Christian Cawley's Blog, page 273

Don’t Miss This Doctor Who Animated Title Sequence [VIDEO]

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.

Buried beneath the bazillions of Doctor Who videos on YouTube are a few undiscovered gems. This has to be one of them: ”Doctor Who – Animated Title Sequence” by Steven Richter.  Running about a minute, and set mostly to Series 5′s opening theme, the video is a snazzy animated version of Doctor Who‘s opening titles.

Richter’s titles start with a flash of the TARDIS, followed by the Doctor’s enemies, including the Daleks, Weeping Angels, a Sontaran, and a Cyberman.  It then moves into a montage of simply-and-colorfully animated looks at each Doctor, leading up to Matt Smith, who then becomes his real-life self at the close of the titles.  In his “about” description, Richter says this was his idea for a Doctor Who Movie opening and was made for a class project. 

Well, if it was, it’s much better than anything I ever did in school!

The video has a nice throwback feel to it, yet is also modern and flashy thanks to the animation.  If there were ever a reboot of The Avengers (Steed & Peel) or Blake’s 7, I could easily see something like this as the opening titles.  And actually, I would have loved to have seen opening titles like this used on An Adventure in Space and Time.  As much as I loved that excellent TV movie, the opening titles seemed very blah and kind of a weak attempt at honoring the original title sequence from the 1960s.

Kasterborites, what did you think of Steven Richter’s Animated Title Sequence?  Do you think the real show could benefit by trying something similar?

The post Don’t Miss This Doctor Who Animated Title Sequence [VIDEO] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Reviewed: Afterlife

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.

Contains spoilers.

Hex is dead.

Followers of the Seventh Doctor’s Big Finish adventures were left heartbroken in 2012 when long-term travelling companion Thomas Hector Schofield, the aforementioned Hex, gave his life so that the Doctor and Ace might live in Gods and Monsters . And what an emotional punch it packed. Except…at the end of the story, it is revealed that something of Hex survived and is found to be living out his afterlife playing games with gods. Is his story truly over?

The answer, of course, is no. This is the world of Doctor Who. Death is only absolute if it needs to be and is never the final answer. If you can name one Doctor or companion or old enemy that hasn’t come back to the world of Doctor Who after their death, then you’re probably not remembering them quite right. That’s part of this series’ charm, it’s not the fact that someone can come back from the dead but, more interestingly, how they come back from the dead. That’s where the audience gets invested.

Afterlife by Matt Fitton spends its humble beginnings picking up from the fall. Ace is distraught at the sacrifice that Hex has made and the Doctor, especially in this incarnation, is having great difficulty in comforting and understanding her. McCoy could always play the Doctor as a wonderfully cold and powerful version of the Doctor and in this tale he turns that otherworldliness up to ten. His Doctor tries in vain to comfort Ace whilst knowing full well that it is his own machinations and scheming that have landed them in this terrible coda. Aldred and McCoy shine as they spar verbally with one another and at points it’s difficult to see quite how the Doctor and Ace will move past this series of terrible events.

But sometimes going home can alleviate even the worst of feelings and soon the Doctor and Ace find themselves there. Or, more accurately, find themselves in Hex’s grandmother’s home in Liverpool to explain his death. And whilst emotions run high for all, there is light at the end of the tunnel for some, because Hex is alive. Or at least someone who looks and sounds like him is.

What follows is a marvellous tale of deals with Gods gone wrong and the age-old story of hope being one of the most powerful beliefs a person can have. Thomas Schofield has made a dangerous deal in order to come back to this reality and the price may just be too high, but with the Doctor on hand to help (and deliver a speech at the end of part four that is so powerful it’ll have the hairs on the back of your neck standing up to the attention it deserves) there may just be light at the end of the tunnel for Hex and the afterlife may not have to claim him just yet.

By the end of the adventure, we’re left with a very different version of Schofield than we’re used to, one that may take some getting used to and may cause more harm than good, but it will certainly be interesting to see how this new dynamic amongst the TARDIS crew develops in further stories.

Hex is not dead, but what he has now become could be something far worse and far richer than Big Finish fans could have thought possible for this character.

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

The post Reviewed: Afterlife appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Frazer Hines to Star in New Romcom!

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.

“Oh my word, Jamie!” Former companion Frazer Hines, alias Jamie McCrimmon, has joined the cast of “a new Scots indie romcom road movie.” Entitled Journey Bound, it tells the story of a young lawyer who chases the love of his life through the Scottish Highlands.

Hines will star alongside Ford Kiernan from Still Game, and Clare Grogan from the 1980s romantic flick Gregory’s Girl. Also working on the film are award-winning cinematographer John Rhodes and musician Gordon Dougall.

On the casting of Frazer Hines, producer Ryan Hendrick said:

“Frazer is so much fun. It only seems right to have him on board.”

It’s certainly a change from the Kroton-infested outings Mr Hines enjoyed in the late 1960s! Good luck, Jamie!

(Via Herald Scotland.)

The post Frazer Hines to Star in New Romcom! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan First Ever Dual Photo-op!

