Christian Cawley's Blog, page 23

16 Things to Look Forward to in ’16

Simon Mills 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.

Lists! The world is dominated by lists around this time of year. Honours lists. Film and TV awards lists. Shopping lists. The list of lists is endless! Not wanting to be outdone, we’ve compiled a list of our own. This one is all about the things we’re looking forward to in the expanded worlds of Doctor Who across the multiple mediums that the Whoniverse inhabits. So, without further ado…

Thing 1: The top thing on my list of things to look forward to in 2016 (and in this case way beyond) is no more River Song! Yes, I know there’s a lot of love for River out there, but her story arc is really (no, REALLY) done now. This last Christmas special was really The River Song Christmas Special with a guest appearance from the Doctor. That’ll be enough now, thanks. Let’s have some new and original strong female characters to take the show forward, please?

Thing 2: Of course, the top actual thing on this thing list is that Doctor Who series 10 thing. We’ve been promised new writers and a lighter series this year after the dark places that series 9 took us, with an angry and desperate Doctor ready to risk universal destruction in order to save Clara and spending 4.5 billion years doing so in some sort of timey-wimey Groundhog Day scenario. Who knows, we might even get an episode directed by Peter Jackson if the hints from this video are anything to go by!

Thing 3: A new companion! Or multiples thereof! It really can’t be that long now before an announcement is made as filming usually starts up in January for an autumn debut, so there’ll be sneakily captured location photos to contend with. Moffat previously said they had a really cool idea for a new companion, rather than bringing someone back who we’ve already met. So, no Shona, sadly… but what the heck is this “cool idea” that Moffat mentioned? A seven legged space weevil, maybe? What?!?! If it is a female or some variation thereof, then my one request to Moffat is please don’t use the word “feisty”!

Thing 4: More Tennant on TV! Broadchurch has been confirmed to return for a third outing later this year. I was hoping David Tennant would return to the role of the evil manipulative Kilgrave for another series of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, but that doesn’t look very likely now…

Thing 5: More Tennant on audio! We have a series of Big Finish Audios with David accompanied by Catherine Tate as my favourite new series companion (or should I say “mate”?), Donna Noble to look forward to. Watch them talk about this here… Go on. Click it and watch the video – it’s quite funny.

Thing 6: The return of Torchwood! Again, Big Finish come to the rescue with an all new series of adventures for Captain Jack and his merry band.

Thing 7: Obviously, there’s a lot more to come from Big Finish than just those two things, such as The Churchill Years – but those are probably the biggest for this coming year. You can review our reviews and announcements on Big Finish over here.

Thing 8: In more TV stuffs, we have Arthur Darvill (the often dead Rory Williams) as a rogeuish time travelling character on the Legends of Tomorrow TV series, a spin off from the hugely popular Arrow and The Flash series, due to debut in the US on 21st January. We wrote about the announcement here. You could read it if you like. Or not. We’re not keeping track. We also shared a teaser trailer and I’m super excited to see how the show turns out! I am also easily pleased.

Thing 9: Titan Comics will be bringing us a series of Fourth Doctor adventures starting in March and an ongoing series of Ninth Doctor adventures. Woohoo! They will also continue to serve up delicious helpings of Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth adventures

Thing 10: Continued adventures with the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who Adventures. Also an upcoming interview on Kasterborous with DWA artist Russ Leach!

Thing 11: Matt Smith will be appearing in several movies this year – one of which as the star! Yes, indeed, the Eleventh Doctor will be taking the lead in a movie about a virus outbreak called Patient Zero and is also co-starring as Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Alongside these movie roles he will also grace our telly box screens as Prince Phillip in royal bio drama The Crown for Netflix

Thing 12: Also one to look out for on our internet enabled viewing devices on BBC3 (as the channel is moving online only) is the new Doctor Who spinoff Class. The show will be set in Coal Hill School and aimed at the young adult audience featuring weekly alien and otherwise odd happenings. It’s unclear yet what connections there will be to the Whoniverse, so I wonder if placing it under the Doctor Who umbrella will help or hinder it? Whatever your opinion, it’s always good to have a new addition to the worlds of Doctor Who and I’ll be looking forward to seeing it! Also, it is further evidence that the BBC still has faith in the Doctor Who franchise despite scaremongering headlines about falling viewing figures…

Thing 13: It’s the 50th Anniversary this year! No, you haven’t entered a wibbly-wobbly timewarp, it’s the 50th anniversary of the first regeneration and first appearance of Patrick Troughton in October 1966. Even though this is a significant milestone, I don’t think there will be any plans to celebrate this in an official capacity. Shame, really… If Patrick Troughton hadn’t been such a superb and charismatic character actor he wouldn’t have been able to convince the viewing public that he really was still the Doctor after William Hartnell stepped down.

