Christian Cawley's Blog, page 241

Legendary Fan Film The Adventures of Dr Hoo Hits YouTube

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.

There are various legends in Doctor Who fandom, from collectors hoarding “lost” episodes to rumours of animated series being produced and then shelved. One such legend is Dr Hoo, a fan-produced stop-motion animation that circulated in the late 70s/early 80s but has remained on the whole unavailable.

Until now. Made on 8mm film and directed by Kevin “30 Years In The TARDIS” Davies, this spoof cartoon premiered at the world’s first Doctor Who convention in Battersea, London, in August 1977 and has been largely unseen since.

The animation is by Davies, Kevin Davies, Andrew Harlow, Steven Harlow, David Beasley and Mark Fuller, with Ning Lee and Gary Saunders as artists, while the soundtrack is Mankind’s 1978 cover “Dr Who”.

We love it

(With thanks to Joe)

The post Legendary Fan Film The Adventures of Dr Hoo Hits YouTube appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Billie Piper: “Daleks Don’t Scare Me”

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.

When it comes to facing down the universe’s deadliest foe, Rose Tyler herself Billie Piper isn’t about to turn tail and run; in fact, she’s not in the least bit scared of those pepper pot despots.

Risking the wrath of Skaro, Piper, speaking at the premiere for Sky’s new drama, Penny Dreadful, told the Radio Times that the horrors she faces in the new series are much scarier than Doctor Who‘s tank-like villains:

I’ve never been scared by the Daleks myself… As much as [Penny Dreadful] has all these supernatural elements [like Doctor Who] I think it’s largely about mortality.

Penny Dreadful, a dark and violent thriller set in Victorian London, explores both the very real horrors lurking on those cobbled streets and those that dwelling in nightmares of the now flesh and blood literary characters of Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Grey and Dracula.

Needless to say, it’s a perilous existence for Piper’s Brona Croft, a troubled, terminally ill prostitute:

It’s about lots of people existing on the outskirts of society and becoming one and living with demons and darkness – and I think all of that is pretty scary. Far scarier than a Dalek!

A co-production production between Sky Atlantic and Showtime, Penny Dreadful starts on 20 May at 9:00pm on Sky Atlantic and stars Josh Hartnett, Eva Green, Rassilon himself Timothy Dalton and Harry Treadaway.

The post Billie Piper: “Daleks Don’t Scare Me” appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Gillan on Nebula Fight Scenes – and Eating More Food!

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.

Former Doctor Who star and star of the upcoming Marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy, shocked fans at Comic-Con when she revealed her shaved in preparation of assuming the role of Nebula in the film.

What may also come as shock to the audience who only know Gillan as the spunky Amy Pond, is the fierce physicality and fighting that takes place in her upcoming movie roll.

Speaking with Total Film, Gillan had this to say about prepping for the role:

I started off with just working out. They wanted me to just look a bit tougher. I started eating lots of protein. I went on this diet of more food, rather than less… I was like, ‘You want me to eat everything? Perfect!’

She also had this to say about the character she portrays and the fight scenes she’s involved in:

These women characters are just so fierce. The fight sequences aren’t graceful – they’re hard and strong.”

Guardians of the Galaxy is set to release worldwide in August. Are you excited to see Karen in a more physical (and blue!) role?

The post Gillan on Nebula Fight Scenes – and Eating More Food! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

How To Cast A Doctor Who Star, By Steven Moffat

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.

In this week’s Radio Times, emblazoned with the Pertwee-esque publicity image of the Twelfth Doctor, show runner Steven Moffat talks age, hotness and casting the best role in telly. One of the most interesting things he says about finding the right actor to play the Doctor is the need for a bit of contradiction…

I always thought Matt, while a very young man, had something of the demeanour of a much older man, whereas Peter is a man in his 50s but is terribly boyish and young at times.

I like the doctors to have mixed messages about what age they are – you can’t really pin them down.

Now Stevie has said a lot about poor old Matt Smith over the years, including that he walks like a “drunk giraffe”. But he also gave the rather lovely description that Matt looks like a young man put together from the distant memories of old men. There’s something heroic but also something awkward about that magnificent chin! And I’m inclined to agree that the Doctor needs something visually surprising about him – as though he doesn’t quite belong to any particular style or age bracket. For some of the Classic Doctors, perhaps it was just a mischievous twinkle in the eye (and for some particular a fashion choice/disaster).

Russell T Davies, Moffat’s forerunner perhaps put it best when he commented that the Eleventh Doctor’s Series 5 costume made him look like both a student and a professor at the same time. This certainly seems to be the line Moffat is taking but with the Twelfth Doctor he’s gone for an older exterior…

The doctors are all the same doctor really, at the end of the day. And to emphasise the senior consultant over the medical student for once reminds people that he’s actually a terrible old beast. Matt’s method would do that … you’d think, ‘You’re not really a puppy are you?’ Just like Peter Capaldi’s doctor will sometimes remind me he’s a big kid at heart.