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.

Getting to meet and interact with other fans of your favorite show and getting to meet some of the actors that have stared on that show are the some of the best parts of going to a fan convention. We here at Kasterborous love attending cons and strive to keep all of you, our readers, up-to-date on all of the major appearances of our beloved Doctor Who stars.

The folks at Wizard World Louisville have announced a major appearance of two recent Who stars, one that is a first for both of them.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are both scheduled to attend the Wizard World Louisville Comic Con 28 – 30 March 2014 at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, KY. Now both are set to do their first ever dual photo-op!

Fans will be able to have their picture taken together with both Matt and Karen on Saturday morning at the convention.

Both Gillan and Smith are also scheduled to be part of their own separate Q&A sessions on the day the are scheduled to appear at the convention.

More more info on the con, tickets, and to see all of the other great guests attending, head on over to the Wizard World Louisville website!

(via Hypable)

The post Matt Smith and Karen Gillan First Ever Dual Photo-op! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Sylvester McCoy Hits Comicpalooza 2014

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.

Our Sylv is one of three consecutive incarnations of the Doctor and another Doctor Who guest (comics author, Tony Lee) at Texas’s largest convention, ‘Comicpalooza’ spanning four days from 23rd to 26th May.

Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy will be joining his flanking regenerations, Colin Baker and Paul McGann who portrayed the Sixth and Eighth Doctors in a line-up that covers 1982, the end of the Classic era and the Great Hiatus up until the resurgence of the show in 2005. Also along for the ride is Buffy veteran, James Marsters, known in the Whoniverse for his recurring character, Captain John Hart, opposite John Barrowman in Torchwood.

Comicpalooza’s facebook page has an author after my own heart(s) commenting on the exciting recent appearance of the Seventh Doctor in Middle Earth masquerading as one ‘Radagast the Brown’ – exactly what I was thinking when I went to see a certain Hobbit-themed film! (Tolkien’s wizards have *Time Lord* written all over them if you ask me…)

So if you’re in the area, really like driving or if you can hope over whichever pond is in your way with relative ease, check out Houston’s Who contingent this May – register via www.comicpalooza.com/register/

(Via @TonyLee)

The post Sylvester McCoy Hits Comicpalooza 2014 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Titan Give Fans New Doctor Who Comics Sneak Peak!

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.

Titan Comics have released the covers of their forthcoming pair of new Doctor Who series, starring the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in brand new adventures!

DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #1

Regular cover by Alice X. Zhang

Eisner Award-winning writer Nick Abadzis (Laika) and fan-favorite artist Elena Casagrande (Angel, Suicide Risk, Doctor Who, Star Trek) take control of the TARDIS for their first five-issue arc with the Tenth Doctor! And don’t miss the second arc, by fellow series architect Robbie Morrison (Drowntown, Nikolai Dante, The Authority)!

DOCTOR WHO: THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR #1

Regular cover by Alice X. Zhang

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR RETURNS IN AN ALL-NEW ONGOING SERIES, WITH A TIME-TWISTING LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN! GERONIMO!

Series architects Al Ewing (Loki: Agent of Asgard, Mighty Avengers, Trifecta) and Rob Williams (Revolutionary War, Ordinary, Miss Fury, The Royals: Masters of War, Trifecta) kick off a whirlwind adventure through eternity for the Eleventh Doctor, with artist Simon Fraser (Nikolai Dante, Grindhouse, Doctor Who)!

Both issues are on-sale July 23, 2014 – we’ll have more details closer to the event!

The post Titan Give Fans New Doctor Who Comics Sneak Peak! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

A chat with Nicola Bryant | Stuff.co.nz

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.

Nicola Bryant is in New Zealand with a couple of other former Doctor Who stars–Colin “Sixy” Baker and Mark “Turlough” Strickson–for the Armageddon Expos.  The Expos are a celebration of all things fannish, from science fiction to gaming to Anime.  The first Armageddon will take place in the city of Dunedin this weekend and the second in Christchurch on March 8-9.

Drumming up publicity for the events, the former companion to the Fifth and Sixth Doctors talked to New Zealand’s Stuff.co.nz entertainment page.  She answered some questions about her time on the show in the 80s and also her thoughts as a fan of the show today.

When asked about meeting the fans of Doctor Who, Ms. Bryant told a funny story about the strangest autograph request she’s ever had:

[/quote]The most ‘difficult’ was in the USA when a fan turned around to  reveal the back pocket of his jeans had been unstitched and turned into  a flap that revealed his bare behind. He then handed me a pen and asked  me to sign his buttock as he wanted my autograph there. Apparently a  “picture” of me was tattooed onto the other buttock.[/quote]

When asked if she is jealous of the budgets and effects that are involved in 21st century Who, she answered:

Of course I am! But I think I was mostly jealous of Billie Piper’s  start. So much care was taken by Russell T. Davies in the writing of  Rose’s story. As much as I wrote a backstory for myself it would have  been much more satisfying to see it on the screen.

And would she like to appear in a new episode someday?

