Christian Cawley's Blog, page 229

John Hawley Built A Robot K-9

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.

There’s something about Doctor Who that brings out the creative instinct in people. For some it may inspire them to write stories, create websites or produce their own short films. Big Finish was set up and has been run successfully for years by people who love the show. There’s a strong case to be made that the series would never have been revived at all if it hadn’t been for gifted folk who used their love of the show to keep the flame alive during the long years of BBC indifference.

So let’s hear it for those wonderful people who do brilliant things, for no particular reason other than that they want to do something that brings their enjoyment of the programme alive. That’s certainly the case for John Hawley, who has constructed the Doctor’s faithful robot companion for, in his own words, ‘a lark’.

John, clearly a rather brilliant technical whizz, has built a fully operational K-9 which has its own sensors and GPS system, and runs on a Linux control program operated by an Xbox remote. Amusingly, the metal mutt has 3 inch tank treads and can go ‘over any terrain’. Oh, how the production team of the late 1970s would weep to read that as they recall those long interruptions while Matt Irvine and the boys did their utmost to get that damned dog going after he’d packed up yet again. See it in action at Slashdot.com.

K-9 may not have been to everyone’s liking when he featured in the show but, the Daleks aside, he’s probably the most oft-reproduced character in Doctor Who’s history, and in a remarkable range of formats. There’s been radio controlled K-9′s, toy K-9′s, usb-hub K-9′s … And many others like John have shown impressive creativity and dedication by building their own version. Kasterborous reported in March on William Reichardt’s stunning creation, powered by a Raspberry Pi.

In truth, John hasn’t gone to quite the same lengths as William in his quest to build an accurate replica, and there’s no danger that his version could be mistaken for the real thing as it happily trundles around conventions, keeping fans entertained as they queue for their autographs. But there’s nothing wrong with that, I reckon. In many ways it’s to be admired when, rather than opt to make a slavishly accurate replica, someone like John opts to stamp his own personality on their creations.

There’s a lovely shot in Doctor Who Magazine 473′s  tribute to Christopher Barry of his kids playing back in the 1960′s. One’s invisible beneath their shop-bought Dalek costume. But another, as the caption tells us, has been forced to improvise and has opted for a cardboard box with holes torn out for his arms and face. He may not look much like a Dalek, but you can bet that in that moment he didn’t care a jot about that as he set about exterminating his enemies in the back garden. Creativity and imagination, y’see. Doctor Who’s history is littered with it.

(with thanks to Jake)

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Doctor Who Experience to Regenerate in September!

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.

Cardiff’s Doctor Who Experience will shut its doors for six weeks from 1st September – in order to regenerate!

Currently, the Experience sees visitors save the Eleventh Doctor from the Pandorica (2 – yes, they built another one and didn’t even paint it a different colour), but Eleven’s Hour is over now; the clock is striking Twelve’s. Bow tie-wearing fans have got until 31st August to see the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, in action at the exhibition one final time before a new storyline will encompass the specially-built site with Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi.

BBC Worldwide hope to have the new exhibition (complete with props from Series 8) ready for the school holidays at the tail-end of October.

And starting tomorrow, the Doctor Who Walking Tours also return, taking you around Cardiff to locations used in the series. The tours will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 14th June and 20th July, and more regularly throughout the summer holidays, but for further details – and to book tickets of course – check out their website. The Experience also houses the only official Doctor Who shop… which even includes Target novels!

It’s a Time Lord’s dream (it’s also paradise for humans).

In October 2012, Matt Smith told Kasterborous:

“To have all these monsters – all these Doctor Who-related things – under one roof is an absolute joy. It’s fantastic. And I’m very proud to be part of a show that can put on an event like this.”

On a personal note, I’m very sad that the inevitable is imminent. As I’ve previously mentioned, Matt is My Doctor and it’s a harsh fact that this part of history has to come to a close. Nonetheless, I’m sure the Doctor Who Experience will continue to be absolutely excellent. I’ve visited a number of times – each time was a joy – and fully recommend it to everyone.

The post Doctor Who Experience to Regenerate in September! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Why There Is Something Inherently Wrong with Torchwood

Andy Frankham-Allen 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.

Children will want to watch Torchwood because it is a spin-off from Doctor Who and features a much-loved companion.

