were the Rani outwitting the Doctor, I would’ve loved it – nor is it a trans-gender thing. This is all about character, and Missy simply isn’t the same one that we first saw in 1971. In each Doctor, you could see previous incarnations – but with Missy, I can’t connect those dots.

Nonetheless, as a character called Missy, she is fantastic. She is undeniably evil and “bananas,” she has terrifying charm and somehow a likeability factor. Moffat should be proud of creating such a mesmerizingly corrupted baddie. Michelle Gomez plays her wonderfully, wrestling control of every scene from her co-stars – a considerable achievement considering the talent on display.

I don’t fully believe Clara would’ve fallen for a man who is, let’s face it, a bit of a downer, has little ambition, and finds no wonder in coronal ejections and geomagnetic storms.

She is genuinely intimidating. I don’t know how Osgood could’ve stood in the same room as her for so long. Ah, poor Osgood. I loved her in The Day of the Doctor. I loved her here too, especially presenting her fan credentials in the form of some red sand shoes and a very cool bow tie. Her death was truly shocking and horrible. I really hope that one was a Zygon.

It was the seeming-demise of Kate Stewart (who still needs a Lethbridge in there please) that initially made me think Death in Heaven had gone too far. I was pleased to see her alive and well, though definitely not the manner of her escape from death – but we’ll come back to that later.

The Doctor is back to his heroic self and of course Capaldi is great. Arguably, the problem with the series is that the Doctor isn’t trustworthy enough, and he didn’t have that Eleventh Hour moment (“Hello. I’m the Doctor. Basically… Run”) until far too late (Flatline), and some parts of the audience feel alienated. But now he’s here and he’s going to stop all the monsters.

That’s why Danny’s verbal assault falls ultimately flat. Hey, Mr. Pink, stop raining on our parade. Sure, he’s endured terrible things but typically, we don’t warm to anyone mouthing off against our hero. I don’t fully believe Clara would’ve fallen for a man who is, let’s face it, a bit of a downer, has little ambition, and finds no wonder in coronal ejections and geomagnetic storms.

Again, the blame doesn’t lie at Samuel Anderson’s door: Clara turns on the emotional inhibitor and just look at that transformation, look at his face, stare at his eyes. I hadn’t realised before how good he really is.

I never bought into the Doctor’s need to know what the clouds were for either – because really, it was obvious, wasn’t it?

If the afterlife weren’t shocking enough, seeing his corpse inside a metal suit, drained of almost everything human, is perhaps a step too far. Cybermen rely on body horror, true, but they work best as a psychological nightmare.

CyberBrig did what he always did: saved the Doctor. But it’s been pointed out that he’s been brought back as one of his biggest foes. Hardly just. The Wedding of River Song did it right. Leave it at that.

The afterlife, too, was a fantastic idea and really well executed in Dark Water. I like how Doctor Who doesn’t pause to reassure those who don’t ‘get it’ fast enough, so if people want to freak out about it after the revelation that it’s not really what comes next, that’s fine by me. But that explanation was essentially done away with once the Doctor says that Missy’s been collecting minds for conversion ever since humankind came up with the idea of an afterlife. That’d be since society began. So yes, that might as well be the afterlife.

I can live with the notion that only a select few graves were converted to Cyberform but the implication that everyone we’ve ever loved (or at least those not cremated) are now puppets with no emotions is, once more, a step too far.

At best, it’s in poor taste; at worst, it’s sacrilegious.

That’s a massive shame because the Cybermen are brilliant. The idea behind them is thoroughly chilling: it has been since 1966. Moffat wanted to create a new Cyberman Classic, but establishes that if his tale is anything notable, it is only because it stands on the shoulders of giants. There are allusions to The Moonbase, Tomb of the Cybermen and The Invasion. It’s an invitation to indulge in those black-and-white episodes again.

I think there’s only one way to go after this: here, the Cybermen are masters of tech, each cell containing information on how to create more of their race; they can fly; they are a credible threat to the universe. Next time, we need them stripped back. I want those Tenth Planet versions back, simply to prove that they were always that terrifying.

Death in Heaven has left me with one positive feeling: I want to see more of the Twelfth Doctor. And that is, without a doubt, a good thing.

Their aim is the same as ever, and so, too, is Missy’s. Unlike many, I loved the notion that she did all this simply to show the Doctor that they’re not that different after all. She risked giving him an army to prove herself right: he’s a warmonger like her. It’s something Moffat has pondered upon before, notably in A Good Man Goes To War. As to what Missy wanted with Clara… Erm… Well…

Your feelings towards Death in Heaven can probably be summed up by your reaction to CyberBrig, resurrecting one of the greatest characters in the show. Yes, he did what he always did: saved the Doctor. But it’s been pointed out that he’s been brought back as one of his biggest foes. Hardly just. The Wedding of River Song did it right. Leave it at that.

