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Reaktion Round-up: What You Thought of Sleep No More

David Power 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 Christmas Day! I haven’t missed it!”, is what I’d say to myself If I hadn’t hibernated through Christmas right into 2016. Personally I think it’s better that I didn’t get the last few round-ups done before Christmas like I originally said, as this way it allows you to reminisce about Series 9 in a new nostalgic way, since it’s now the Who of yesteryear. In fact, yeah! That was definitely my plan this entire time! You’re welcome! Anyway, Sleep No More:

Best of the best 4.38%  (13 votes) 

Scarily good 26.6%  (79 votes) 

Terrifyingly average 31.99%  (95 votes) 

Rubbish 20.2%  (60 votes) 

I wish that found footage had never been found 16.83%  (50 votes)

Well this episode was one of the most divisive I’ve seen in a very long time. Going onto Twitter right after this aired unleashed a sea of either passionate adoration or disgust, depending where you looked.

Personally I liked the episode, I thought it could’ve been a little more polished, but it was simply refreshing to see a 52 year old show still able to experiment even after all this time. I was always fond of stories where the Doctor and Co. just stumble into the middle of a story that’s already in progress without them. It felt more realistic somehow, that given the TARDIS’ history the Doctor wouldn’t even show up at the start of the story, like most protagonists are supposed to.

Sleep No More was rough around the edges. The space between the revelation that the helmets don’t have head-cams, and the Doctor remembering that fact, seemed far too long. It creates an unusual period when the audience is waiting for the Doctor to catch up with them. The ending also happens chaotically, with important dialogue hard to hear over the sound of explosions. That being said, there was still a lot to be enjoyed here, Reece Shearsmith’s  Rassmussen was a fascinating villain, which also contributed to a very rare type of Doctor Who ending where the villain wins. Also, that comment on putting “space” before everything? Gold.

Ratings took a hit this week. The overnights fell from 4.13m to 4.00m, and the overalls also fell from 6.03m for The Zygon Inversion to 5.61m for Sleep No More, making it the lowest overalls of any episode of Who since it came back in 2005. This unfortunate fact was accompanied by the Appreciation Index score decreasing from Inversion‘s 84 to 78, the lowest since 2006’s Love & Monsters, which got a 76.

So, what did all of you think?

Next up, we’ve got single parter Face the Raven by new writer Sarah Dollard. It’ll probably be some entertaining filler until we get to the finale. Anyway, till the next time!

 

The post Reaktion Round-up: What You Thought of Sleep No More appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

See Matt Smith as Prince Philip in The Crown [TEASER]

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.

Netflix, the television giant also responsible for Jessica Jones (the Marvel series starring David Tennant), has released a teaser for their upcoming show, The Crown… and the Internet’s going wild for Matt Smith as the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip!

The Eleventh Doctor star goes blonde and marries the Queen. Basically.

Frankly, it’s great seeing Matt bring his typical charm, charisma, and edge to another role. This looks like a major part for him, and Whovians who miss him in their favourite show (myself included) are bound to enjoy seeing him back on the box.

The Crown is a Netflix-exclusive 10-part series charting the monarchy during the 2oth Century, focusing primarily on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, played by Claire Foy. You’ll also see John Lithgow as Sir Winston Churchill, Dame Eileen Atkins as Queen Mary, and Greg Wise as Lord Mountbatten.

The show is written by Peter Morgan (The Damned United), and Season 1 airs later this year.

The post See Matt Smith as Prince Philip in The Crown [TEASER] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Five Books To Read While Waiting for Series 10

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.

With no official word yet on when Series 10 will appear, Doctor Who fans may be in for a long wait for new televised adventures. But don’t despair! The worlds of Doctor Who have long-since expanded beyond the four corners of the TV screen into books, audios and a whole galaxy of other collectables.

If you’re in need of your Time Lord fix in the months ahead, you could do lot worse than seek out some of the wealth of titles, both recently published and on the slate for 2016, which explore the series and take it to places we never saw before. Join us as we present the Kasterborous guide to the top Doctor Who books to read while waiting for series 10!

Doctor Who: Impossible Worlds

Highly rated on its release in late 2015, this lavish title by Stephen Nicholas and long-time Doctor Who effects designer and writer Mike Tucker presents pre-production art, photos and commentary covering the history of the series, all beautifully presented in large format glossy pages.