Brilliant. A big kid with wild eyes and hair like a stormy sky! I’m really excited about seeing Capaldi’s Doctor in action and particularly how he delivers an ancient alien on a grand temporal joy-ride.

Is Moffat right – should the Doctor be a bit funny looking? Should we exclude classically good-looking actors or is it all in the performance? (Be warned, this would mean that Henry Cavill, Andrew Garfield and Tom Hardy could never take on the Gallifreyan tear-away. Just Sayin’). Now indulge us, Kasterborites – who else out there do you think would not only make a great Doctor but fulfills the young-and-old-at-the-same-time requirement?

Anyone want to volunteer a mug-shot…?

The post How To Cast A Doctor Who Star, By Steven Moffat appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

International Success for Doctor Who Stars & Missing Episodes In The PodKast

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.

Brian Terranova rejoins the podKast this week with Christian Cawley and James McLean, ready to throw his thoughts into the ring on a number of topics, from David Tennant’s US accent to how much healthier Matt Smith is looking since he quit Doctor Who.

Throw in some now-obligatory missing episodes talk, Brian’s awesome TARDIS key collection and mention of his nemesis Paul McGann’s Cat (a commenter in these parts) and you’ll soon wonder how James and Christian ever manage to get to the end of a show when he isn’t around.

Indeed, it’s enough to make you wish that Brian Terranova lived here in the UK. But if he did, we’d have to change the time we do the podKast.

So, press play and enjoy the podKast and it’s astonishingly long list of shownotes.

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 14 Shownotes

PodKast with a Kerb Krawl
Stars Of Doctor Who Are Everywhere This Summer!
Tom Baker in Remington Steele (US only, sadly)
David Tennant Is Not Your Lawyer, Gracepoint
Matt Smith in Ryan Gosling movie
Karen Gillan Oculus, Guardians of the Galaxy, Selfie
David Tennant in Postman Pat movie
Dark Eyes 3
Doctor Who returns to Lanzarote, Hermione Norris and Tony Osoba cast.
Doctor Who Insider: Capaldi and Coleman “Sizzle” In New Series
Matt Smith putting on weight and looking healthier
Ian Levine writes open letter about missing episodes
Brian Terranova’s TARDIS key collection
Brian Terranova’s nemesis: Paul McGann’s Cat
Are Doctor Who Action Figures Heading For A Return To 5″?
Recommendations: The Quotable Doctor Who , Penny Dreadful , Prey starring John Simm, The Enemy of the World US DVD
Big Finish’s Paul Spragg dies.

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 International Success for Doctor Who Stars & Missing Episodes In The PodKast appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Weaving of Doctor Who and Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em

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 crossing of stars from one show on a television network to a new/different show on the same network is not a new concept. Often, the likes of BBC, NBC, ABC, etc. will pull from talent that have proven themselves in small parts in other shows to either star in a new role or augment and existing programming effort. However, what is interesting to see is when one show (Doctor Who, duh!) contributes so many stars to a single program. A fine example of this comes to us via the so-called Brain of Morbius, and examines the intersection between the Doctor and Frank Spencer.

Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em ran on BBC 1 from 1973-1978, right in the sweet spot of what many consider to be the best of Doctor Who, the Tom Baker era. Rightly so, the BBC picked up actors from Doctor Who and also used them in the Frank Spencer vehicle. Some of the best examples:

Derek Newark (An Unearthly Child; Inferno)

Neil McCarthy (several episodes during Pertwee’s tenure, including The Mind of Evil, as well as The Power of Kroll)

Peter Jeffrey (The Androids of Tara)

Elisabeth Sladen (the amazing Sarah Jane Smith!)

Morbius has a compiled a “near-as-dammit-complete” list of all the other stars who have played parts on both shows. It’s intriguing to see the connection and a testament to the caliber of actors Who has had in its ranks over the years.

What say you, dear reader? Are you surprised at the vast number of actor/actresses that have played on both shows? And are you a fan of Some Mothers? (Of course you are!) Anyone fancy seeing Michael Crawford in Series 8…?

The post The Weaving of Doctor Who and Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Annual Years Reviewed!

Thomas Spychalski 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.

Nostalgia and Doctor Who go hand in hand, which is almost second nature for any creation that has stood the test of time the way this science fiction series has. As the world changes around it, it mirrors the current world and becomes part of our memories. A fondness develops around some of the more forgotten products and trappings of the series which older fans now recall being intertwined with a simpler time in their own lives.