Thing 14: Doctor Who Magazine (I almost called it “Doctor Who Monthly” then in a brief flashback to my long distant youth!) will be celebrating it’s 500th issue this year, so no doubt there will be specials and celebrations and maybe even some shenanigans to look forward to!

Thing 15: July will see the publication of an otherwise unfinished Seventh Doctor comic strip, Evening’s Empire by Andrew Cartmel. Doctor Who Magazine only originally published episode 1 back in the 90s but Panini have resurrected the story and are publishing the whole thing as a graphic novel with new artwork by the original artist, Richard Piers Rayner

Thing 16: The sixteenth thing on the thing list is here to remind you to keep coming back to Kasterborous and to follow us on Facebook for we shall continue to bring you the best Doctor Who coverage on the internet. We might not be first, we might not be the most prolific or comprehensive, but we most certainly are the ones who will bring you the most rational and considered opinion rather than hyperbole and biased sensationalist nonsense!

The post 16 Things to Look Forward to in ’16 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Past, Present Or Future? Where Should The Doctor Find His Next Companion?

Billy Garratt-John 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.

Since the arrival of our beloved programme way back in days of old (seriously, I’m turning 20 this year which is a frightening prospect on its own before remembering that Doctor Who returned to our screens almost eleven years ago!) the Doctor’s trusty sidekicks have all materialised from our present day.

Give or take the odd “guest” companion like Victorian Clara, who was bumped off in the same episode we met her, most of his besties have originated from contemporary Earth. Along with a number of other recently established staples in the New Series that have become well-worn and rather dull, maybe its time to widen the net at bit in our search for Peter Capaldi’s next best mate.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of companions coming from other times.

PAST

One of the programme’s most entertaining and well loved characters, Jamie McCrimmon hailed from a time before ours. Most of his lovable charm derived not only from Frazier Hines’ warm and believable performance, but also from his inability to fully connect with future worlds and that of the-then current day. It’s an idea with plenty of gags which stem from a misunderstanding of technology or social attitudes, but the producers soon caught on to this being something that could become easily tiresome. And so Jamie actually started to take on board things he had seen and observed, learning how to live and operate in either the present, future or indeed, no time at all.

On the flip side, Victoria developed little during her time with Jamie and the Second Doctor. While chemistry between the group was clearly blossoming early on in her tenure, her character tended to forget if she was actually taking on board anything she was being exposed to or if she was just content to scream her head off. An opportunity to make Victoria a much more three-dimensional character was lost in the need for typical tea time scares and hi-jinx. We certainly can’t begrudge and her terrific turn as Victoria for that, but rather the needs of the audience at the time for eye-candy without all that unnecessary character stuff.

PRESENT

 

Easy to affiliate with. That’s the main bargaining chip here. While I can’t say I enjoy watching Rose’s development from catty to full on narcissist (Piper’s gradual surgical enhancements throughout her time on the show is a more tangible development than her character’s personality), I like how normal she is. She instantly approachable for a modern audience and that was the idea here; introduce a, perhaps, unaware public to the wonder of the worlds of Doctor Who through the eyes of a similarly innocent cookie-cutter shape. That trend continued post-Tylermania, until Steven Moffat started to write modern day Earthling females as if they did in fact come from Venus. Amy was somehow a more powerful being than the almighty Time Lord, River became a walking cupboard of teeth grindingly painful one-liners and Clara was a bit of a mess. I think Steven may have tried to write Clara like a real person at the start, but soon that degenerated back to his previous tired formula for women and then finally he gave up and shouldered poor Jenna Coleman with no character at all.

However, these characters can be done right. Ace is the perfect example. She was a contemporary teen who actually reacted to things as if she had a beating heart and ears and a nose and stuff. She was ballsy without having to put down the Doctor in the cripplingly satirical way Moffat’s women do and Ace felt more real than anyone else…and I was born more than a decade and a half after she was! Ace spoke like a real person, she cried like a real person, she had fears like a real person and she grew up like a real person. Take note, future showrunners – real people need to actually be REAL.

