Christian Cawley's Blog, page 228

Capaldi Honoured, Writer’s Rooms & Lego Doctor Who

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

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! Gather round for some Doctor Who news bites! Today we feature Peter Capaldi’s honors from the Royal Television Society of Scotland, the debate between using groups of writers versus a single writer to pen a show, a review of Paul McGann in Chekhov’s Three Sisters, and some new Who merchandise including some interesting takes on Legos…

Capaldi Honoured By Scotland

As if winning the coveted job of playing the Doctor wasn’t enough, the soon-to-be Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi was recently honoured by the Royal Television Society of Scotland for his many contributions to the television landscape of the UK.

With many roles and projects to his credit including the recent The Musketeers and what has been his most well known role on The Thick Of It, Capaldi has done many things in the entertainment world, from acting to writing to directing. He even has an Oscar to his credit.

In speaking to why Capaldi was chosen for the RTS Award, the jury had this to say -

An acclaimed writer, performer and director, Peter has achieved phenomenal success at home and abroad. Original, memorable, engaging and definitive – his contribution to television has been exceptional, and the committee feel he is a worthy and much deserved winner of this inaugural award.

Is it any wonder why he was chosen?!

(via Unreality Primetime)

Writing Teams or Solo Scribes?

Which model really works best? Is it the group of writers sitting around, discussing the on going plot lines and development of characters to create just one episode at a time in a 22 episode season like is frequently done in America or is it the show written by a single author for a much shorter season, sometimes just 6 or 8 episodes, like is common in Britian?

Variety’s Debra Birnbaum posed this question to a number of television writers and producers on both sides of the pond.

While having a group of writers can be a more expensive proposition, shows as big as the likes of Doctor Who are so large that a single scribe would have a hard time keeping every piece of the on-going story together. But with shows like Downton Abbey or Sherlock, a single writer’s vision for a character really can shine through.

Who’s head writer and showrunner Steven Moffat has had the experience with both types of productions, with a writer’s room model on Doctor Who and most recently having a separate, single writer, for each episode of Sherlock (which you could argue was sort of a hybrid of the multiple vs single writer models)

I don’t think the writers’ room and the showrunner model exists as a creative response as much as a necessity… How else would you imagine getting it all done?

When writers are left to focus on the story of the show, they can concentrate better and that leads to better shows. Gareth Neame, the producing partner of Julian Fellowes – who writes all of the episodes of the acclaimed Downton Abbey himself – says that’s exactly how it should be.

A lot of other parts of the making of the show can be taken off his hands so he can concentrate on the writing. That’s our system. The reason why our show works is that Julian isn’t being pulled into all of the other parts of the production.

The British model is much more like the film model, where the producer’s job is to find a property, put together an idea and a writer, and commission a writer to write that script. It’s much more like a film producer. The British writer is much more like the writer of a screenplay. He really doesn’t tend to have other responsibilities on the show besides the script.

It’s interesting to see that the British model has begun to influence American television. Shows on cable networks now regularly do not follow the traditional 22 episode schedule and leave the number of shows seeming up to how many it takes to fully allow the story to be told. I can think of a number of more recent US shows with long running story arcs like Heroes and Lost that would have been quite different had they only had 10 or 12 episodes to tell their story.

Police Box Bird Feeder

Looking for a Whovian decoration for your favorite outdoor feathered friends? How about giving them their own TARDIS?

The feeder can hold up to two pounds of seed. Maybe it really is bigger on the inside? You can get your own TARDIS bird feeder via Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Doctor Does Chekhov

Did you catch Paul McGann in Chekhov’s Three Sisters at the Southwark Playhouse?

The show recently completed it’s run of an updated version of the Russian classic. Anya Reiss’ adaptation set the classic around a British embassy located someplace in the world in the middle of unrest, though where was never exactly mentioned.

Paul McGann played Vershinin, the commanding officer who falls for the charms of Masha, one of the titular sisters, played by Emily Taffe. Jonathan Bazz reviewed the show, saying of McGann,

[he brought] a clipped maturity to the role… the evident fondness he displays for the world that the three women have created in exile is a gem of understatement in a classy performance. McGann’s name on the bill hints at a star quality performance and he does not disappoint.

While I was not privileged to take in a performance, I would think that McGann would give nothing less than a star quality performance, He has a grace about him that suits to varied roles, whether it be the quirky Doctor or a Russian officer.