Other recent non-fiction titles worth a look include The Time Lord Letters (a collection of correspondence which re-imagines various on and off-screen adventures as a series of letters written both by and to the Doctor), Whoniverse: An Unofficial Planet-by-Planet Guide to the Worlds of the Doctor from Gallifrey to Skaro which does what it says in the title and, for those who fancy indulging their creative side, Doctor Who: The Colouring Book, which blends our favourite show with the recent phenomenon of adult colouring books in a nicely presented, intricate series of images from all eras of the programme. Time to sharpen up those pencils!

Doctor Who: The Legends of Ashildr

Fans of Me (by which I mean the character played by Maisie Williams rather than, y’know, me…) will no doubt be curious to read this collection of four stories which fill in the long lifespan of the girl who lived a very long time indeed. Pick of the bunch looks to be Jenny T Colgan’s The Triple Knife, though you’ll need to steel yourself for the harrowing tale of how Ashildr came to lose her children in the plague…

Other new fiction titles worth a look include AL Kennedy’s The Drosten’s Curse, a Fourth Doctor novel now in paperback, and Time Lord Fairy Tales, a rather whimsical collection of classic fairy stories with added Doctor Who elements. An audiobook is due in April with readers including Tom Baker, Paul McGann and Michelle Gomez.

The Fifth(ish) Doctor

Due in April, Peter Davison’s autobiography will be the pick of 2016’s releases for many people. It’s been a while since we had a former Doctor tell their life story in print and Davison’s extensive acting career, which includes a wealth of other shows aside from Doctor Who, promises to make this a fascinating read.

Peter has a nice line in witty, self-deprecating stories and analysis which will be familiar to all who have viewed him on behind-the-scenes features, documentaries and commentaries, and should translate well on the page.

The Doctor’s son-in-law, David Tennant (you might’ve heard of him) will pen the foreword.

Doctor Who and the State of Decay (Audiobook)

Those who enjoy passing the time on a long journey or dreary commute with an audiobook have been spoilt for choice in recent years as BBC Audio works its way through the catalogues of both classic-era Target novelisations and stories published in the long years when the series was off the screen. They’re not just straight readings of the text either, augmented as they are by specially created music and sound effects and accompanied by guest voices (Nick Briggs has been kept busy on non-Big Finish duty by reading-in Dalek and Cybermen voices for a number of stories).

This title sees Doctor Who elder statesman Terrance Dicks adapt his own script and it’s a chilling tale vampires, villagers, and very old Time Lord legends. Doctor Who Magazine describes it as ‘perfect for listening to in chunks or for settling down on a dark and stormy night’.

Tip of the Tongue

The announcement of new BBC3 Doctor Who spin-off Class may have been greeted with a less-than wholeheartedly enthusiastic reception but probably the most interesting aspect of the Coal Hill School-set project is that it will be overseen by popular author Patrick Ness. Those curious to read a sample of his work set in the Doctor Who universe can try this short story from the 11 Doctors, 11 Stories collection (also included in the 12 Doctors, 12 Stories box set) which sees the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa investigate strange goings-on in the Second World War.

There are plenty of other titles in the Ness back catalogue to try as well, including his Chaos Walking Trilogy and A Monster Calls (an adaptation of which is coming to cinemas this year).

That’s our pick of books to read in the long months as we wait for Series 10 – what will you be reading? Let us know below – and happy reading!

The post Five Books To Read While Waiting for Series 10 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Darvill’s Legends of Tomorrow is “Guardians Meets Doctor Who”

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.

You’ve likely heard about Arthur Darvill’s new show in which he plays a time traveller… And it seems that the Mark Pedowitz, the President of television network, CW, is a fan of Doctor Who – and has gone so far as paralleling our favourite show with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Legends of Tomorrow collects together many heroes from DC Comics, headed by the time-jumping Rip Hunter, played by Darvill, who of course played Rory Williams from 2010 to 2012.

Pedowitz told Entertainment Weekly:

“It is fun, it’s big, it’s lighter than [other DC shows] Arrow and The Flash. It has great actors with great auspices. I’ve seen four hours. I get popcorn every time I watch it. It’s a fun big show. It’s a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy meets Doctor Who. And it takes your mind off the troubles of the world.”

Guardians of the Galaxy is obviously the Marvel film which stars Karen Gillan as Nebula.

Alongside Darvill, Legends of Tomorrow stars Brandon Routh as the Atom, Ciara Renee as Hawkgirl, Caity Lotz as White Canary, Dominic Purcell as Heat Wave, Victor Garber as Professor Martin Stein, Franz Drameh as Jax Jackson, Wentworth Miller as Captain Cold, and Casper Crump as antagonist, Vandal Savage. The show will also cameo Grant Gustin and Stephen Amell as The Flash and Arrow respectively.

