Christian Cawley's Blog, page 237

Return Of The Orange Spacesuit!

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.

After a quick trip to Lanzarote, the Doctor Who cast and crew returned to Cardiff today, and once again the Doctor has raided his wardrobe and decked the new TARDIS crew in his favourite interstellar look…

Acquiring the orange spacesuit after the events of The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, the Doctor evidently took a shine to it (the suit can be seen in 42, The Waters of Mars and briefly in the Eleventh Doctor episode Hide). He’s even found matching ones for his crew! How cute! This new Doctor clearly has very precise sartorial demands.

Peter, Jenna and Hermione Norris. Photos with thanks to Steven Price. #dwsr pic.twitter.com/54pGuMKB2M

— Dr Who Film Spoilers (@drwhofilming) May 21, 2014

Shooting scenes at Aberavon Beach for Wallander scribe Peter Harness’ episode, a sequel of sorts to the Fifth Doctor serial, Planet of Fire, Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and guest stars Hermione Norris and Ellis George (possibly playing Danny Pink’ sister, who was wearing the spacesuit in an earlier episode) were all seen exiting the TARDIS decked in outer space orange (it’s on Dulux’s colour guide, don’t you know.)

The only cast member bucking this tangerine trend was guest star Hermione Norris, who went with a more traditional space age silver.

So what can we glean from these photos? They clearly show a little bit of the ‘intense’ script promised by Moffat but what do they tell us about the story? Where are the helmets?

For a full set of on location pictures, check out Doctor Who Filming’s Facebook page (courtesy of Steven Price).

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Super Trailers for Titan Comics’ New Doctor Who Series!

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

Sometimes shows are made from comic books and sometimes comic books are made from shows. Titan Comics’ relaunch of the Doctor Who comic book line is, of course, a case of the latter. And like TV shows (and movies), even comics get their own trailers these days.

With Titan acquiring the rights to produce their own Doctor Who comics in the USA, they have announced two ongoing separate series: the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor. These will be all-new adventures with all-new companions, with the first glimpses of them in the trailers! David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor will team with Hispanic companion Gabriella “Gabby” Gonzalez, while Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor will pair up with Alice Obiefune, a female character of African descent.

The creative teams have been hand-picked by Titan.  The Tenth Doctor adventures will be handled by Nick Abadzis (writer), with fan-favorite Elena Casagrande on art:

Meanwhile, the Eleventh Doctor’s series (trailed at the top of the page) are by Al Ewing and Robbie Morrison with Simon Fraser’s artwork. The frankly fantastic painted covers are by Alice X. Zhang.

Both series are scheduled to have their first issues released in the USA on July 23rd.  The second issues will appear in September.  For more information, or even to subscribe ($54 for 15 issues), visit the Titan Comics website (titan-comics.com).  The physical comics are only available in the USA, Canada, and Australia (due to licensing restrictions), but each issue will be available for digital download in the UK and the rest of the world.

Kasterborites, are you excited about Titan’s new line of comics?

(Thanks to Geekritique)

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Reviewed: White Ghosts

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

White Ghosts takes the Fourth Doctor and Leela into far darker territory than they’ve been in their any of their recent adventures.

Arriving on a planet that is hostile to most life and shrouded in darkness, the TARDIS crew soon come across a scientific research team with a hidden agenda behind their own work, one that may very well threaten all life in the Universe.

With series one of The Fourth Doctor Adventures, Big Finish rode high on the elation of finally snagging Tom Baker to return as the Fourth Doctor full time, the second series had a far stronger structure but maintained a ‘fun factor’ throughout reminiscent of the Graham Williams era. With the third series, Big Finish have taken the Doctor and Leela down a far darker path, where stories offer more sympathetic enemies and moral questions . White Ghosts reflects this chosen path well and offers the listener a hard-to-answer question: when does progress cost humanity?

Big Finish take the Doctor and Leela down a dark path with stories that offer sympathetic enemies and moral questions… White Ghosts reflects this path.

The survey team installed on the planet have taken to modifying their very own DNA, with disastrous consequences for both the Doctor and Leela, but this leads to a well written finale where the Doctor makes a very difficult, and very cold, choice. It’s always thrilling when the good Doctor that we know and love has to make a hard decision and Alan Barnes, Doctor Who supremo that he is, manages to both unsettle the listener and have them understand the choices that have been made.

