Christian Cawley's Blog, page 258

Karen on Going Bald, Peter Capaldi and Matt being Clumsy

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.

Karen Gillan recently did a Q&A session at the Emerald City Comic Convention in Seattle (“…the weather’s kind of like Scotland”), and took some moments to “Pond-er” her time on Doctor Who and her life since.  The tall ginger Scot received a variety of questions from the audience, including ones about her time as the Eleventh Doctor’s companion, what she thinks of Peter Capaldi, and her future in the movies.

On her favorite Doctor Who episode:

“I have a few, but to pick one, it’d probably be The Eleventh Hour. I just feel like there was a certain magic to that episode, and Matt and I were introducing our characters and Arthur for the first time… it felt like we were going to be OK and not wreck Doctor Who for everyone.”

On how dorky Matt Smith can be in real life:

“ … I remember he was talking to this girl, and she was really pretty. And he tried to look really cool and leaned against this light stand and it fell over. It is genuinely the funniest thing I have ever seen.”

On how nerdy Twelfth Doctor actor Peter Capaldi is when it comes to Doctor Who:

“First of all, he’s the biggest Doctor Who fan ever… so the fact that he has the role makes me really happy, because he’s been so passionate about it for a long time. I think he’s going to do a great job – he’s a brilliant actor.”

Karen has two film projects, Oculus (a horror movie made in the US) and Guardians of the Galaxy (a surefire Marvel blockbuster), coming out over the next few months.  So…how did she feel having to shave her head for Guardians?

“They said, ‘The actress who plays this role has to shave her head.’ I said, ‘Absolutely,’ thinking that I wasn’t going to get it. I mean, it’s like this big Marvel movie! And then I got it, and I was like, ‘Oh. I guess I’m going to be bald.’”

So, Kasterborites, a very serious question:  who makes a cuter cue-ball, Karen Gillan or Matt Smith?

Read the full interview, including a lovely bit about Matt’s regeneration, over at CBR.

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The Doctor Explains the Mystery of his Tomb on Trenzalore

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 no good.

You’ve consulted your handmade, chronological wall chart, engaged in a little tête-à-tête and violence with your fellow internet truth seekers and, in one last ditch effort to finally understand what exactly happened on Trenzalore, planned to pilot your own handmade spacecraft to the fictional planet before calmer hands dragged you back behind the fence and into the padded comfort of your cell.

It’s just no good.

You just can’t reconcile the fact that if the Doctor did prevent his death in Christmas special The Time of the Doctor, then why was his grave still there in the series seven finale The Name of the Doctor?

Well, unfurrow that brow my troubled friend, Steven Moffat has not only be charged with a similar line of enquiry in this month’s Doctor Who Magazine; he’s only gone and answered it too!

With a little help from a very familiar friend:

“I’ve often wondered about that. Fortunately, late one night, the Doctor turned up in person and explained it to me:

 

THE DOCTOR: Changing time is tricky. It’s a bit like a detective story: so as long there isn’t an actual body, you’ve got a certain amount of wiggle room – for instance, if the body has, rather conveniently, been burned on a boat in Utah. Here’s the thing: I can change the future so long as the future has not already been established as part of my own past. I can’t rescue Amy and Rory because I already know that I didn’t.

 

But what do I know about Trenzalore? There’s a big monument that looks very like my TARDIS. There’s a temporal fissure leading to my timeline. Maybe it’s my grave. Maybe, one day, it’s my burial ground. Maybe it is something else entirely, and we got it all wrong. Don’t know. Don’t plan to find out for as long as possible. The main thing is, Clara still jumped into my time stream, and ended up helping me through all of my life. All that is established, unchanged – but there’s wiggle room!”

So there you have it! Kind of… Sort of…

…It’s just no good.

(Via RT.)

The post The Doctor Explains the Mystery of his Tomb on Trenzalore appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Myth Makers: Golden Years Reviewed

Scott Varnham 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 worry when reading fan fiction is that it will all be sub-par stuff that is not fit to bear the name of the original work. Myth Makers is here to give those who hold that opinion what for.