Legends of Tomorrow premieres on CW on 21st January at 8pm.

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Coming Soon: The Legends of River Song

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.

Following her possibly-last adventure on-screen in The Husbands of River Song, and her Big Finish debut in The Diary of River Song: Series One, Alex Kingston’s greatly-loved (but divisive) character will appear in a short story collection very soon.

The Legends of River Song will first be available as an ebook in one month’s time, then released in hardback in June.

The book contains stories from Jenny T. Colgan (Dark Horizons; Into the Nowhere), who also contributed to the Big Finish audio release; Steve Lyons (The Stealers of Dreams; The Witch Hunters); Jacqueline Rayner (Oh No It Isn’t!; The Last Dodo); Andy Lane (All-Consuming Fire; The Mahogany Murders); and Guy Adams (Torchwood: The House That Jack Built; The Pyramid of Sutekh).

Editor, Justin Richards told DWM:

“These are just a few of River Song’s exploits, extracted from her journals. Sometimes, she is with the Doctor. Sometimes, she’s on her own. But wherever and whenever she may be, she is never far from danger and excitement.”

This collection follows a similar book, The Legends of Ashildr, charting the journey of Maisie Williams’ Series 9 character. Are we to expect a Legends trilogy? The final one, I’d suggest, could be Captain Jack Harkness… or even the Doctor himself.

The ebook will be made available from 11th February for £8.34 (no, I don’t know why it’s such an odd amount), while the HC, priced £9.99, is out on 2nd June. You can pre-order the latter for just £7.99 from Amazon UK now.

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Titan Comics’ Four Doctors Signing Event in London

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.

To celebrate the release of the graphic novel of Titan Comics’ Summer event, The Four Doctors, writer Paul Cornell and artist Neil Edwards will be signing copies of the book this Wednesday 13th January.

The pair will be at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore on Shaftesbury Avenue from 6- 7pm, signing the FP exclusive edition of the collection, with a cover paying homage to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

The story sees a team-up of the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors for the first time ever, dealing with an after-effect of the War Doctor’s actions of Marinus during the Time War. You can gather from our series of reviews that we all enjoyed the tale, especially seeing the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors deal with Peter Capaldi’s grumpier incarnation of the Time Lord. It was also great to see Clara Oswald conversing with the comic-only companion, Alice Obiefune and Gabby Gonzalez.

And everyone at Kasterborous was over the moon to see one of our reviews quoted on the advert for The Four Doctors; UK readers can see that on the back of the comic compilation, Tales from the TARDIS #01.

Paul Cornell, of course, is the writer of Father’s Day and Human Nature/The Family of Blood, while Neil Edwards has a great comic book portfolio including Scarlet Spider, Fantastic Four, and Transformers.

If you can’t make it to the signing this Wednesday, you can order a copy for £10.99 from Forbidden Planet.

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Sherlock: The Most Watched UK Show of Festive Season

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

The final figures are in and Sherlock: The Abominable Bride has been confirmed as the most watched show over Christmas.

The special, set (for the most part… maybe) in Victorian times, was seen by 11.6 million people, making it the second most-watched episode of Sherlock. (The Empty Hearse takes the number one spot there, the speculation about how Holmes survived his Reichenbach Fall attracting 12.7 million detectives-in-the-making back in 2014.) The Abominable Bride beat heavy-hitters including the last ever Downton Abbey, the bizarrely-popular Mrs. Browns Boys, and admittedly Doctor Who‘s latest offering, The Husbands of River Song.

The second most-watched show was the New Year fireworks display on BBCOne, attracting 11.4 million.

The Abominable Bride‘s overnight figures were 8.41 million, with a 34.7% audience share. Producer, Sue Vertue said:

“We are thrilled to be a hit in both 2016 and 1895.”

And Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBCOne, added:

“After a two year wait, it’s incredible to see the indisputable power of Sherlock bringing the nation together to make it the biggest show of the festive season. It’s a tribute to the talented team behind this much loved show.”

The special also topped box office charts in China. No, seriously. It did.

Sherlock Series 4 will air… sometime in the future. Probably.

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Titan Comics’ Twelfth Doctor #16 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.

Look over there! Under the Christmas tree! What do you mean, it’s January?! Look – there. There! It’s a comic book: a present from Titan Comics.