Perhaps most interesting in White Ghosts is the development of Leela. During her time in the original television run of Doctor Who, her character was very much a case of ‘say it as you see it’, with little progression from savage to one of the Doctor’s “Children of Time”. Here, we are offered a Leela that is learning and growing, one that has not only begun to understand the benefit of the Doctor’s tutelage but also thrive on it. She takes knowledge that she has learned from the Time Lord and from the books she has read and puts it to practical use during the story. This leads to a wonderful scene where the listener is offered a window into Leela’s mind as she fights. To understand her drive, her style and her base instincts help tremendously to build her as a new and fresh version of Leela, one that can be understood and viewed as far more than just a simple savage.

Overall, White Ghosts is a very sombre affair, although it contains hostile plants, this is a far away from the likes of The Seeds of Doom as humanly possible. Alan Barnes has taken the base under siege structure from Doctor Who and managed to add a new layer to it that captures the wonder of The Fourth Doctor Adventures.

White Ghosts is available from www.bigfinish.com now on CD or via download.

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What Might The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Say About Daleks?

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.

Adding a touch of Peter Jones-esque class, animator Andrew Orton has used time travel (not before discussing with his broad-minded and well-adjusted family the possibility that he may become his own father) to enhance the already superb, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: Dalek Entry.

The entry, which adds to the cannon disco Davros, his early playing career for Aston Villa (get it, he’s a Villain!) and the immortal line: ‘The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has this to say on the subject of Daleks…stay away. Really stay away. No honestly, just stay away, they’re horrible’, has now added the vocal talents of P. A. Smith; who does a splendid impression of the late, great Peter Jones – the original voice of the diary.

Add that to the already impressive visuals (oh, those wonderful, handcrafted traditional cel animation techniques) and what you have is a hilarious, beautifully realised homage to both the galaxies greatest foes but the greatest book to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor – of which no Earth man had ever heard of.

The post What Might The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Say About Daleks? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Would You Buy “Daleks Sing Gilbert & Sullivan” On CD?

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.

As a former full time vocalist, I fancy all sorts of music, including Broadway and opera. While I never performed in The Pirates of Penzance or The Mikado, I have certainly enjoyed my fair share of Gilbert and Sullivan. If you’ll reference the video above, I’ll invite you to experience something a musical paradox unlike anything else in the universe: Daleks Sing Gilbert and Sullivan!

Utterly unique and it would certainly be fitting to say that I’m on the cusp of speechlessness. Gilbert and Sullivan’s works have been covered by many companies, and now they  can add the scourge of Skaro to that list as well!

Now that you’ve had time to experience the majesty, dear reader, the question does remain: would you buy Daleks Sing Gilbert and Sullivan? Let us know below!

(With thanks to Elton)

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Matt Smith Wants You To Look At His Muscles In Lost River Teaser

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.

It’s the Eleventh Doctor as you’ve never seen him!

In fact, it’s not even the Eleventh Doctor. The first teaser trailer for Lost River (formerly How to Catch a Monster) has wormed its way onto the interweb, and it’s intriguing to say the least. It appears to depict a seemingly post-apocalyptic world, interspersed with shots from some kind of military boot camp. Oh, and it features a topless Matt Smith, asking another character to look at his muscles. Over and over again. If you haven’t watched the trailer, you should. But be warned - your day’s about to get weirder!

The finished film is currently competing at the Cannes Film Festival, although an official release date has yet to be set.

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PodKast Doctor Who Teardown: Pertwee Season 7 vs Bouffant Years

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.

Here’s a question for you: is Season 7 of Doctor Who better or worse than the rest of the Jon Pertwee era? We don’t know, but Christian Cawley and James McLean certainly had a good go at discussing it in this week’s podKast.

Other topics include a bunch of unglamorous weirdos picking of the Radio Times Audience Award BAFTA for Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor while the production team suns itself works really hard filming in Lanzarote, some talk about David Tennant being described as the “quintessential Doctor” by show legend Terrance Dicks and speculation over the Series 8 start date.