Let me make this perfectly clear to begin with; I love Doctor Who. So much so that I spent half a year watching every single available episode, listened to more audios than I care to mention and read more words than you’d believe possible in half a year — all to write the ultimate guide to the Doctor’s companions. This uber project is what led me to this article; studying the life of Captain Jack Harkness made me see a few things I didn’t like about Torchwood.

Actually, no. It’s even worse than that.

This is not a case of personal tastes. There are some great Torchwood episodes; episodes that I love but others hate. Children of Earth was phenomenal. This is something much worse, something inherent in the show. Something rotten at its core. But before I explore this, let me backtrack and put things in context.

When Doctor Who made its triumphant return to TV in 2005 a lot of care was taken by those who made it; all kinds of things were considered in an effort to make it the best kind of show. A true family televisual event. There was even proper discussions about whether or not they should show people dying on-screen (the recent Golden Age documentary on The Tenth Planet DVD shows this clearly, when comparing the Auton attacks of Spearhead from Space and Rose).

Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson took this all very serious; they knew they were redefining a cultural icon. They could not get this wrong. And they didn’t. Regardless of personal taste (there are plenty who love the RTD era, and loads who heap derision upon it) it was a huge success — the biggest, most incredible comeback in the annals of television history. Still, nine years on, we’re riding the wave of success thanks to the hard work and commitment shown by these three people.

In 2006, the BBC were so impressed with the show they asked for a spin-off. Davies and Gardner were more than happy to oblige, and so while they spent time devising this new spin-off show, they used the second series of NuWho to path the way for it, with a mention of Torchwood in virtually every episode. Series 2 showed us how the Torchwood Institute was born, and the finale of that series fully introduced us to the institution. Only the Torchwood seen and heard about in Series 2 was a very different entity to the one that would form this new spin-off show. A decision was made to make an ‘adult’ show, something darker, more mature, than its parent show. As Davies said in an issue of SFX it was going to be “more visceral, more violent and more sexual,” and even claimed “it’s very teenage to indulge yourself in blood and gore. Torchwood is going to be smarter than that.”

Doctor Who can be mature, deal with real-world issues, and has done throughout its 50 years. Indeed, from 1991 to 2005 fans followed novels that were increasingly mature; Doctor Who grew with its audience (or readers in this case). Even the new series that we’ve all enjoyed for the last 9 years has approached some mature ground — and it’s fair to say it has, on occasion, crossed the line of what one can consider family entertainments; the ‘relationship with a paving slab’ scene at the end of Love & Monsters comes to mind, and nicely links to my main point…

Torchwood the entity, the secret organisation that fights alien threats, was established in Doctor Who, the family show that a new generation of children fell in love with. The lead star of Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness, was a companion of the Doctor, and children loved him. Two very good reasons for children to, therefore, want to watch Torchwood. And therein lies the problem.

Children will want to watch Torchwood because it is a spin-off from Doctor Who and features a much-loved companion. Further to that, it’s featured and referenced many elements from the parent show. It’s had a Cybermen story (well, a Cyberwoman at any rate), another companion guest starred in three episodes, three Torchwood characters guest starred in Doctor Who (in the latter case, even if children had not been aware of Torchwood, having Jack tell the Doctor about Torchwood in The Sound of Drums will certainly make the children want to learn more). So many reasons for children to watch. And watch they will… and did!

It’s all very well the producers saying this is an ‘adult’ show, and have it on at a later time, but it is still a spin-off from Doctor Who. This point cannot be expressed enough. This reason alone is enough for children all over to find ways to watch Torchwood; and there are so many ways for them to get access to it, ways that parents cannot control.

So, we have this ‘adult’ show that is a direct relation to the most popular family show on British television. The whole notion of an adult show spinning off from a family show is ludicrous at best, and irresponsible at worst. I’ve been trying to find a comparison, but I cannot think of another family show that has done this. Another show so loved by children that spawned a show that should never be watched by children.

The BBC broadcast edited versions of Torchwood because they learned that the younger Doctor Who fans were watching the series. Like this was some kind of surprise?

Let’s me explain just a few of the reasons why.

Episode one, Everything Changes. They weren’t kidding with that title! In this episode we have people being shot in the head, mauled by monsters, blood spurting everywhere, and, worst of all, a joke about date rape in the guise of a pheromone spray. And that’s not even mentioning the puerile inclusion of swearing at every possible opportunity (except Jack, and latterly Martha, interestingly). This is not mature drama (neither is it clever, despite Davies’ claims of intent).