Lego and Doctor Who

If you’ve been keeping up with all of the Whovian merchandise out there, you might know that while there are Lego mini figure sets for various fan favorites like Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, and Batman, there is not an official Lego set for Doctor Who. All official minifigs and playsets are made by Character Options and while they work quite well with Legos, there are some in the fandom that would like to see Lego acknowledge how popular Who has become and create minifigs for the Doctor, his companions, and the TARDIS.

Until that happens, there are a number of sources for custom made mini figures for various Doctors and companions.

MiniFigsMe is one such source. The company specialises in making custom Lego mini figures for the general public. Yearn to have your own personal mimifig? Want to give one to someone as a gift? MiniFigMe has a wide range of everything you need to create your own custom figure, from different types of hair and clothing and all sorts of accessories.

The company has added a version of the 6th Doctor to their line of various Doctors including black and white versions of the 1st and 2nd Doctors and a spiky haired vs flat haired 10th Doctor.



In other Lego Whovian news, Anthony Stackhouse would love to see Lego officially approve his design for a different type of Lego set. He has created a portrait of the Eleventh Doctor out of Lego bricks.

The portrait is made out of 4,000 Lego bricks and reportedly took Stackhouse six weeks to construct! Along with a number of other portrait designs, the Eleventh Doctor is up for a vote on the official Lego Ideas site. As of writing this, the set only had about 50 or so supporters and needs 10,000 votes to be accepted for official review so if you’d love to see this as an official Lego product, get voting!

And if you don’t know, there are two Doctor Who themed sets currently in review by Lego for possible production! They recently announced a new female scientists set but there is still hope that there might be an official DW set in the future!

The post Capaldi Honoured, Writer’s Rooms & Lego Doctor Who appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

All-New Doctor Who Comics Launching In The UK!

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.

Next month, Titan comics launches their brand new range of Doctor Who comics with The Eleventh Doctor #1 and The Tenth Doctor #1… and in October, The Twelfth Doctor #1 is coming too!

Released on 23rd July, there are shed loads of covers to collect including stunning art by Alice X. Zhang whose mix of realism and surrealism makes for some incredible pieces (which are also available as prints from the BBC Shop). Forbidden Planet even has a couple of variant covers by Des Taylor – but both (for Doctors Ten and Eleven) are pre-order only.

1st October’s The Twelfth Doctor also launches with five variant covers: Clara making another souffle by Mariano Laclaustra; the Zhang cover with a white background; a photo of Clara from Nightmare in Silver; a photo of Peter Capaldi, accompanied with that “100% Rebel Time Lord” spiel; and a blank cover, perfect for taking to conventions. Titan, however, warns that, due to licensing issues concerning Doctor Who Magazine, that ongoing series of Doctor Who comics will only be available in the UK and Ireland as a digital release.

Paul Hanley will also be releasing variant editions featuring all the Doctor’s faces, available exclusively from Heroes and Fantasies in San Antonio. He’ll also be doing signings to promote them. He has previous, of course, with . We’ve an in-depth interview with him in the very first issue of the Kasterborous Magazine, so be sure to check that out – it’s currently available free with the new issue 2!

You can pre-order the first four issues of The Tenth Doctor series from Forbidden Planet and the first three of The Eleventh Doctor now!

What do you think, dear readers? Impressed with the covers of these new Doctor Who comics (which somehow continue the look of IDW’s run)? Impressed with the creative teams? And, most importantly, will you be picking them up…?

The post All-New Doctor Who Comics Launching In The UK! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Wrongness of Torchwood & Recolourising Doctor Who

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.

The podKast is back this week with a spinoff of our hugely popular on-site discussion – thanks to Andy Frankham-Allen – about the inherent issues with Torchwood, the Doctor Who spinoff that ran from 2006-2011.

Following this we take a look at the issue of colourisation, and whether it should be used on any classic Doctor Who serials (or indeed whether any of them should be decolourised!).

Join Christian Cawley, James McLean and Brian Terranova for (just over) an hour of Whoniverse chat and occasional madness, and listen out for our selection of recommendations this week, which range from Doctor Who to a Beatles/Led Zeppelin mashup with a lot in between…

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 19 Shownotes

Shrinking TARDISes
Rik Mayall Obituary on Cult Britannia
Big Finish & Bernice: Scott Handcock Interviewed!
Why There Is Something Inherently Wrong with Torchwood

This week’s recommendations:

Doctor Who Celebration interview
20th Century Boys
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The Ribos Operation in The Key to Time Box Set
Iron Man 3
The Complete All Hail Megatron
Soundhog’s “Whole Lotta Helter Skelter” mashup

The Kasterborous PodKast theme tune is arranged by Russell Hugo. In case you were wondering.