Once more, there’s that niggling feeling that this can’t be the actual Brigadier anyway.

Clara, too, doesn’t feel like the same character that stepped onto the TARDIS and requested “something awesome”; back then, she was subtle and smart and scared. Travel changes you, yes, but this Miss Oswald is perhaps too far removed. She’s still great, but almost a completely different companion. She betrayed the same man who she inconsolably watched regenerate back on Trenzalore.

(If this really is her last adventure, it feels right that Jenna got first billing: she has been unrelentingly amazing ever since she started filming in May 2012. I really hope she comes back. Maybe Santa has that extra present for us.)

Doctor Who has always been an upbeat, idealistic and enjoyable show, but Death in Heaven is grim. Really grim. There are Cybermen in the clouds, yet there is no silver lining. This doesn’t 100% feel like the same show anymore. Instead of paying homage to the past, it does the dirty on its grave. It’s almost inexplicable but something doesn’t feel right.

Regardless of its failings, Death in Heaven has left me with one positive feeling: I want to see more of the Twelfth Doctor. And that is, without a doubt, a good thing.

So that was the Doctor Who Series 8 finale. What a way to go.

The post Death in Heaven: No Silver Lining appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Moffat: Osgood Death Proves Master Is “Shockingly Evil”

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.

Doctor Who‘s Series 8 finale featured a shocking moment when a UNIT member was brought back and needlessly killed off again.

We’re not talking about the seriously dubious presence of the Brigadier, of course, but Osgood, the scientific advisor. Her death – and subsequent glasses crushing by the Master – was enough to start a Twitter campaign to have her restored to life. Writer Steven Moffat, meanwhile, pre-empted #BringBackOsgood by explaining his rationale behind the decision in Doctor Who Extra:

“One thing I was very determined about was that the Master/Missy would have to kill somebody we liked in the most cruel, heartless and terrible way to absolutely say that this person is shockingly evil. Osgood was the one we flung on the fire to make the Master burn brighter.”

So that’s all right then. Perhaps the Master should have been out to conquer build an army of planet conquerng Cybermen from the bones of the dead in order for her to be portrayed as a bad ‘un.

Oh, right. She was. It seems actress Ingrid Oliver was a little disappointed, to say the least, when she discovered her character’s impending death.

“I got the script and I remember reading it and then it got to the bit where it says ‘and she is pulverised’ and I remember feeling sick. It’s Doctor Who, so anything could happen, surely?”

Not this time we fear.

As for the Master’s sudden death at the laser beam of an Old Soldier, Steven Moffat was clear that the Doctor’s nemesis would return…

“Supervillains don’t die do they! So I wouldn’t trust anything about that character’s ability to lie down and stop breathing.”

Watch the full Doctor Who Extra above - after all, there’s no new Who until Christmas!

 

 

The post Moffat: Osgood Death Proves Master Is “Shockingly Evil” appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

What The Press Thought: Death in Heaven Reviews Roundup

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.

“And that’s a wrap!” After eleven cracking episodes, Doctor Who Series 8 came to an “eventful” finish on Saturday with the airing of Death in Heaven. With everything that went down, it was beyond certain that the Internet’s best would have some opinions.

Did the second half of the finale live up to the hype? What sort of havoc did The Mistress cause? Did Danny hit the “delete” button? Faster than falling Cyber-rain, the Kasterborous News Blast, Death in Heaven Review Roundup Edition, is here to sort it all out. Spoilers are probable, so avert thine eyes, all those who haven’t seen the episode yet (you’ve been warned).

CultBox

CultBox’s Rob Smedley praises Gomez’s performance:

“Michelle Gomez continues to astound; her portrayal of Missy oh so fine she blows our minds. Watch her even when she’s not saying anything and you can see the talent bursting out of her. The amount of effort Gomez puts in to make something look effortless is extraordinary. You really believe there’s over 40 years of madness behind the lipstick; she has redefined The Doctor’s definitive nemesis. Against her insanity Capaldi beautifully executes the weariness of a man eternally fighting someone he’d rather love (take that as you will). Even with the aero-antics, there’s space to explore the rivalry and friendship that have kept them best of enemies, and for Moffat to make a satisfactory case for 40 years of enmity: Missy just wants her friend back, on her own terms. Psychiatrists, start your engines.”

MSN

Michael Hogan touches on where the episode leaves the Doctor and Clara:

“The bittersweet coda, with the Doctor and Clara going their separate ways, seemed clumsily set up as a cliffhanger. Though there have been rumours that Coleman is leaving the show, she will be back for the Christmas special, so perhaps all will become clear then. Mainly, though, it worked. The world-saving felt suitably epic for a finale and it had emotional heft: heart-rending without being mawkish.”