The Doctor Who Annuals published by World Distributors from 1966 to 1986 are one great example of this, a merchandising tie in that children of more then one generation might have found under the tree at Christmas.

Even I got a chance to experience the series first hand, even though it was right at the very end of the original Annual run with the 1986 Annual which I poured over for clues about the Sixth Doctor’s persona as The Twin Dilemma was not shown directly after The Caves of Androzani in some areas in the United States.

I also got a taste of some of the older annuals content through A Journey Through Time, which was a compilation published after the Doctor Who production office decided that the annuals had their day.

Considering the modern whipper snappers of fandom never got to properly appreciate these fascinating and at times slightly odd gems of the Doctor Who Universe, The Annual Years, written by Paul Magrs, is both a wonderful look at both the history of these publications as well as a reference book for the stories contained within the Annuals during their twenty plus year run.

The book begins with an excellent preface which gives the reader a bit of insight as to why Magrs himself is so passionate about these books from Doctor Who‘s past, before the book then treats us to a brief history of the behind the scenes aspects of the publication.

This part of the book is very engaging for those fans who are more apt to watch the bonus features on the DVD line up before watching Planet of the Daleks or Castrovalva for the thousandth time.

Names such as Terrance Dicks, Robert Holmes and Phillip Hinchliffe are just a few of the notables that were involved in trying to get World Distributor’s staff to understand the ins and out of the series so it could be represented correctly in the pages of the yearly annuals.

Everything from fees to use an particular actor or actresses likeness to the ongoing battle taken on by many a producer or script editor to get the annual to refer to the Doctor as the Doctor rather Dr. Who is covered in this section, seemingly pieced together by Magrs himself from years of correspondence between the BBC and World Distributors. This section instantly grabbed me as I always love curling up with a good history lesson about one of my many passions.

Magrs writes this section, much like the rest of the book, with flair and a sense of humor that only a true fan of the series could write, although newcomers can still follow along with wide eyes at just how long this show has been taken seriously by both it’s following and those who created it.

Sadly I almost wanted this part to never end: I found myself wanting to know more about battles over misleading Cybermen covers and imagining the expressions on the faces of World Distributor’s staff as they struggled to make sense of incoming Tom Baker’s personality as the Doctor, which was described by then producer Phillip Hinchliffe as a combination of: “Bernard Shaw, Professor Challenger and Sherlock Holmes.”

Tears at the history lesson’s end turned to smiles as I left the world of behind-the-scenes and dove into the treasure trove of knowledge and adventure that began once The Annual Years started to examine the contents of the book series year by year, Doctor by Doctor.

Each year’s set of stories has a brief synopsis, followed by an assessment of the highlights of each’s fictional content, including how similar or different the Doctor or companions act compared to their television counterparts, the quality and likeness of the accompanying illustrations as well as the many continuity errors that were common in the annuals, especially in the 1960s and 1970s.

Humor abounds here too, and you’ve clearly missed the point if you don’t get at least a wry chuckle from such lines as: “Don’t hang around near allotments. Any strange light in the sky is almost guaranteed to be a flying saucer in 1971, probably belonging to an alien species intent on invading. It’s very easy to siphon off energy from a nuclear power plant, for whatever nefarious purposes you fancy. Any Earth probe sent into space is going to come a cropper, and your astronauts are going to come back doo-lally and/or possessed. There are infinite worlds, much smaller than this one and one of them is called Fred, after the man who brings in the tea.”

This is one large love letter to a fan’s Doctor Who (or should that be Dr Who?), the universe created for children from pure imagination. A man of fate and mystery on a quest to see everything he can in this universe and in may others.

After all isn’t that what Doctor Who is really all about in the end?

Beyond the dissection of the Doctor Who annuals (and the one-off K9 Annual) there are also a bunch on excellent bonus features, including interviews with names such as graphic artist Stanley Freeman, who worked for World Distributors in the early days of the annuals and Keith Miller, who founded the first Doctor Who fan club.

These and the other interviews present in the book, mostly with the latter day writers who wrote the bulk of some of the 1980s annuals, create a sense of shared admiration for a product many have dismissed as out of touch and out of date, or at best, a collector’s item to be bought for rarity and monetary purposes only.

Additionally, we are presented with snippets of many letters described in the history section that started off this wonderful trip down memory lane. These were discovered with great personal joy as I thought the trip might be over but they’re a welcome add-on and almost worth the cover price by themselves.

The book concludes with some raw data for each annual up until 1980, including the original retail price, number of units published and number of units sold.

All in all, whether you are a fan of the annuals themselves, a scholar of Doctor Who history or someone who has always been curious about the near infamous annuals themselves, The Annual Years is well worth your time and money. Personally it is one of the best non-fiction Doctor Who books I have read in years.