FUTURE

The most obvious companion I can think of who originated from the world of tomorrow is Zoe, and to be honest I can’t say she’s a favourite of mine. She does that know-it-all thing that drives me crazy. It’s different when it’s funny and nuanced, like Vicki dropping in a quip about visiting The Beatles Memorial Theatre in The Chase (the awesome thing is, we have stuff like that now!).  But when Zoe berates that past for not being as clever as her world it comes across as super irritating.

There aren’t many pros I can think of when it comes to companions from the future and to be frank, past and present have their fair share of good and bad points.

So I leave it to you, the people. Which would you rather see?

The post Past, Present Or Future? Where Should The Doctor Find His Next Companion? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Sherlock Special Tops Box Office In China

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.

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride has become an international hit after topping the box office in China over the weekend and taking the No.2 spot in Korea.

Deadline reports that 1.7 million people in China turned out to see Sherlock in cinemas taking $5.39m (£3.67m) In ticket sales.

In 2014, 98 million people tuned in to the third series, and the show has hundreds of millions of viewers across more than 200 territories. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show has such a huge following that the People’s Daily, the official news organ of the Communist Party, has praised Sherlock for its “tense plot, bizarre story, exquisite production, excellent performances.”

The screenings are of a deal between BBC Worldwide and Shanghai Media Group to show the episode, plus an extra 25 minutes of footage not shown on TV.

In Korea, box office receipts totalled $5m (£3.41m) on 735 screens, with the BBC saying it outsold Star Wars: The Force Awakens four to one.

And in China, where Star Wars is still an unknown quantity – hence an aggressive marketing campaign from Disney leading up to its Jan 9th release, which, amongst its highlights included a Stormtrooper takeover of the Great Wall –  it was very much pitched as ‘Sherlock V Star Wars‘.

Ningqi Jiang, a spokesperson for SMG Pictures, says she believes there is plenty of room in the booming China market, now the world’s second largest, for both pictures to thrive.

“Sherlock has a very different target audience in China — they are younger, more devoted fans and frequent moviegoers,” Jiang says, adding, “The two movies are so different and China’s market is big enough for two English-language movies.”

The special – which saw Benedict Cumerbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Dr Watson respectively transported back to Victorian London – also played in UK cinemas on Friday night, with 18,500 fans turning up despite the episode airing at the same time on BBC1. Deadline estimate the takings for Friday to be $330K (just over £482k). It has received a cinema release in more than 20 countries, including the US, Mexico, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand.

Broadcast on New Year’s Day, The Abominable Bride attracted 8.4 million viewers, making it the most watched show over the festive period. It was, however, down about 800K viewers in the overnights as compared to the Season 3 premiere in January 2014 which remains the series highest-rated episode to date.

BBC Worldwide head of drama brands Sally De St Croix said:

“BBC Worldwide are thrilled that fans across the world have been enjoying the Victorian-themed Sherlock special. Following on from a strong performance on BBC1, the show has now seen multi-million-dollar success at the Korean and Chinese box offices – an outstanding achievement for a British TV show.”

The fourth series is due to start filming later this year.

The post Sherlock Special Tops Box Office In China appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Topps Doctor Who Trading Cards Hit the States

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 like Top Trumps? It’s all the fun of comparing numerical data and laughing in the face of your childhood foe as he tries to topple your empire with a lousy two score. That’s right Brian, I had a four! A four I tells ya! Telling Mrs Smith in Geography that I smelt of eggs and sadness, who’s laughing now Brian!

*cough* sorry…every day is a new struggle.

But anyway, Doctor Who Top Trumps have recently been released in America and they trump all the competition, so to speak.

Topps Doctor Who trading cards are the first comprehensive Doctor Who trading card set released in the US. Featuring 200 base cards, this set explores characters and storylines from across the whole 50+ years of the Doctor Who saga.

There are 5 insert sets to chase: Memorable Moments, Companions, Christmas Time, Who Is The Doctor and Gadgets.