Tor

Tor muses that the tension Death in Heaven needed to be successful comes from Clara’s arc and not the Missy/Master “death spree”:

“It begins before the credits themselves do, with Clara outright claiming that she’s the Doctor. It’s a wonderfully literal twist on the journey she’s been on this season, growing from companion into Doctor, having to repeatedly make the hard choices and forgive the unforgivable. It resonates nicely with her actions at the beginning of “Dark Water,” as well. We’ve seen her hijack the Doctor for her own desires. Now she’s taken on his name and is using his reputation to stave off death in the same manner that we’ve seen him do many times before. The fiction of Clara as the Doctor has never been as close to reality as it is in this episode, and even the fiction of the show’s credits bow to this new reality, placing her name first and showing us her face instead of Capaldi’s. It also introduces a much-needed tension to the episode that the Master’s murder spree simply can’t create. Clara is the Doctor now, but as we all know, the Doctor is ever destined to lose those he cares about most. And eventually this culminates in the episode’s very, very, very best scene, with Clara pointing the sonic at her true love’s heart, his dead face pleading with her to finish him.”

Nerdist

Kyle Anderson gives Capaldi’s first season a grade:

“As for Capaldi, his first series, as I said, was a controversial one, but I don’t think anyone can argue about the quality of his performance. He brought some very different reactions and emotions to his portrayal which we hadn’t seen in the new series, and I think that’s wonderful. He’s blazing his own trail, and I’m especially excited if he does indeed find Gallifrey in the next series, because WOW! The Twelfth Doctor is magnificent.”

The Independent

Neela Debnath talks about the Thick of It reunion that didn’t happen and Michelle Gomez’s performance:

“Sadly, the Chris Addison-Peter Capaldi meet up never happened. But as deaths on Doctor Who go, Seb’s exit was memorable – no other character has been vaporized while doing “jazz hands”. Michelle Gomez gives a devilish and dazzling final performance as Missy the female master. She’s a twisted Mary Poppins with a flirty side – the Doctor even gives her a quick peck on the lips before she’s destroyed.”

The Register

Gavin Clarke takes issue with Danny’s portrayal in the finale:

“My chief problem was with Danny Pink. Was he really meant to be cast as such an intractable opponent to the Doctor? His spat fury at the Doctor as “blood-soaked general” for his supposed hypocrisy but this solider failed to comprehend the bigger strategic picture: the Doctor had to know what the clouds would do. Surely as a good solider he’d have seen that? In the spirit of the episode, Danny Pink should have preached less and sacrificed more willingly.”

SFX

SFX brings up the “love trumps Cybermen” rehash ending:

“The major problem, though, is the whole “love conquers all” ending. It’s not only comes across as cheesy, it doesn’t even make an awful lot of sense. Admittedly there are precedents for Cyber-conditioning not working: Yvonne Hartman in “Doomsday” and Craig Owens in “Closing Time”. However, both those moments felt cheesy too. Here the Doctor claims that Danny is able to resist because “Love is not an emotion. Love is a promise,” which must rate as one of the most spurious get-out clauses ever. Because, yes, love is an emotion, and what’s more, a promise is a pact based on emotions – love, loyalty guilt, friendship or whatever. But it we do accept that Danny’s love is strong enough to overcome conditioning, then why not other people’s love as well? Is he the only Cyberman (with one exception; we’ll come to that) who’s left a loved one behind? Maybe we’re supposed to believe that Danny’s love is stronger than other people’s, but then the resolution comes down a massive coincidence – the Doctor’s companion just happens to have the single most useful boyfriend for a situation like this. Or maybe his inhibitor just happened to be the only one on the blink. Either way, unmotivated coincidences in drama are a cheap fix.”

Be on the lookout for our own review of Death in Heaven as well. In the interim, a few closing personal remarks on the episode. Truth be told, I wasn’t happy after my first viewing. I fumed and ranted with my colleagues a bit and then I went to sleep. I watched a second time today and while I have some of what I would consider valid grievances (a la Cyber-Brigadier and I agree with SFXs take on the Cybermen), the episode as a whole was a good ending to the series and several arcs. It was certainly divisive. We were promised death and we got it.

However, until we’ve seen the teased Christmas episode and certain arcs have questions answered, it is difficult to really give this episode a final verdict. I think, in the same way that Name, Day, and Time of the Doctor played out almost as a trilogy, the two part finale and the upcoming Christmas episode will have that sort of feel as well. Time will tell.

What do you say, dear reader? Now you’ve had a chance to take things in, did the reviewers get it right? Let us know!

The post What The Press Thought: Death in Heaven Reviews Roundup appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.