Episode two brings us an alien life form that feeds off orgasmic energies. Yes, feeds off people having sex. Again, this not mature drama.

That is merely how the series began. It continued throughout a very uneven first series. Series 2 toned it down a little, although the gore and swearing continued aplenty. They even started showing edited versions of the episodes because they learned that the younger Doctor Who fans were watching the series. Like this was some kind of surprise? Again, it makes one wonder just what they were thinking when they devised this series. Did they honestly believe children would not want to watch it? Even if the appearance of Jack in every episode was not enough of a pull, the continual reference to Doctor Who would be, and having a cliffhanger ending to Series 1 that leads directly into Doctor Who only added to the children’s desire to watch the series.

So, perhaps, they did learn their lesson a little for Series 2. Or did they? Martha Jones was brought into the series for a few episodes, thus the children followed. It seemed, on the surface, the producers realised that maybe they did have a responsibility to their audience after all (like this was some optional consideration when devising a spin-off from Doctor Who). Children of Earth was a vast improvement in every possible way — well, until the final moments when we see Jack, ex-companion of the Doctor and a man who is always trying to be Doctor-like, sacrifice his own grandson to stop the 456. The version shown was a lot less explicit than other filmed versions, but still it’s missing the point. Jack is a companion of the Doctor: he is a hero, a man who should, by definition, be the Doctor when the Doctor is not about. The Doctor has done some dodgy things in the past to defeat the monsters, but it is inconceivable that he would sacrifice the life of a child to save Earth. As a younger Doctor once said, ‘there should have been another way’.

And there really should have been.

Instead we see another example of the irresponsibility of the producers of Torchwood on display. Is this really something you’d want your child to watch? Because, you know, if they love Doctor Who they will almost certainly watch it. And the producers of Torchwood know this — they learned this after Series 1. But, hey, it gets worse…

We come to Miracle Day.

It is inconceivable that the Doctor would sacrifice the life of a child to save Earth. As a younger Doctor once said, ‘there should have been another way’.

And there really should have been.

There’s been a lot said about this ten-part series; some good, some bad. There are some amazing ideas in this one, but once again I have to look beyond that and see what’s really on display. A convicted paedophile as a lead character; sex scenes (not overly explicit, but certainly gratuitous to the story); blood and gore all over the place; people being incinerated alive; swearing aplenty. All this produced by the same people who went to such great lengths to not show people dying on-screen in Doctor Who. Once again, let me stress this, children will be watching. Miracle Day has countless references to Doctor Who, not least a reference to the Trickster Brigade (a character from The Sarah Jane Adventures, an actual children’s show) in an episode that shows some explicit sexual encounters between Jack and his partner in 1927, after which Jack talks about the Doctor and how the Doctor has companions — suggesting that Jack is trying to be like the Doctor and is selecting his own companion (with whom he’s sexually involved). Is this really what the young fans of Doctor Who should be watching?

With each series it moves further and further from Doctor Who, which may well be the intention, but it’s a pointless exercise. Regardless of the intention, regardless of the distance the producers try to create between the shows, Torchwood is a Doctor Who spin-off, and it will always be so. It will always be of interest to the children who love Doctor Who.

This is the inherent problem with Torchwood. It was badly conceived, a so-called mature show, but in truth usually a puerile and irresponsible show. A series where the producers are, knowingly (despite protestations to the contrary, they know children will watch), exposing the younger Doctor Who fans to sex, drugs, gore, humour of an adult nature, and so much else.

Doctor Who is unlike any other television show out there. A true family show. One that has something for everybody. It is a fact that when children love something they will want to know everything about it, and watch everything related to it. If Torchwood were not connected to Doctor Who, it would be a good show (that is, if it ever made it past a first series, and I do feel that were it not connected to Doctor Who, Series 1 would have been the beginning and end of Torchwood), but it is connected to Doctor Who and is, thus, inherently a bad show.

It can no more be looked at as a separate entity than Deep Space Nine can be looked at as a separate entity to the original series of Star Trek. Both are part of the same fictional universe, and one will almost certainly attract the fans of the other. Torchwood is an intricate part of Doctor Who (although watching Miracle Day I sometimes found it hard to believe), and will appeal to the same core audience. And that core audience is, largely, children.

I, for one, will always feel uncomfortable when watching Torchwood because it will always be in the back of my mind—‘what the hell were they thinking when they made this?’ What about you?