The set also features 2 hits per hobby box, 30 TARDIS patch cards, autographs from 31 signers including David Tennant, Tom Baker, Colin Baker, Paul McGann, Peter Davison, Billie Piper, Alex Kingston, Freema Agyeman, Noel Clarke, John Barrowman, Carole Ann Ford and many more!

What’s more, there are 4 Costume pieces including The Doctor’s Suit Trousers, Ood Alien Costume, Sally Sparrow’s Coat and Rory’s Green Shirt 15 Signed TARDIS Patch Cards from Doctors & Companions, 3 Ultra Rare cut signatures from the original three Doctors and 1 Ultra Rare signed costume piece featuring David Tennant.

An additional set, Doctor Who Timeless, will be released in May.

You can order the set from Amazon.

You hear that Brian! I challenge you to a rematch!

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Tenth and Twelfth Doctor Comics Head into Year Two!

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.

It’s a brand new year for both the Tenth and Twelfth Doctors as Titan Comics ongoing series of adventures launch headlong into Year Two.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #4 sees the Tenth Doctor and Gabby thrown back – way back – into the deep dark past as the TARDIS arrives at the dawn of humanity as their travels take them to the Pleistocene – and the epic struggle between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon forces for the future of humankind! Plus: Anubis’s galactic quest comes back to haunt them.

The issue is written by Nick Abadzis with art by Elena Casagrande, colouring and lettering by Arianna Florean and Comicraft respectively and alternative covers by Leonardo Romero and a photo cover from Will Brooks.

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor – Year Two #1 sees the Twelfth Doctor and Clara entering the golden years of their companionship with a year-long extravaganza.

Writer by Robbie Morrison with art by Rachael Stott, along with colouring and lettering by Ivan Nunes and Comicraft, the issue also boasts four alternative covers by Alice X. Zhang, a photo cover courtesy of Will Brooks, Rachael Stott & Ivan Nunes and JaKE.

 

Both issues are available to buy Wednesday from all good stockists.

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Doctor Who Takes on Downton Abbey at National Television Awards

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.

Doctor Who has made the shortlist for Drama in the 2016 National Television Awards which take place live from the O2 on January 20th in London.

The show is pitted against Downton Abbey – which saw its final episode top the Christmas Day ratings – Broadchurch, whose third series will air this year and once again, will staring David Tennant, and Casualty which enters its 30th year on television.

Both shows are no strangers to this category having dominated proceeding for a number of years. Doctor Who won the drama award between 2005 and 2010 while Downton Abbey held the crown between 2012 through to 2015 (although Doctor Who briefly took back the award in 2014).

The only other show to break the two’s dominance was BBC One’s school based drama Waterloo Road which nab the gong in 2011.

David Tennant is also nominated in the Drama Performance category for his portrayal of Alec Hardy in Broadchurch – notable absentees in the category include the current Doctor Peter Capaldi, the Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston and former companion Jenna Coleman.

Tennant will be up against former Doctor Who guest star Suranne Jones (Gemma Foster in Doctor Foster), Aidan Turner (Ross Poldark in Poldark) and Lucie Miller herself Sheridan Smith (Jo Gillespie in Black Work). Tennant has previously won the award between 2007 and 2010 during his tenure as the Doctor, and received a Special Recognition award in 2015.

You can cast your votes via the NTA website until midday Wednesday 20th January with the ceremony itself to be broadcast live on ITV from 19:30.

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Watch Peter Capaldi Thank Fifty Fans for Birthday Wishes

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.

There’s just no limit to Peter Capaldi’s generosity when it comes to Doctor Who fans but this latest offering to his devoted following is particularly sweet.

YouTuber Beth Axford and a group of over fifty Doctor Who fans rallied together to send Capaldi a birthday video message for his 57th birthday bash last April and not only did Capaldi watch the video, he also took the time during filming on Series 9 to personally thank each fan for their good wishes.

And so touched was Axford that she’s now uploaded the video to Youtube for all the world to see – and of course, those fans who took the time to wish him well.

How touching is that! Even as he thanks the ‘nameless ones’, pausing expectantly as the video buffers, and commenting on one girls silver nail varnish, he’s still utterly charming.

 

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Endeavour Actors Roger Allam & Shaun Evans Want Doctor Who Roles

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.

He’s perhaps best known as the nation’s favourite Morse wrangler in ITV’s Endeavour aka Morse Begins but it seems that D.I Fred Thursday has designs on swapping the side of the righteous for something altogether more frightening.