Of  course I would. I love the new show. I’ve enjoyed all the new Doctors  and I can’t wait to see Peter Capaldi. He’s a very exciting casting  choice.

And Ms. Bryant finishes the interview with her thoughts on the programme that has now been part of her life for over half of her life:

Doctor Who has endured for so long because not only is it a  terrific family show that both children and adults enjoy, with a  limitless format, but unusually for a television show, change is part of  its appeal… My  youngest stepson (age 6) stayed up late until the end of the Doctor Who Proms to find out the name of the next Doctor. I don’t think any other  programme is so much a part of nostalgia and yet is so forward looking.

So, Kasterborites, will and of you be in New Zealand in the coming week or so?  Let us know if you get to meet the lovely Ms. Bryant… but please, no funny business with your blue jeans!

Head to Armageddon Expo’s website for ticketing information.

The post A chat with Nicola Bryant | Stuff.co.nz appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Samuel West Joins The Seventh Doctor In Big Finish’s Mask of Tragedy

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.

Big Finish are going from strength to strength lately and show no sign of slowing down any time soon, so it’s no surprise that they are attracting some pretty big names to be in their productions.

The latest name to add to that list is one Samuel West who many will know from such things as Mr Selfridge, Law and Order UK and Any Human Heart and such films as Iris, Van Helsing and Hyde Park on Hudson.  Samuel will be joining Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor in Mask of Tragedy, part of the latest Seventh Doctor trilogy, where he will be playing famed Greek playwright Aristophanes.

Samuel though is not the first member of his family to be involved in Doctor Who, as his father, the illustrious Timothy West has appeared for Big Finish too, in the Eighth Doctor story Phobos. In fact it isn’t even Samuel’s first appearance in Doctor Who having previously been henchman to the Rani in Children in Need’s much maligned Dimensions in Time special. Hopefully though, this appearance will be memorable for all the right reasons. West also played a key role in Big Finish’s 2008 thriller Vengeance of Morbius (thanks MrTreacle!).

Perhaps this could lead to a return of his Dimensions character Cyrian and the Rani to the Big Finish universe (what, a guy can dream right?) or at the very least further appearances from the actor.

What are your thoughts, do you think Samuel is a good choice for a part, would you like to see him become a more regular character, are you one of the mad few like myself who still long for a return from the Rani? Leave your comments below and let us know.

The post Samuel West Joins The Seventh Doctor In Big Finish’s Mask of Tragedy appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

PodKast Talks Capaldi “One Season” & Marco Polo Rumours!

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.

Hey podKast fans! It’s that time of the week when we ask you to grab a coffee or start your journey into work and settle down to listen to our weekly Doctor Who chat.

In this week’s podKast (with a “K”) Christian Cawley and James McLean guide you through the latest big stories in the Doctor Who world. We discuss Peter Capaldi’s jumper – costume or warmth aid? – and also ask whether or not the rumours concerning his planned single year in the role are anything more than ill-advised conjecture. As we recorded the podKast, Samuel Anderson’s casting as Danny Pink was announced, so listen out for a bit of discussion on that.

We also turn our attention to the increasing noise concerning the omnirumour, specifically whether or not missing serial Marco Polo has been found, and Matt Smith recently recorded an awesome video for a poorly child.

What a guy!

Oh, and we also try to work out what is wrong with The Horns of Nimon. Someone has to.

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 03 Shownotes

Time Lord Sweatshirts
Marco Polo Found?
Is Peter Capaldi Leaving After One Season?
New Companion Danny Pink
Matt’s video message to poorly child
Recommendations:

The Mind of Evil


The Seeds of Doom


The Horns Of Nimon (okay, perhaps not a “recommendation…)

The Kasterborous PodKast theme tune is arranged by Russell Hugo.

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Doctor Who: Not So Big In Finland!

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.

Doctor Who? It’s a question that British TV fans have been asking for 50 years now. It’s also a question that modern Finnish viewers are asking for a different reason. In case you were unaware, dear reader, the annual BBC Worldwide Showcase is going on in Liverpool this week. This event gives the Beeb the opportunity to show off their original programming for purchase in other international markets.

The folks at the BBC had the chance to speak to some of the several hundred buyers about how some of Britain’s finest shows are faring in their respective countries. Of course shows like Sherlock and Downton Abbey are doing well across the globe, but what about the adventures of our good Doctor? Great in Turkey, China, and Latin America; not so great in Finland, according to Tarmo Kivikiello of YLE:

Doctor Who is funny because it’s such a huge brand in Britain. We have tried. We bought the whole series and really pushed it but no, no reaction. There are a couple of fans and they really love it. But if you have 10 of those fans it’s not enough.

In case you were wondering what kind of programming the people of Finland prefer, the answer is Downton Abbey and older ITV offering, Heartbeat. It would seem that we Whovians have some work to do in Finland!

So, dear readers, do we have any Finnish Whovians amongst us? Are you surprised that reruns of Heartbeat out perform Doctor Who? Sound off below!

(Via BBC News)

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