About the Author

Andy Frankham-Allen. Editor of Untreed Reads’ ‘Space: 1889 & Beyond’ Victorian adventure series, and author of Candy Jar Books’ Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants. Andy is a long-time follower of Doctor Who, which is his second favourite show of all time. The first is Supernatural. Just in case you were wondering. Find him on Facebook.

The post Why There Is Something Inherently Wrong with Torchwood appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who: Fantastic Fan Fiction

Alex Skerratt 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.

I had no idea how big fan fiction had become. I used to think it occupied a tiny, undiscovered corner of the internet, reserved for hardcore science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts.

Not so! Just Google any TV programme and add the words ‘fan fiction’ into the search bar, and a whole list of choices will pop up. Crikey, there’s even fan fiction for Emmerdale (that’s a British soap opera set in the Yorkshire dales, for the unfamiliar!). And some of it isn’t half bad. Even Fifty Shades of Grey started out as a homage to The Twilight Saga, so it must have done something right.

And what’s clever about Doctor Who is that it packs infinite story potential. Set in a universe containing 70 thousand million million million stars, alongside limitless parallel (and pocket) universes, and at any time between the year dot and 100 trillion A.D., one doesn’t have to look far for inspiration.

So when Mr. Cawley (Kasterborous‘ Editor-in-Chief) suggested The Cumbrian Retreat of the Doctor – Chapter One by dschram as a topic of discussion, my initial reaction was, “Huh. Interesting.” That’s not a bad thing, by the way; it’s just a story I would never have thought to tell. Set between The Bells of Saint John prequel and The Bells of Saint John itself, it charts the Doctor’s journey from the play park (where he encountered a young Clara Oswald) to the Cumbrian monastery where he later goes into retreat.

But the exciting thing about this piece is that it’s not just a glorified TARDIS journey, as I first assumed. Have a look at the stats at the top of the page: “Chapter 1 /3.” There’s more to come! Now, I like to think that the Rani invades and takes over the monastery for her own villainous ends (watched over by an incensed ‘Mr. Saxon’ incarnation of the Master - because, why not?). However, you will notice that “The Woman in the Shop” has been entered into the story’s dramatis personae, so is this particular author going to succeed where Steven Moffat so far has failed, and finally explain who gave Clara Oswald the TARDIS’ phone number? Now that would be cool. (And if it’s the Rani, that would be even cooler – just saying.)

That’s the great thing about a long-running series like Doctor Who; there will always be moments the TV camera fails to capture. What was the true nature of the Scarlionis’ marriage? How did the Doctor meet Melanie Bush? And just what did The Singing Towers of Darillium really look like? No script writer can ever cover everything, and that’s when the faithful viewers can enter the fray, biros in hand!

So it’s over to you, Kasterborites - do you read or write any fan fiction? And if so, would you like to see it on Kasterborous in the future? Let us know!

Until then, I’m holding out for the next chapter of the Doctor’s Cumbrian retreat, and keeping my fingers firmly crossed!

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Doctor Who Disney, Whooverville, Phone Hacking & Counter-Measures 3

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

My friends, it is time. Feel our powerful news blast, which features phone hacking, a trip to Whooverville, Counter-Measures 3 and news of a voice artist cast in Doctor Who Series 8. But first…

Doctor Who, Done Disney

Have you always wanted to see a Disney Doctor Who movie? Of course you have! But until Disney prise that last childhood icon from your dead fingers, we’ll have to make do with artist Steven Byrne’s attempt to marry the Doctor with the mouse.

It seems a little strange considering Steven Moffat said the Doctors should be ‘attractive in an odd way’ that the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors are given the kind of bland good looks of an animated Disney lead (unlike the raw machismo of a non-animated lead like sexpot Dean Jones)

But he more than captures what Disney does best; creating memorable side characters – from the rather portly Second Doctor to the patrician Third Doctor; it’s an enchanting mix of the familiar and the strange.

His Disney version of Doctor Who, posted on his Facebook page, features all thirteen Doctors – including John Hurt’s War Doctor and new addition Peter Capaldi – assembled around Karen Gillan’s flame-haired character Amy Pond (who herself was practically a modern day Disney heroine.)

Post by Artwork of Stephen Byrne.

The all-important costumes are there, too – Tom Baker’s impossibly long scarf, Matt Smith’s bow tie, and even Capaldi’s red-lined suit jacket – accompanied by the strapline: “She wished for a prince. She got thirteen.”