It seems Roger Allam is endeavouring to land himself the part as a Doctor Who villain.

The actor admitted to the Radio Times that he was “one of those children who’d hide when Doctor Who started”, and would love to land the part of an intergalactic menace

“I’d like to do it”, said Allam, “Playing a villain would be great.”

Allam’s a great choice – he’s played snarling cartoon villainy before in the much maligned but criminally underrated Speed Racer, departmental meanies in Ashes to Ashes and a political malefactor and ‘The Voice of London’ in V for Vendetta – he’d make a great advisory for Capaldi’s Doctor (the two both appeared in peerless political satire The Thick of It).

For now, he’ll have to settle for investigating the odd murder or two amongst the town and gown set in 60’s Oxford with DC Endeavour Morse.

However, it seems Morse himself, actor Shaun Evans, wouldn’t mind a part in Doctor Who too – even if, as a child, it wasn’t his thing.

“I’ve never seen it! I think Matt Smith is a brilliant actor. And David Tennant also. But it just wasn’t my thing growing up and I feel like I’ve missed it now. I was in Moscow a few months ago and someone asked me about Doctor Who. And she thought I’d make a good Master. So if you’re offering me a part, then I’ll play the Master.”

To read more on Evans’ thoughts on Morse longevity, his contemporaries and the trap of professional jealous and whether or not he’d be up for taking on the role of James Bond, head over to the Radio Times.

So would Evans make a good Master? (personally, I think he’d nail the quiet calculated arrogance if that’s where they chose to take the character next) What kind of villain should Allam play? And just how good is Endeavour?

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Coming Soon: Doctor Who Adventures #10

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.

Issue #10 of the new look Doctor Who Adventures is out this Thursday 7th January and like the book of old, it’s jam packed with features, freebies and fabulous content.

‘What fabulous content?’ I hear you cry in your metaphorical voice, well, this month’s issue contains:

BIG IN JAPAN

James Peaty scripts this issue’s tale as the Doctor visits Tokyo in search of sushi and winds up face to face with a giant robot and a massive lizard. Can he save the city from destruction? You’ll have to wait and see!

DON’T BLINK

Make your party go with a bang with this cool Weeping Angels party game!

KNOW YOUR WHO-NIVERSE!

Revisit the latest series of Doctor Who with this cool quiz to test your knowledge of the Doctor’s latest adventures!

DAVROS’ RESEARCH LAB

You get the chance to learn from the worst as Davros shows you how to make your own Hand Mine gloves!

UNIT ALIEN ARCHIVE

This month gives you access to the UNIT Archive as we find out the truth about the Gallifreyans known as the Time Lords!

STRAX’S GUIDE TO STRANGE BEINGS

This month Strax is giving an informative lecture on the Veil, the Cloister Wraiths and the Sandmen!

THE PLANETARY PRANKSTER

Victorian London becomes a giant playground as an extra-terrestrial prankster pays a visit and turns the Tower of London into a giant bouncy castle. Can the Paternoster Gang put a stop to the madness?

And of the previous promised freebies, well Issue 10 comes with a Free Mega Poster and a free wind-up TARDIS!

Doctor Who Adventures Issue #10 is out Thursday 7th January from all good stockists.

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Out Now: Short Trips – Black Dog

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 latest Short Trips release from Big Finish is available right now, the twelfth title in the range’s fifth series.

Black Dog is narrated by Louise Jameson and features Leela alongside the Fourth Doctor.

To dream of the Black Dog is to die in terror within the week. The Doctor thinks it nothing but mindless superstition… but then Leela dreams the dream.

It’s written by Dale Smith, perhaps better known as Paul D. Smith, previously wrote Short Trips titles including The Piltdown Men and Flywheel Revolution, as well as Doctor Who novels, Heritage and The Many Hands. Flywheel Revolution starred the First Doctor, narrated by Peter Purves, and began this series of Short Trips.

Black Dog – which sounds a little like Mummy on the Orient Express, don’t you think? – is directed by the lovely Lisa Bowerman.

The Short Trips is a download-only range, with each release available for just £2.99 exclusively from the Big Finish website. The next release, Gardens of the Dead stars the Fifth Doctor, narrated by Mark Strickson as Turlough, and starts the sixth series.

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