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 The Wrongness of Torchwood & Recolourising Doctor Who appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

New Twelfth Doctor Novel Details & Preorder Links

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, dear readers! If you’re reading this sentence, I can probably glean at least two facts about you. The first, and most obvious, is that you at least have a moderate interest, nay love, for the Doctor and his long running adventures. The second is that you probably enjoy reading. After all, you are reading this article as we speak, hmmm? Thus, it is probably safe to say that you’re going to be interested in the latest details on the upcoming Doctor Who novels, featuring the Twelfth Doctor!

A trio of new adventures with the brand new Doctor and Clara were announced a while back but are now available for preorder and we have an inkling of what awaits the pair:

Doctor Who: Silhouette

Justin Richards’ upcoming novel Silhouette finds the Doctor and Clara reuniting with the Paternoster Gang (Vastra, Jenny, and Strax) as each one has their own mystery to solve:

“Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don’t need to bother them. Trust me.”

Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra.

Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran.

The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers.

How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? As the Doctor and Clara joint the hunt for the truth they find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem.

Doctor Who: The Blood Cell

The Doctor becomes the prisoner of the Governor (writer’s note: and now we know the name of the Doctor is Rick! — NK) James Goss’ Blood Cell:

“Release the Doctor – or the killing will start.”

An asteroid in the furthest reaches of space – the most secure prison for the most dangerous of criminals. The Governor is responsible for the cruellest murderers. So he’s not impressed by the arrival of the man they’re calling the most dangerous criminal in the quadrant. Or, as he prefers to be known, the Doctor.

But when the new prisoner immediately sets about trying to escape, and keeps trying, the Governor sets out to find out why.

Who is the Doctor and what’s he really doing here? And who is the young woman who comes every day to visit him, only to be turned away by the guards?

When the killing finally starts, the Governor begins to get his answers…

Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror

Mike Tucker brings us a world with giant, mutated insects and a long standing mystery in The Crawling Terror:

“Well, I doubt you’ll ever see a bigger insect.”

Gabby Nichols is putting her son to bed when she hears her daughter cry out. ‘Mummy there’s a daddy longlegs in my room!’ Then the screaming starts… Kevin Alperton is on his way to school when he is attacked by a mosquito. A big one. Then things get dangerous.

But it isn’t the dead man cocooned inside a huge mass of web that worries the Doctor. It isn’t the swarming, mutated insects that make him nervous.

With the village cut off from the outside world, and the insects becoming more and more dangerous, the Doctor knows that unless he can decode the strange symbols engraved on an ancient stone circle, and unravel a mystery dating back to the Second World War, no one is safe.

The new adventures are set to release on September 11th. The timing is rather curious in that the release date places the books arriving after the what is alleged to be the second episode of Series 8, assuming the rumored August 30th Series 8 premiere. Let’s take stock, shall we? This means that we’ll have only seen the Capaldi Doctor in two televised adventures. The concern that I think may crop up is how can these three separate authors already have a sense of who the Twelfth Doctor is when he’s barely started? Will their representation be an accurate portrayal of 12? Only time will tell.

Fellow Kasterborites, are you excited for these new novels? Let us know!

The post New Twelfth Doctor Novel Details & Preorder Links appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Brian Terranova In Men of Cosplay At Wizard World Comic Con!

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

Dressing up can be great fun, especially when one is attending a comic convention or another similar fandom experience. It can make the time (and money) spent even more enjoyable, because it declares out loud, to everyone else attending, your love of whatever fandom you’re a part of. It signals how passionate you are about whatever it may be, like your favorite superhero, your favorite villain, or even your favorite Doctor or companion, and can lead to meeting new friends who like the same things!

If you’re going to cosplay, as some call it, you don’t need to go to the greatest lengths to dress the same way a character does if they normally wear every day clothing instead of tights and capes. A good second hand tweed coat, a white button front shirt, a red bowtie and braces, and a pair of black pants with the cuffs rolled a bit instantly has you looking like the Eleventh Doctor. A gray jumper, a black leather coat and some black pants and you’ve got yourself a Ninth Doctor look. A old sleeveless wedding dress and a red wig and you’re a lovely vision like Donna.