Davison At Whooverville

From Disney to Derby now as the Fifth Doctor himself, Peter Davison will be appearing at the QUAD arts centre as a guest of Whooverville, the annual convention for East Midlands based fans.

The event is organised by Derby’s local Doctor Who group, the Whoovers, one of the most popular fan groups in the country and is your chance to have your photo taken with the Tardis, catch up on gossip from the latest series, purchase new and classic merchandise, take part in a Doctor Who podcast, add to the autograph album and meet some of the people from in front of and behind the camera.

Other special guest confirmed for the event which kicks off August 30th are Deborah Watling, who played Victoria, companion to the second Doctor, Terry Molloy, who played Davros, creator of the Daleks; and David Troughton (son of second Doctor Patrick Troughton) who played Professor Hobbs in Midnight and Michael Troughton, author of Patrick Troughton: The Biography.

Whooverville 6 takes place on Saturday, August 30, from 10am until 6pm.

Tickets are £40, £25 concessions and £10 for children aged under ten.

For more information or to book call QUAD’s box office on: 01332 290606 or go to www.derbyquad.co.uk/special-event/whooverville-6 for the full programme details.

Eccleston’s Phone Hacking Legal Action

So just as the jury retires to sift through the mountain of evidence in one high profile phone hacking trial – which has already broke the record for the longest criminal trial in English history – another begins anew.

Clearly pulling up such poisonous roots is going to take time; Yesterday, further action was brought against the beleaguered press when twenty individuals, including the Ninth Doctor himself Christopher Eccleston, launched legal action over phone hacking allegations against the Mirror Newspaper Group.

The High Court judge heard the twenty claimants include actor Shane Richie, Hollywood star Jude Law’s personal assistant Ben Jackson and BBC creative director Alan Yentob.

However that initial figure of twenty looks set to rise. Barrister David Sherborne, representing a group of claimants, told the judge that there were now 20 different claimants, with a further 10 “who intend to issue claims”, and that the number of claims was “likely to increase” against the publishers of the Sunday Mirror and Daily Mirror.

Banff Award!

Awards! Doctor Who has had a banner week over at the Banff World Media Festival in Canada (which is not a celebration of misspelling teleportation onomatopoeias in Marvel comics.) The show won the 2014 Rockie Award (‘Yo Adrian, We did it!’) for the ‘Best Science Fiction and Action’ programme before triumphing in the prestigious ‘Best Scripted’ category.

A Parable Of Voice Acting

PC gamers and lovers of left-field casting choices rejoice as The Stanley Parable narrator Kevan Brighting has said he will be lending his vocal talents to Doctor Who Series 8.

Brighting said on his Twitter page:

The Narrator is pleased to announce he is adding his dulcet tones to the new Dr Who series.

— Kevan Brighting (@kevanthevoice) June 9, 2014

He added:

@IsaacGriggs Indeed. It seems logical that a Time Lord eventually needs helpful guidance from The Narrator.

— Kevan Brighting (@kevanthevoice) June 9, 2014

Unsurprisingly the pioneering The Stanley Parable was a parable about a man called Stanley; an office worker who’s first person adventures served as a deconstruction of narrative choice and story construction which Eurogamer described as:

“Astoundingly labyrinthine onion-like layers of narrative tangents the player can embark on in what feels like the unholy interactive offspring of Inception, Being John Malkovich and Portal.”

Now all we need is a cameo by Portal 2’s Wheatley and I’ll be a happy potato.

Counter-Measures Series 3 Trailer

Get ready for the return of Counter-Measures, Big Finish’s Doctor Who spin off featuring the team from Remembrance of the Daleks, with an exciting new trailer.

Centring on an elite team of specialists in 1960s London who tackle the unexplained and alien incursions, Counter-Measures 3, sees Pamela Salem as Professor Rachel Jensen, Simon Williams as Group Captain Gilmore, Karen Gledhill as Dr Allison Williams and Hugh Ross as their boss Sir Toby Kinsella dealing with the revelations about Sir Toby’s shadowy past.

As series three begins, he faces an enquiry – and his future with Counter-Meaures hangs in the balance. Meanwhile, something odd is happening in gangland London… Subsequent stories involve a haunted tower block, a problem close to home for Allison, and an undercover mission to East Berlin…

Counter-Measures 3 is out in July and available for pre-order now.