The tales presented in this special issue of Myth Makers are very well written indeed. The editors of Doctor Who Information Network‘s fiction anthology have clearly got the cream of the crop here. It’s a shame that the BBC aren’t doing a great deal with their past Doctors stuff as some of these authors would be superb fits for the range. Most of the past Doctors are given stories that seem to just fit with their respective eras and the characters are captured perfectly.

That’s not to say the stories themselves are flawless, of course; one wonders whether the first story in the collection was the best choice to open with (in fact, there doesn’t seem to be much of a coherent order to speak of). But if you do stick with it, you’re in for some wonderful treats. Our favourite stories are Observer Effect, PROBE Pour Homme and World Of Tomorrow. Not to mention the surreal Second Doctor story Don’t Drink The Tea, which is also high on the list. Each of the stories is illustrated with detailed portraits of the starring Doctor. These vary in quality (despite mostly being drawn by the same artist); for every photo-realistic Peter Davison (we must point out that the Davison one in particular is astonishingly good) or Sylvester McCoy, there’s a drawing of Colin Baker which doesn’t much resemble the actor or a David Tennant who, while still recognisably him, looks more like David Mitchell in Peep Show.

One lovely feature of this fanzine is a collection of 50-word memories of Doctor Who that run the gamut from fully-formed micro-recollections to scatterings of appropriate words. They pop up every so often and can make you laugh or realise how much their experiences resonate with your own. The best is this thought from Obverse Books Publisher, Stuart Douglas…

I was married, with a first child and new house, and had forgotten about Doctor Who. I was shifting crates into the attic of the new place, wondering how life had become so filled with responsibility. And then I dropped one box, and a tidal wave of wonderful, unexpected Target paperbacks poured out around me…

It’s a shame that this was published in June 2013, as it missed out on the chance to add another story to John Hurt’s War Doctor (this is very much a personal preference and something they can’t really be blamed for). But now we have contemplated the past, it is time to look ahead to the future. It will be nice to see what future authors make of the Twelfth Doctor. Or the War Doctor. Or the Curator. The possibilities are endless.

You can obtain a copy of Myth Makers: Golden Years from Lulu for less than a fiver!

The post Myth Makers: Golden Years Reviewed appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

McGann: “I don’t ever expect to be involved in Doctor Who again”

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.

NOOOOOOO! Pull yourself up from the floor, Kasterborites, grasp on to your nearly-spilled tea, take a few trembling sips and lean-in. It’s not all bad… Eighth Doctor, Paul McGann also said in the Radio Times interview that he’d be “super enthusiastic” if he got an offer similar to that inviting him to appear in 2013′s Night of the Doctor minisode. Last November’s surprise prequel to the 50th anniversary special was only McGann’s second on-screen appearance as the Doctor (other than flashbacks) and was over 17 years and three incarnations after his debut. After saying he didn’t think it was likely that he’d be asked back to appear as the Doctor again he went on:

“But I expect I’ll be surprised one day by something. That’s what Doctor Who‘s about. I expect to be surprised. You can never say never with this thing. But it would have to be of the same heart and magnitude, and proper, and true. I wouldn’t want to run away with the rights and make my own spin-off. You’re either in the Doctor Who family… or you aren’t.”

Well said, Paul! At least we know the heart(s) is(are) willing (as if there were any doubt – he’s such a twitter tease). As a brief side note, here’s an open letter to the author of the RT article:

Dear Stephen Kelly,

In your emotional roller-coaster of an article on Paul McGann’s view on a future in Doctor Who, I note that you refer to fans plagued by the mystery of how his Doctor regenerated as “pedantic”. I disagree. This is like saying that the mode of death of a central character in Game of Thrones or finding out whether or not Mulder & Scully actually got together as mere trivia.