If cosplaying is something you’d like to commit to as more than a one time thing, you could make or buy a more detailed look, even going as far as getting the  same item in the same brand that was worn by the character, like buying the Tenth Doctor’s brown pinstripe suit from Magnoli Clothiers and brown with blue squares Armani tie.

But even those who have been recreating character outfits for many years can have questions. So who better to ask than you’re fellow cosplayers?

If you happen to be attending the Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia this weekend (like I am!) then there is a panel you might just want to attend, with Kasterborous’ own Brian Terranova!

Men Of Cosplay, a panel about cosplaying from the male perspective, will be held on Friday, 20 June at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Room 107 at 1pm. Featuring noted Tenth Doctor cosplayer Brian Terranova among others, the panel hopes to provide a look into the world of costuming from the men’s side of the dressing room. Have questions about how to wear a tricky costume, like superhero tights or a suit of armour? Then join the discussion! (Ladies are also more than welcome to attend the panel. You might learn something too!)

So if you are attending Wizard World Philly, stop by! Brian will also be a member of a few other panels including a Doctor Who fan discussion as well as for the wonderful Torchwood fan film continuation series he is a part of called Legacy.

(This writer will also be floating around in her WW volunteer shirt – and my bowtie and braces…so say hello!)

The post Brian Terranova In Men of Cosplay At Wizard World Comic Con! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Have Stars Of Doctor Who Read You Wonderful Stories?

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.

A sweet item to start the week with a nice warm glow, this, as Kasterborous brings together the stars of Doctor Who to read a collection of children’s stories guaranteed to send you off to bed where you’ll have peaceful dreams and undisturbed slumber until morning. Pretty much the opposite of what you get from Doctor Who, really.

First up, courtesy of Radio Times, a quintet of new-Who stars appearing on BBC CBeebies’ Bedtime Story, the slot which aims to settle the little ones down at the end of the day and give their parents at least a sporting chance of getting them to bed with minimal tantrum action. The stories are very much aimed at a pre-school audience, as indicated by the amusingly informal introductions (“Hi! I’m David!”) and high prevalence of animal characters in the tales being recounted. The actors do a good job, in fairness, with particular plaudits going to Tennant and Kingston for their easy, engaging style. For my money John Simm is done no favours by his material, a tame tale about a rather middle class squirrel.

David Tennant, John Barrowman, Alex Kingston and more Doctor Who stars read CBeebies bedtime stories.

Now this is more like it. For kids who grew up in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s the BBC’s Jackanory slot was a compulsory part of the arriving home after school routine. Here we have Tom Baker in 1985, sporting a post-Doctor crew cut, reading Ted Hughes classic The Iron Man, a dark, brooding story that generations of kids have been disturbed by over the years. Now there’s a man who should have written for Doctor Who… Anyway, here’s Tom. I could listen to those rich chocolatey tones all day…

The undisputed king of Jackanory was Bernard Cribbins, his 111 appearances making him the most prolific reader from the programme’s original three decade run. Although Kenneth Williams was pretty good too. Cribbins was truly adored for the same avuncular charm he would later bring to the role of Wilf when he cropped up as Donna’s grandfather many years later. Here he’s reading Joan Aiken’s Mortimer’s Portrait on Glass in 1980:

Finally we take a slight diversion away from the TV show to enter the world of Big Finish with none other than the marvellous Sheridan Smith, Lucy Miller to Paul McGann’s Doctor in a great set of stories in recent years, the conclusion of which still makes me feel all delicate and emotional (sigh…). Here she is on Jackanory Junior, a revival of the classic show for younger viewers, again for CBeebies so inevitably it’s got talking animals in it…

Who would you have liked to read a Jackanory to you?

 

The post Have Stars Of Doctor Who Read You Wonderful Stories? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Eddie Izzard’s Doctor Who and the Daleks Routine

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.

Did you know that Eddie Izzard, sometime marathon runner and potential future mayor of London, used to be a standup comic? Of course you did – he still is.

But did you know that the comic – who made headlines when he revealed himself to be a tranvestite, a move that enabled him to dress as he pleased on stage – was also a Doctor Who fan? Other than being touted by the press as a good casting choice and suggesting himself for the role, he’s also performed a routine based largely on Daleks.

View it above – note that it predates nuWho by around 10 years.

The post Eddie Izzard’s Doctor Who and the Daleks Routine appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Essential Doctor Who #2: The TARDIS

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.