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Prepare For Adric’s Return in Big Finish’s Fifth Doctor Box Set!

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.

There are reunions and then there are reunions. While this reunion isn’t quite the same as a Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starr reunion, it is worthy nonetheless! Big Finish has announced the upcoming release of Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Box Set, two four-part stories that reunite, for the first time, The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) with Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse). The release also marks Waterhouse’s first collaboration with Big Finish, filling what Executive Producer (and voice of the Daleks) has noted as an “Adric-shaped hole” in the range of Fifth Doctor stories.

 

What say we unpack this a bit, dear reader, and uncover what new adventures lie in store for Peter Davison’s original TARDIS crew? Up first is the Jonathan Morris penned Psychodrome, which is firmly anchored between the Season 19 episodes, Castrolava and Four to Doomsday. The story finds the still freshly regenerated Fifth Doctor and his companions on a strange planet and forced to come together quickly when they encounter “strange, sinister characters.”

The second four-parter is nestled just before the game changing classic Who episode, Earthshock, and now serves as Adric’s penultimate adventure with the Doctor. In what is described as “spine-tingling” adventure, John Dorney’s Iterations of I finds the Doctor and company stranded on a remote island, attempting to unravel the mystery of the “i” (willing to bet it’s probably not a Jobsian “i-Device,” although a story where the Cybermen use iPhones and iPads as weapons against humanity might make for interesting story telling…-Writer).

 

Now it is time to address the elephant in the room; the return of Adric. With the possible exception of Rose Tyler, there really hasn’t been a more divisive figure in the history of Doctor Who than Adric. Granted, there are probably as many people who love the youngling math genius as those who hate him, but bringing Adric back does run the risk of bringing back the ire from those who love to hate him. The flipside of that coin, and where I think Briggs and Big Finish are smart in bringing back Waterhouse, is it does give the character of Adric more opportunity for development and perhaps soften some of the arrogant and childish edges that his character is known for (I’m thinking squarely about the first episode of Earthshock for reference here…). And while any development that might take place in the eight installments of the new series cannot change what happened on-screen, it can certainly inform it and possibly frame conversations and actions in a different light.

Interested in what Kasterborous thinks of the exciting new series? Never fear! We’ll have a top-notch review of Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Box Set coming down the line shortly. As always, you can check out the Big Finish and Reviews heading on Kasterborous for news on the other Big Finish releases as well as reviews from Meredith Burdett (a supremely talented bloke and Big Finish guru) and coming soon—yours truly! Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Box Set is available for preorder now. Will you be signing up for the return of Adric? Are you excited for a Season 19 reunion? Let us know!

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Rare Doctor Who Davros & Dalek Model Kits On EBay!

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

A couple of fascinating rarities are available on eBay this week – unbuilt Davros and Dalek model kits (1/5th scale) from classic Doctor Who era license holder Sevans!

The Sevans Dalek model kit is described:

Amazing original rare Sevans Doctor Who Dalek one fifth scale model assembly kit. 12 inches / 30 cm tall makes into any Dalek variant, full painting guide, etc etc see pics mint in unopened box.

Meanwhile the Sevans Davros also needs building:

Amazing original rare Sevans Doctor Who Davros one fifth scale model assembly kit. 12 inches / 30 cm tall , full painting guide, etc etc see pics mint in box. Top of box flap has come open but all is untouched and mint.

Many years ago, I was absolutely thrilled to receive a the Sevans Dalek box in the post, as a present from one of my aunts. As it turned out, she had actually used the box to hold a few smaller presents, and as lovely as they were, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness that I wasn’t going to be sat putting the Doctor’s mortal enemy together before giving it a suitable paint job.

The Sevans Dalek and Sevans Davros are up for auction, ending at 10.19pm and 10.31pm respectively on Saturday, June 14th. Currently neither has a bid, although the start prices are high. If you’re interested or no someone who might be, act now!

The post Rare Doctor Who Davros & Dalek Model Kits On EBay! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

My Dalek Has A Puncture – Returning to London, Due To Popular Demand!

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

Who doesn’t love an interstellar black marketeer? Maybe it’s the slightly louche attitude? Maybe it’s the begrudging loyalty he shows towards the Doctor? Maybe it’s simply the fact that he’s very, very blue.