Oh and we start off with the most unusual Kasterborous discussion yet. Believe us, we have no idea how we ended up doing that…

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 15 Shownotes

Doctor Who wins Radio Times Audience Award BAFTA
Terrance Dicks describes David Tennant as “Quintessential Doctor”
Doctor Who Quick Read: Made of Steel by Terrance Dicks
Frank Skinner cast in Doctor Who
Doctor Who Series 8 to kick off on August Bank Holiday?
Classic Coronation Street on YouTube
Kasterborous exclusive Humble Bundle Doctor Who comics competition (closes May 23rd 2014)
The original Sarah Jane Smith, April Walker
Recommendations: Harvest of Time by Alastair Reynolds, Asylum of the Daleks , Dinosaurs on a Spaceship , Prey episode 3 starring John Simm, Life on Mars , Ashes to Ashes , Doctor Who: Legacy, Verdigris by Paul Magrs
Win IDW Doctor Who comics thanks to Humble Bundle

The Kasterborous PodKast theme tune is arranged by Russell Hugo. Get’s better with every listen, doesn’t it?

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!

The post PodKast Doctor Who Teardown: Pertwee Season 7 vs Bouffant Years appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Big Chief’s Tenth Doctor Vinyl Statue

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.

Is your desk/ mantlepiece/ bathtub/ Vinyl Maquette collection missing a particular Vinyl Maquette of the Tenth Doctor as featured in IDW’s manga-styled comic strip? Well fret no longer…!

Big Chief have produced a Dynamix vinyl figure of Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. Retailing at £69.99, $79.99 in the USA, this cheeky chappy has all the coat-swish, hair-spike and geek chic you could wish for in a 9″ lump of polyvinyl chloride.

He even comes with a swappable head so you can enjoy your hyper-stylised Tennant with glasses OR without glasses. What are you waiting for? Wave your sonic screwdriver at the screen and order one now!*

*Might not actually work.

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Creating the Ultimate Whovian Desktop

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.

Calling all Windows using/loving Whovians! Just like the Doctor likes to shake up his TARDIS interior from time to time, you too have the ability to make your Windows desktop a little more Whovian! Kinja power user, Karth, has posted what is being posited as the Whovian Desktop!

If you fancy replicating his creation, here are the tools that are required (sonic screwdriver not included):

TARDIS wallpaper by nirufe on DeviantArt
Fences (for hiding desktop icons)
Rainmeter (the system used to implement all of the extra customization)
Elegance 2 skin for Rainmeter  (the clock)
SimpleSentenceThree skin for Rainmeter (for the different performance meters)
Ourea icon pack (replacement skin icons)
Frosted Elegance Homebar Rainmeter Skin by Frostschaden
Windows 8.1 (this doesn’t mean you have to be running Microsoft’s latest and greatest; Rainmeter is designed for Windows XP and up.)

Now, the beautiful thing about getting started with a project like this is that you’ve got the opportunity to really make your desktop an original creation. Perhaps you fancy having Rose Tyler fill the background of your screen? Find your best wallpaper and then you’re set!

Of course, Windows is robust enough that customisation can go as light or deep as you like. I’m going to provide you with a few extra tools for your theming tool belt (note: be sure to back up your system before you go tweaking; most of these solutions are tame, but it’s better safe than sorry):

IconPackager: your system and folder icons can be super customized and replaced using this program.
DeviantART: perhaps the best place online for killer images (think skins, wallpapers, etc.).
StartMenuX: okay, so this one is mostly for Windows 8 users (although I use it on my Win 7 work system). This tool can be configured to take you straight to the traditional desktop and give you the traditional Start menu access that was changed in Win 8, plus awesome tweaks to the menu. Did I mention you can change your start button icon as well?
WindowFX: adds some sweet animations to your window and system movements. Unfortunately, not free but not too expensive at $10.

What do you think, dear reader? Are you interested in making your own Whovian Desktop? Do you have some theming tools that you like to use that I haven’t mentioned? Join the conversation below!

(The Whovian Desktop via Karth)

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Glimpse Karen Gillan In New Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

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 official Guardians of the Galaxy trailers have finally been launched online, but you might have a job spotting Karen Gillan among the stars of the movie (the eponymous superhero lineup) thanks mainly to her being a villain…

Former Amy Pond actress Gillan lines up against heroes Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper in a movie that also features Benicio del Toro, Glenn Close and John C Reilly.

Guardians of the Galaxy premiers in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2014 and in the United States on August 1, in 3D and IMAX 3D.

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