Panini’s new series of Doctor Who bookazines continues with an issue dedicated to the TARDIS.

The Essential Doctor Who: The TARDIS is a lavish 116-page guide featuring details of every major TARDIS story. There are exclusive new interviews with scriptwriters Steve Thompson (Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS) and Christopher H Bidmead (Logopolis, Castrovalva, Frontios), guest star Suranne Jones (Idris in The Doctor’s Wife), the show’s current production designer Michael Pickwoad and the Radiophonic Workshop’s Brian Hodgson, Dick Mills and Mark Ayres.

The publication also includes articles on TARDIS collectables, a history of the original police boxes by a retired superintendent, maps of the ship’s interior and a three-part guide on how to operate the console.

“The TARDIS is an essential part of Doctor Who, so we had to feature it in this series of bookazines,” says editor Marcus Hearn. “We’ve taken a fresh look at one of the show’s most familiar icons, and I’m pleased that we’ve been able to include so much previously unpublished material.”

The Essential Doctor Who: The TARDIS is on sale now at WH Smiths and all good newsagents, price £9.99.

The post The Essential Doctor Who #2: The TARDIS appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

MBEs, Cartmel, Doctor Who: Legacy & TARDIS Spoiler Snaps

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 time for another Doctor Who news blast, in which we round up some of the less vital but nevertheless fascinating items of the past few days. This time, MBEs, legacies, script editors, returns and some spoiler TARDIS snaps…

Birthday Honours: MBEs for Barrowman and Gardner

First of all, if you’re at all interested in awards from people who live in castles and command armies, you’ll be thrilled to learn that a pair with Doctor Who connections have been awarded an MBE: John Barrowman and former executive producer Julie Gardner.

Says Gardner of her Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours list:

“I have filmed all over the world. But the talent, stamina and sheer fun of the writers, cast and crews I’ve worked with in Wales is beyond compare. I am lucky; I get to keep this award. But I am accepting it for all those brilliant people who have made my job such an absolute joy, and for my dad who will be the talk of Glynneath. My proudest achievement has been to successfully bring Doctor Who to Wales. From there, through Torchwood, Casualty and Da Vinci’s Demon’s, Wales’ position in the global television industry goes from strength to strength. I am hugely proud to have been a part of that journey and will work hard so that this is just the beginning.”

Meanwhile Captain Jack actor John Barrowman – currently filming the second series of Arrow – had this to say:

Andrew Cartmel Recalls Script Editing

He was the man with a Master Plan: Andrew Cartmel, Doctor Who script editor from 1987-1989, has recently chatted with the Doctor Who News and Opinion blog about his time on the show, and perhaps more interestingly, his thoughts about other eras.

Cartmel is also frank about his first story, Kasterborous reverse-favourite Time and the Rani:

I really wish I could have done a better job on that, and that it had turned out better, but failing that, I think I should have not had my name on it as Script Editor, because I cannot take any credit…..for people who loved that show, it was really nothing to do with me, and for people who hate it…..I refuse to take any blame!

How Far, Doctor Who: Legacy, How Long Have You Lived?

Fans of the popular smartphone game Doctor Who: Legacy will be interested to learn about a comprehensive blog post from the game’s creative director, in which a few things are explained (such as the game’s refusal to spam friends on Facebook) and outlined (some thoughts for the future, for example).

Anyone who has wondered just how long they might be playing the game should take note of tihs:

When we say “we’ll keep going all the way back to an unearthly child” we really mean it – we’ll keep doing this as long as you want us to be here =)

You should really read that article. Honestly. ALL OF IT.

Toby Hadoke Returns!

Toby Hadoke has apparently been in hiding after receiving threats believed to be from a wiry haired Scot. The reason? His superb interviews with Russell T Davies, former Doctor Who “supremo” (oops, we’ve turned into a tabloid) which rocketed the much-loved Welsh giant (whose fingers LITERALLY BEAM WORDS INTO YOUR MIND) back into the Doctor Who fan consciousness gestalt.

Fortunately after the microphone-headed skirt wearer was dealt with by authorities when returning from Lanzarote, Hadoke has been able to resume his highly important work in speaking to people involved with Doctor Who‘s 50 years in order to get stories about every single episode. In the latest Who’s Round, Toby Hadoke talks to none other than David Troughton, son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, who has made four appearances in the show, most recently in 2008′s Midnight.