Making a profit from prophecies of doom, Dorium Maldovar, the ultimate blue meanie who suffered a one hundred percent reduction in robe costs at the hands of the Headless Monks, captured fans imaginations; thanks largely due to the irrepressibly human form of actor Simon Fisher-Becker – who due to popular demand, is set to return to the London stage once more in his one man show, My Dalek has a Puncture.

Yes, let your sentient money do the talking and pick up a ticket for the show billed as ‘a light hearted evening with a natural raconteur moving from one hilarious anecdote to another.’

Simon Fisher-Becker takes fans and interested, enthusiastic amateur actors through an entertaining, thought-provoking and hard fought look at peaks and troughs of trying to make a career in the business know as show.

Our own Simon Mills called the show ‘an evening of pure delight’ engaging both fans and wannabe actors with both humour and pathos:

“The stories of his life’s ups and downs were peppered with humour and some sadness… and some moments of real deep sadness, but his humour shone through and, very much in the same mould as Brian Blessed, the message of the evening is really, ‘never let the buggers grind you down! Stick with your passions, follow them through and don’t procrastinate.’”

You can watch the frankly mad promo trailer for the 2014 UK Tour, which takes in such places as Stevenage, Lewisham, and Epsom here.

Simon will perform at the LOST Theatre, London, a 181-seater off-West End Venue, six minutes walk from Stockwell Station, close to Central London, on August 3rd, 2014 – this is his only London date for the rest of this year.

Tickets will be £10 on the door or £11.25 incl. £1.25 phone/online booking fee from the Box Office on 0844 847 1680 or simply visit www.ticketweb.co.uk/event/116523.

(Thanks to Jack)

The post My Dalek Has A Puncture – Returning to London, Due To Popular Demand! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Here’s Paul McGann On The Comicpalooza Doctor Who Panel

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 up! Witness, Kasterborites, the full 48 minutes of Paul McGann’s Q&A panel from Comicpalooza, Texas’s international comic convention that took place last month. It’s a warm and in-depth panel with the kind of BIG LOVE America does so well.

I recommend a listen, but for the hurried, time-starved Kasterborite here are some choice highlights:..

Before heading to the convention, Paul was accompanied by another member of the “Boy Band” of Classic Doctors (as he calls them), Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, on a trip to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centre. He talks about the interest in science fiction and fantasy for children today and how he had something less fictional but just as thrilling just entering his teens at the time of the first manned Apollo space missions.

“my inner ten-year-old child will never ever forget this day – it was fantastic and particularly because we were those kids – we were the moon shot kids …I had to sit in the flight director’s seat, pick up the red phone… it took me straight back, for us kids growing up in the 60s, your imagination was infinite. It seemed to being sparked all the time by things, it was a rich, rich time.”

I’ve become a bit suspicious of the rosy picture that is often painted of the 60s and various earlier decades. The music, the counter cultures and intellectual challenges to the establishment – surely it can’t actually have all been pop music and paradigm shifts?! But it’s easy to forget that some really world-changing things happened in that decade (not least the birth of the best TV show in the world) and what it might feel like being a child when science fiction was becoming science fact.

They discuss Paul’s involvement with the 50th Anniversary celebrations, featuring in both the tongue-in-cheek The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot and the official minisode Night of the Doctor where fan-dreams of seeing the Eighth Doctor regenerate were realised. He notes that the call from The Moff asking him to appear as the Doctor in a one-off short, required him to say “yes” before it had been written and to keep it a secret from the other Doctors while on-set filming The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Do check out the spoof if you haven’t seen it – Paul McGann appears in it agreeing to side with the other Classic incarnations to crash the shoot of the anniversary special but can’t commit 100% because he’s off filming. It turns out the reason why he only appeared so briefly was because he was secretly off shooting in Cardiff. I think that’s life, imitating art, imitating life?… They also discuss his views on the costume, coming back to the on-screen version of his Doctor after over a decade of audios and name-checking the Big Finish companions.

In the Q&A section a fan asks about his “half-human” Doctor and whether that was intended to have been explored more if FOX had gone with a full series after the 1996 pilot he starred in. McGann reveals that he and Producer Philip Segal spent “weeks” discussing where the character could go and what they would do with the show. In fact he hints at wanting to take things in quite a different direction with the pilot being a compulsory name-check for some of the iconic elements of the show,

“it’s a little like a driving test, you know, you never drive like that again. …Let’s get this over with then we can get our teeth into these real elements of the character.”