Pedantically yours,

Off-duty pedant. x

Now that that’s out of my system (the cheek!) what do you think about McGann’s view on a spin-off? It’s been a very popular idea among fans but he seems to say that a parallel Eighth Doctor series wouldn’t be in the spirit of the show – could it harm the main series? Do you think it would be unfaithful to the fantastic Big Finish canon? What about multi-Doctor story appearances? How do you think McGann could or should crop up again if he did? Tell us below!

(Oh, and keep an eye out for our review of Dark Eyes 2 over the weekend…)

The post McGann: “I don’t ever expect to be involved in Doctor Who again” appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

PodKast Remembers Kate O’Mara, Derek Martinus

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.

This week’s podKast was originally recorded on Monday, using Skype and a compatible recording tool that we’ve used weekly in the past. Sadly, this time it didn’t work. The result is a second recording on Tuesday, this time using Google Hangouts. You can watch the results above, or listen on iTunes and Audioboo as usual.

In order to avoid sounding a little tired going over the same material again, we opted instead to cover news items that we hadn’t “rehearsed”. The results are certainly different, and we think as entertaining as usual.

The podKast hosts this week are Christian Cawley and James McLean, whose combined dishevelment will do nothing to dispel any illusions you might have about working from home.

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 08 Shownotes

Instagram video intro
Doctor Who animation
Kate O’Mara dies aged 74

Colin Baker tweets about Kate O’Mara


Derek Martinus dies

Derek Martinus archive interview


The Marco Polo April Fool

The Marco Polo omnirumour


Daleks’ Master Plan graphic novel
Kasterborous’ April Fool 2014
Kasterborous’ April Fool 2012
Brian Terranova: Cosplaying Celebrity
Sean Pertwee pleased by Peter Capaldi casting
Paul McGann on working with Peter Capaldi on Doctor Who
Recommendations: The Ice Warriors, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs, Who On Earth Is Tom Baker?

The Kasterborous PodKast theme tune is arranged by Russell Hugo. Lovely, isn’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 Remembers Kate O’Mara, Derek Martinus appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Tales of Trenzalore Paperback Release Confirmed!

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.

Collecting four short stories, Tales of Trenzalore, released in February as an eBook, is getting a physical publication in July.

The book charts just a few of the adventures the Eleventh Doctor faced whilst defending the two of Christmas in The Time of the Doctor. Here’s the official synopsis:

As it had been foretold, the armies of the Universe gathered at Trenzalore. Only one thing stood between the planet and destruction – the Doctor. For nine hundred years, he defended the planet, and the tiny town of Christmas, against the forces that would destroy it.

 

He never knew how long he could keep the peace. He never knew what creatures would emerge from the snowy night to threaten him next. He knew only that at the end he would die on Trenzalore.

 

Some of what happened during those terrible years is well documented. But most of it remains shrouded in mystery and darkness.

 

Until now.

 

This is a glimpse of just some of the terrors the people faced, the monstrous threats the Doctor defeated. These are the tales of the monsters who found themselves afraid – and of the one man who was not.

Set during completely different time periods on Trenzalore, the book sees the return of some big enemies – including the Autons, the Krynoid and the Ice Warriors. Oh, and the Mara! The four stories are:

Let it Snow - by Justin Richards;

An Apple a Day - by George Mann;

Strangers in the Outland - by Paul Finch;

The Dreaming - by Mark Morris.

I’m just glad that, following Summer Falls and Other Stories, it looks as if all the eBook releases will be given the paperback treatment!

Released on 3rd July, Tales of Trenzalore available for pre-order from Amazon UK for £6.55.

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Weeping Angels Feature In Doctor Who Fan Video ‘Stone’

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.

Remember John Smith, the man behind THAT faked Doctor Who 50th anniversary trailer? He was also the man behind the quite frankly blisteringly good reimagined intro video for Capaldi’s Doctor not to mention the mind bendingly good Wholock video.

Well he is back with another creation and this time it has been a real labour of love!