Yep, it’s the Doctor Who Christmas Special from the company that’s been bringing us top-quality stories starring Doctors Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Twelve since July 2014. Writers, George Mann and Cavan Scott seem to have brainstormed what people want from Christmas, and created a wonderful cocktail of festive delights: snow, baubles, lights, a roaring fire, sometimes-creepy toys…

Nostalgia plays a big part in Christmas, and appropriately, so too in The Twelfth Doctor #16. You’ll have guessed this if you’ve seen any previews of the issue.

Indeed, the very first page of Relative Dimensions has the Doctor and Clara summoned to a mysterious house, the Doctor pulling at a door-handle, and someone shouting “Grandfather? Is that you?”

And then there’s the following two-pages, showing us a Christmassy room filled with former companions: Amy and Rory; Donna; K9; and right in the middle – Susan.

Okay, everyone’s already guessed that something’s going on, but that doesn’t stop this from being a thoroughly entertaining and satisfying story. It’s a real joy, staying just on the right side of fan fiction. That’s always a danger when a writer throws lots of much-loved elements in the mix, but we’ve faith in Scott and Mann, and it pays off.

This perhaps had the potential to be a Big Story, but instead, we get a wonderfully understated and surprisingly intimate conclusion that’s a tribute to the past. “All my love to long ago,” the Tenth Doctor once said, and that’s this comic to a tee. This is almost a tribute to the First Doctor, William Hartnell, but there’s also a pleasing nod to the Curator from The Day of the Doctor (2013) in the penultimate panel.

Nonetheless, the creative team embrace the format of the issue perfectly. If it weren’t for a gorgeous double-page spread starring all sorts of greatly-loved enemies, the most memorable splash is a two-page Snakes and Ladders board that the Doctor and Clara have to travail. It’s stunning. Marvel fans might be reminded of Daredevil, particularly the work of Chris Samnee.

Artist, Mariano Laclaustra should be applauded for the time he’s put into every page (as should colourist, Carlos Cabera). He makes smart decisions with layout, and gives the tale a real flow. His only misstep is in depicting some of the companions- in particular, there are two who I really can’t identify at all – not aided by their indistinct clothing. But that’s nothing compared to the incredible detail throughout the issue.

Not only is Relative Dimensions a wonderful Christmas treat, but it’s also the ideal conclusion to ‘Year One’ of Titan Comics’ The Twelfth Doctor.

The post Titan Comics’ Twelfth Doctor #16 Reviewed appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Pre-Order The Twelfth Doctor’s Jacket From AbbyShot

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.

AbbyShot are back with another stunning replica of the Doctor’s ever-distinctive style… And it’s a first from the company: the Twelfth Doctor!

Peter Capaldi’s initial look impressed Whovians worldwide: dark, sleek, cool, and somewhat reminiscent of the Third Doctor. AbbyShot’s Twelfth Doctor Coat is officially-licensed, and comes in a deep navy blue wool with fierce red lining and navy buttons. The back vent and soft-to-the-touch fabric might not protect against all many of monsters, but you’ll sure feel good putting it on every morning! It’s fitted too, meaning it won’t slip off.

The jacket is available to pre-order now, and is expected to ship late this month.

It also has two inside and two outside pockets, ideal for the sonic screwdriver, jelly babies – or maybe a Target novelisation!

 

Here’s hoping this sees a return of the jacket on-screen; the Twelfth Doctor has looked a bit – dare I say it? – scruffy throughout Series 9, what with his so-called ‘Whoodie’, but things may be looking up for Series 10…

The coat is also finished off with a new TARDIS label on the inside of the neck, and a quirky (screen-accurate) red button on the cuff.

American fans can order the coat for $249.99 from AbbeyShot.

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Titan Comics Reveal Exclusive Wizard World Variant

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.

To celebrate Matt Smith attending Wizard World Comic convention in Portland, Oregon in February, Titan Comics are releasing a special exclusive cover variant.

Drawn by Simon Fraser, the art adorns the cover of Titan’s The Eleventh Doctor #2.3, written by Rob Williams and Si Spurrier:

The Doctor and Alice have met persistent foes before – but never anything like THE THEN & THE NOW, the group of supremely strange cosmic bounty hunters sent to bring them to justice! It’s getting so they can’t even solve an intergalactic war crime without having to flee for their lives!

Fraser will be at the convention, as will a number of companions from Matt Smith’s era: Karen Gillan aka Amy Pond; Arthur Darvill, better known as Rory Williams; and Alex Kingston (River Song). Furthermore, John Barrowman will be in attendance, channelling his best Captain Jack Harkness.

Wizard World Comic Con Portland runs from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st February at the Oregon Convention Centre – and that’s where you can pick up the exclusive variant cover. To find out more, visit the Wizard World website.

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