Now where did I put that 1986 Annual of mine? Something tells me it might be time to dust it off and give it a good read.

The post The Annual Years Reviewed! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Going, Going, Nearly Gone: The Flesh Bowl

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.

First we had The Flesh Pod- complete with a broken biscuit assortment of Doctor action figures wading in the glop – but we can also harness the Flesh and create our own Gangers! It’s becoming rarer and rarer, so if you want your own duplicate, you’ll have to get on it fast.

The ‘Flesh Bowl’ figure creator lets fans mould their own Doctor Gangers using pump action injector to torment/discuss the ethical quandary of cloning with their other Doctor Who figures.

‘The ‘Flesh Bowl’ is pretty much the same as this Terminator 2: Judgement Day set – the T2 Bio-Flesh Regenerator Toy – where you could create your own genital-less Terminators (maybe it was the Steroids) whose flesh would peel away in combat and that, thanks to an ill-timed sigh, meant that my younger brother has to go to A & E with Terminator powder in his eyes.

Let this be a warning…

Of course, you could try adding some red powder or something to it and see if you could recreate The Crimson Horror instead. That may damage it beyond repair, but hey, it’d be cool!

The set is nowhere to be found in Forbidden Planet stores, but you can still get one from Amazon UK for just £9.75 (a heavy reduction from the original £29.99 price tag).

The post Going, Going, Nearly Gone: The Flesh Bowl appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Smell Of (Great) Intelligence

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.

This week in “Weird Doctor Who Related Merchandise”, we ask: ever wonder what The Great Intelligence might SMELL like?

Given the GI has been seen in many different forms, such a thing like a specific scent might be hard to pin down, especially since the essence of the GI is not exactly corporeal. Would it smell perhaps like fallen snow, in the case of the Snowmen, or maybe something akin to rotting corpse, in the case of the Whispermen?

What about gardenia?

Back in 2012, actor Richard E. Grant, known to Doctor Who fans for portraying The Great Intelligence, set off on a journey to create a perfume that would capture all of his favourite scents in one place. Having never gone through this process and knowing nothing about the perfume world, the task seemed Herculean and daunting at first and was filled with many twists and turns, from meeting people who overwhelmed him with their knowledge of the costs and trials of the perfume world to facing corporate “Giants” wanting to strike him down.

All of this lead to the introduction of his unisex scent, Jack, in April 2014, exclusively available from Liberty of London. Grant describes Jack as

…the realisation of a boyhood dream. All my favourite ingredients are here – lime, marijuana, mandarin, vetiver, pepper, cloves and gardenias. These earthy, citrus scents combine to conjure up the hypnotic and unisexy perfume I’ve imagined for so long.

 

Grant also wrote a column titled “Diary Of A Perfumed Ponce” for British Vogue about his journey from a spark of an idea in the Caribbean to bottling and selling of what he calls his “signature” scent.

The columns are available to read online on Grant’s personal website as well as the product site for Jack.

Jack For Him and For Her retails for £95.00 and is available from Liberty of London and ships to most parts of the UK and Europe as well as the US and Canada. No word yet on shipping to other parts of the globe.

(via The REG Temple)

The post The Smell Of (Great) Intelligence appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Creating Miniature Effects for The Day of the Doctor

Danny_Weasel 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.

For those of you who may not know it, the BBC has an Academy where they offer internships and courses aimed at creating the next generation of, well, everything needed to make television really. As part of this the website regularly posts interviews with various people talking about the work they do. At the moment one of those interviews is with Mike Tucker.

Mike is the man responsible for the effects work, specifically the miniatures, used on The Day of the Doctor. This entails being responsible for supervising the design and construction of the models and their associated rigs, booking the stage, the camera crew, the electricians and then act as miniature effects director on the actual shoot days. “Effectively it’s like being a second unit.” says Mike.

The main focus of Mike’s work on the special was the opening battle sequence on Gallifrey.

“An added complication to our work was that the show was going to be made in 3D. Up to that point no one had tried a high-speed miniature shoot in 3D for a British drama production before.”

Interestingly, because of the limited availability of the high-speed 3D camera rigs, the team ended up shooting out the model sequences in advance of the main unit shooting the full size battle scene, quite the opposite to the usual way these things are done.

The whole interview is filled with little interesting snippets and there are links to other related Day of the Doctor articles detailing the making of the episode and an in-depth study into the shows 3D elements.

What are your views on the use of miniatures on Doctor Who; are you old school and think there should be more, or are you more inclined to having more computer generated effects? Perhaps you are a miniatures maker yourself and would like to weigh in with your thoughts on the subject? Whatever your views let us know them in the usual way below.

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