Clocking in at over 300hours worth of rendering ‘Stone’ is a two and a half-minute all CG short about the weeping Angels and a chance encounter with them in a dreary, claustrophobic rain-soaked maze of back alleys. As with any and all of Mr Smiths output the visual quality is flawless, the textures and attention to detail, even down to the mottled wear on the back of the angels neck, is mighty impressive stuff.

And it is genuinely scary. I don’t frighten easily, I grew up watching things like Aliens and Conan the Destroyer at an early age, but even I got a chill or two especially at the last few seconds, though I wont spoil it for those who have yet to experience it.

This is all the more impressive considering its all done on a home system, could we have a budding Gareth Edwards on our hands here (he who made the film Monsters almost completely on his laptop and is now helming the new version of Godzilla)? And more importantly, why have the BBC not snapped this guy up to some post, be it in putting together promos or even directing?

What is your verdict on Mr Smith and his output, do you agree that he is deserving of bigger things? What do you think of ‘Stone’? Let us know below.

(Via Anglophenia)

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Keeley Hawes: “I Can’t Really Call Doctor Who Work!”

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 gorgeous Keeley Hawes has spoken to BT about her role as the villainous Ms Delphox in the upcoming series of Doctor Who.

The Spooks and Ashes to Ashes star says:

“I had such a lovely time on Doctor Who. Can’t really call it work, it was absolutely lovely. My favourite part was something I thought I’d never get to do: when the camera shakes. You know, that kind of cheap effect! [Laughs] With the new Doctor – with Peter Capaldi – who is brilliant, and the lovely Jenna Coleman. They were so welcoming. It’s quite nerve-wracking going on to a big show like that. They were absolutely delightful.”

Keeley stars in the Steve Thompson-penned episode, directed by Douglas Mackinnon (The Sontaran Strategem/ The Poison Sky; Cold War). Showrunner, Steven Moffat, previously said:

“Anyone watching Jed Mercurio’s amazing Line Of Duty will know that Keeley Hawes is having one hell of year. And now it’s about to get even better as she achieves the greatest villainy yet attempted on Doctor Who: she plays a banker.”

In the full interview, she also talks about the Line of Duty finale.

So – who else is up for some Delphox-y action?

(Thanks to Blogtor Who.)

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It’s National Fish Fingers and Custard Day!

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.

Who can believe it? It’s been four whole years today that we were introduced to our floppy-haired, bow-tie-wearing Eleventh Doctor and his companions, Amy Pond and Rory Williams. And in those four years, we’ve had an entire era go by.

New monsters, old monsters, new companions, even new Doctors – as well as old Doctors and Queen Elizabeth I!

It’s been a great four years, but Eleven’s hour is over now; the clock is striking Twelve’s.

That doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate our Raggedy Man by rustling up a bit of fish fingers and custard. So c’mon, Kasterborites – have you tried it? And if so, what did you think? I tried it exactly a year ago today… and found it surprisingly tasty.

So nice, in fact, Greggs thought about offering it to celebrate last year’s 50th anniversary! Anyone know if they went through with that…?

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100% Rebel! Twelfth Doctor T-Shirts Announced

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.

Sweet Rassilon’s Ring! Forbidden Planet has just announced pre-orders for a brand new line of Twelfth Doctor T-Shirts celebrating the brand new look the Doctor will sport when he returns to our television screens late summer/early autumn. Each of the designs take their cue from Capaldi’s forthcoming costume and are rather smart!

100% Rebel Time Lord:

The design features Capaldi’s quote from the costume reveal press release.

12th Doctor Costume:

For the Whovian who wants to be formal, but is also here to party.

Vector Full:

Vector Closeup:

Vector Lineup:

For the discerning Whovian who likes a little Tennant and Smith with his/her Capaldi.

The pre-orders are live now, £15.99 each, and are expected to release in late May. What do you think of these new designs? Will you be picking up one or all of them?

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