(Note: some of the above may not be true.)

TARDIS Spoilers, But Not Here

Looking for some Doctor Who Series 8 spoilers but were afraid to ask? It’s just 12 weeks until the August Bank Holiday weekend, and we’re expecting our favourite show to return by then. So with this in mind, you’ll understand why we’re not showing  you some recent photos of the Doctor (Peter Capaldi, yay!), Clara (Jenna Coleman) and the TARDIS (um, a frankly magnificent time ship) on location.

Seriously, you will kick yourself if you check this out on Blastr.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The post MBEs, Cartmel, Doctor Who: Legacy & TARDIS Spoiler Snaps appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Has the Internet and Social Media Killed Fan Meetups?

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.

The Guardian has published a very interesting piece by fellow Whovian and Doctor Who  author, Jenny Colgan, on the history of the “Doctor Who Fan Clan” that has regularly met at The Fitzroy Tavern for over 30 years. The tavern is set to close up shop for renovations and Colgan has pondered if this may mark the end of the monthly meeting of Whovians in London.

Known primarily for bad beer and its status as the former hangout for intellectuals like author George Orwell, “The Tavern” also served as a bastion for Whovians during the 16 year wilderness period between McCoy’s last adventure and the first time we heard Eccleston tell Rose to “run.” As a matter of fact, Colgan notes that the monthly meeting featured attendees that would go on to be some of the most influential individuals working on NuWho (i.e. RTD, Steven Moffat, Nicholas Briggs, Paul Cornell, etc.). Says current show runner, Steven Moffat, of the meetings:

“That form of fandom was much more active than it is now. You only had what you could create yourself. There was no Who on TV. We had nothing.”

If you flash forward to today (with your mind-TARDIS, dear readers!), the monthly meeting has declined in its numbers and Colgan speculates that perhaps the temporary shutdown of the Fitzroy Tavern may be the end of the “Fan Clan,” and puts forth the question, “Can the gathering survive the closing of its home?” The answer is maybe yes, maybe no. While the closing may end up being the catalyst that sees the end of the meeting, the real reason for its decline and ultimate demise may have nothing to do with lack of upkeep or “substandard lager.” Indeed, perhaps the real culprit is the Internet and social media. As Colgan notes, it isn’t hard to find someone to talk to about Doctor Who on the Internet (Kasterborous and our fantastic forums for example!). How many multitudes of fan groups exist on Facebook? Oh, and that shiny electric monolith you may be reading this very paragraph on? The game has certainly changed.

As Colgan notes, it isn’t hard to find someone to talk to about Doctor Who on the Internet!

Picture this scenario: It’s the first Thursday of the month in London. You’ve had a long day at the office. The boss has really tightened the screws on you and you’re just ready to get to the house/apartment/townhome/mansion/cave to unwind. You have a couple of options at your disposal. You can a.) Drag yourself back out into town and hit the Tavern for a lovely evening of Whovian discourse or b.) You can pop the top off your favorite gentlemanly beverage from your refrigerator, chill on your sofa, queue up some Doctor Who on Netflix, and have some of the same discourse you’d have had at the tavern on Facebook or Internet forum (maybe even with someone sitting in the Tavern at that very moment!) via your smartphone/tablet/laptop. I’m willing to make a small wager that the second option wins more often than it loses, and maybe that’s OK.

Technology has made it easier to connect with likeminded people anywhere in the world, but’s it’s also caused us to lose some of that face to face interaction that still has such incredible value to us as individuals and as a fandom. For example, I can promise you that meeting and having a conversation with Matt Smith or Tom Baker in person is going to be more precious to me than having a Skype call or IM session with either one of them (Writer’s Note: that last sentence is totally true, but I would still geek out over the chance to Skype or IM Baker or Smith! – NK).

That being said, perhaps we need to make it a priority to keep these fan gatherings alive. By all means, embrace new technology and ways to promote our beloved show; just don’t, as we Americans often say, throw the baby out with the bath water. Hopefully, the original Fitzroy group will find a temporary (or permanent) new venue for their meeting. That group’s contribution to Doctor Who has been too valuable for it just vanish into the ether for good.

So what say you, fellow Kasterborites? Do you have a local spot (or group if the venue changes) for Whovian discourse? Have you ever been to the Fitzroy Tavern or fortunate enough to have been part of one of these legendary “fan clan” meetups? Sound off below! We’d love to hear your stories and experiences!

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