Back in the late 90s there was the suggestion that he’d wanted to distance himself from the show a little. It was a failed revival of an otherwise dead British sci-fi show at a time when sci-fi wasn’t really made in the UK. Of course things changed when Big Finish got the license and carried the torch into the twenty-first century – the grin on McGann’s face (29:17 – we’re all obsessives here) when he talks about putting the Night of the Doctor costume leaves no doubt that he gets a huge amount of satisfaction and fun out of the role.

We discover that he’d like to see how the Eighth Doctor fared with none other than 80s kick-ass companion, Ace, by his side and that a female skinhead companion would be the ideal buddy for Capaldi’s Doctor.

At 39:10 there’s an interesting section where a young Houston drama student asks about McGann’s training and any method to his acting. He talks about being a drama student at RADA in the late 70s alongside big names like Kenneth Branagh. His training was in classical theatre – the stage. No television or film. But he notes that he, like many of his class mates didn’t come from a privileged background and hadn’t really gone to the theatre as children. In fact their desire to act and perform had come from sneaking into movie theatres – he talks about being captivated by independent Hollywood films, Jack Nicholson and films like Klute and The Last Picture Show (1971). RADA’s intake of would-be stage professionals all dreamt of being movie stars!

Also discussed is Paul McGann’s work on Hornblower and working with Idris Elba on BBC’s Luther. One fan successfully requests a hug, another hopes to show off their talent for catching blown kisses (nice try, there).

It’s remarked on by one attendee how courteous McGann is towards the fans and certainly there’s a great deal of respect on both sides. The experience of meeting one’s heroes at events like conventions is touched on and McGann gives a description of one of his musical heroes, John Lennon, that sounds curiously Doctor-like:

“He was flawed and weird and brilliant and human.”

And coming from Liverpool he notes that he and other Liverpudlians felt quite “possessive” of the Beatles. In fact it sounds as though he very much knows what it feels like to be a fan.

So what do you think, Kasterborites – reflections on the 1996 TV movie? Should the other Classics have had a role in the Day of the Doctor (other than the one we discover in the Five(ish) Doctors)? Have you met your heroes? Was it the joyous witty exchange you’d imagined or were you a stupefied star-struck wreck (like me, 10 years old, clutching Pyramids of Mars in front of Tom Baker). Tell us below!

(With thanks to Daren)

The post Here’s Paul McGann On The Comicpalooza Doctor Who Panel appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

New 10th Doctor “Day Of The Doctor” Sonic Screwdriver at Forbidden Planet

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.

While the official 50th anniversary of  Doctor Who was back in November, it seems we are still seeing new products coming to market based on The Day Of The Doctor.

Character Options, well know to Whovians as makers of various collectibles including mini-figs and various action figures and collectible figures, also produce the officially licensed Sonic Screwdrivers for various Doctors.

This July, the company is set to release a new version of the 10th Doctor’s screwdriver, based off  the one David Tennant used in The Day Of The Doctor.

So what’s different?

Aside from some new packaging, it looks like we have some slight differences in color.

Here’s the regular 10th Screwdriver (which of course is also considered the 9th Doctor’s as well) -

And here’s the new “10th Day Of  The Doctor” version -



The differences really seem to be cosmetic ones – the inner coil of the new version is yellow, not blue, and the handle color is a cream crackled look instead of gray. To me it also seems there might be a slight difference to the blue tip of the screwdriver.

Both look to be the solid state version, unlike the kind with the interchangeable pen tip (which is the kind this writer has…)

Take a gander at the new packaging -



Both versions have the light and sound effects to make the screwdriver feel as close to the Doctor’s own as a human can get (unless you have the cash for that fancy remote control…)

This new 10th screwdriver is currently available from Forbidden Planet for a pre-order price of £10.99 and is set to be released on 7th July 2014.<

And in case I haven’t done my job selling this lovely new Sonic, here’s the official blurb from the folks at Forbidden Planet to entice you further!

New version of the Tenth Doctor’s sonic screwdriver from the 50th anniversary special, presented in a foil embellished gift pack.

This special set makes a handsome companion piece to ‘The Other Doctor action figure’ and ‘Other Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver’ also from the 50th.

Hmm…a foil embellished gift pack no less!

So what do we think K readers? Is this new Sonic worth it? Do you own any of the Screwdrivers? I rather like having the pen version as I carry it around with me and use it as an actual pen, not just a prop. I love the looks I get – some people wonder why I have such a weird looking pen and others just give me a knowing smile.

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