Christian Cawley's Blog, page 278

Movie Time: Watch The Sontarans In Shakedown! [VIDEO]

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.

Make Sunday night your Doctor Who movie night by hitting play above and enjoying the fondly-remembered fan-produced 1990s spin-off movie Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans!

Conceived by Mark Ayres and Kevin Davies – and shot largely on location aboard Second World War-era ship HMS Belfast, permanently moored on the Thames at Symon’s Wharf since 1971 – the film features redesigned, Babylon 5-esque Sontarans who caused quite a stir when they first appeared in promotional pieces such as in Doctor Who Magazine.

Starring Sophie Aldred and Carole Ann Ford (in new roles), the fact that Shakedown was unlicensed (it was produced by Dreamwatch Media) meant of course that the Doctor couldn’t appear. He was, however, referred to obliquely, with one character recalling someone who “…called himself the Physician, or the Dentist, or something…” Also appearing are original Davros Michael Wisher, Brian Croucher (The Robots of Death, Blake’s 7) and Jan Chappel (Blake’s 7)

But hey, who needs a Time Lord? This film is the first (and to-date only) time the millennia-spanning war between the Sontarans and the Rutan Host has been seen, and the direct-to-video film proved popular for this.

Interestingly, there is also a Terrance Dicks novelization, courtesy of Virgin Publishing in 1995 (the original version of this is available on Amazon now, with a BBC Books reprint imminent in March). With the shortened (and more commonly used) title of Shakedown, the book features the Doctor and expands on the film, cleverly inserting the events of Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans into the middle of the book. After all, Virgin had the rights to use the Doctor; Dreamwatch Media did not!

Initially released as a mail-order only release, Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans was eventually released on VHS in 1997 by Reeltime Pictures (a company which released many Doctor Who-related fan-produced documentaries and movies), but remains very hard to get hold of (although Mark Ayres’ soundtrack can be picked up on Amazon).

So, grab something alcoholic, some tasty nibbles, click play and enjoy!

The post Movie Time: Watch The Sontarans In Shakedown! [VIDEO] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Happy Birthday, Christopher Eccleston!

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 would believe it?! Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, is 50 today!

The actor helped Russell T. Davies bring back everyone’s favourite show all the way back in 2005, alongside Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. In the 13-part series, we were reintroduced to the Daleks and the Autons, saw the end of the Earth, met ghosts and aliens who suffer from terrible gas exchange issues, and learnt that lots of planets have a North.

It all seems so long ago… and yet, we know it like it were yesterday. I’m sure the above trailer will bring back some superb memories.

As The Unquiet Dead writer, Mark Gatiss, noted, to some, Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor is the equivalent of William Hartnell’s First Doctor.

So have a very happy birthday, Chris. You’re still fantastic.

The post Happy Birthday, Christopher Eccleston! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

PodKast, PodKast, Where Have You Been?

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.

You probably don’t know this, but Kasterborous editor Christian Cawley has been a little under the weather of late, which has resulted in this week’s podKast landing horrifically late – almost overtaking itself in the process.

Worry not, however, dear listener, as Christian has teamed up with James McLean (a poorly Brian Terranova was also sadly unavailable) in order to discuss some of the most important Doctor Who news of the past week. In this week’s huskier-than-usual podKast (Christian’s recovering chest infection sounding a little Barry White-esque, quite appropriate for a podKast recorded on St. Valentine’s Day), we discuss the recent speculation concerning Doctor Who‘s supposed return in July, the apparent lack of female scriptwriters in the show since 2005, whether our favourite Time Lord has really been a sexual creature since day one, a case pressed recently by Steven Moffat, and whether the BBC will close the doors on the TARDIS for good should its flagship show suddenly end up being run by illegal aliens following the referendum on Scottish independence (yes, we really went there).

As ever, we’ve also got the recommendations, among which is The Sun Makers. Oh, and something we didn’t mention in the podKast – it’s a new series! We’re on our fourth volume as of this week’s edition. Milestone!

You’ll notice a new theme tune this week – huge thanks to Russell Hugo for his sterling work in this area!

Kasterborous PodKast Series 4 Episode 01 Shownotes

Moffat: The Doctor Has Always Been Sexual
Hey, Moffat, Where Are All The Female Doctor Who Scriptwriters?
Ben Wheatley: Doctor Who “in July” – Internet Doubtful
Shakedown
Recommendations: The Flames of Cadiz, The Time of Monster,  The Sun Makers

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!

Incidentally, if you are listening on iTunes, please take the time to leave a rating and review and help us to bring in new listeners to the podKast!

The post PodKast, PodKast, Where Have You Been? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Here’s a Fun Doctor Who Meets Star Wars Parody For The Weekend! [VIDEO]

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.

If you haven’t seen this striking Doctor Who/Star Wars tribute video, then it’s certainly worth spending a few moments enjoying it.

Created by Rick Kelvington – from an idea by Chris Johnson – the video mixes Doctor Who and Star Wars. “Never the twain shall meet!” I hear you cry, but it’s certainly worth viewing from beginning to end.

Be aware that this is just a tip of the iceberg – head to www.kelvington.com to see more!

 

The post Here’s a Fun Doctor Who Meets Star Wars Parody For The Weekend! [VIDEO] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Do You Remember The Other Eighth Doctor?

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.

After Doctor Who left television screens in 1989, it seemed that everyone was interested in bringing the show back to TV – except the BBC.

Among the stories circulating in the press, Doctor Who Magazine reported in 1991 on claims that an independent production company had made pilots for a new series, starring an actor called David Burton as the eighth incarnation of the Doctor.

But how true was this? And where is Burton now?

The clip above – featuring contributions from current and former DWM editors Tom Spilsbury and Gary Russell and David Burton himself – is taken from Dr Forever! Lost in the Dark Dimension, an excellent extra which can be seen in full on Doctor Who: Inferno Special Edition.

If you don’t own a copy of Inferno: Special Edition, head to the website of fanzine/research vessel Nothing at the End Of the Lane to learn more about David Burton’s claims…

The post Do You Remember The Other Eighth Doctor? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Daleks Top Christmas Monster Poll In Doctor Who Adventures

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.

Those diabolical pepper pots have done it again! In a feat as impressive as stealing the Earth, the Daleks were named the Ultimate Monster from the 2013 Christmas Special, The Time of the Doctor, according the landslide results of a recent BBC Doctor Who Adventures magazine poll (results printed in the brand new issue).

The original Doctor Who monster “exterminated” the competition to take 55% of the readers’ votes. Now for the full results:

RESULTS

1st The Daleks (55%)

2nd The Cybermen (17%)

3rd The Weeping Angels (14%)

4th The Sontarans (10%)

5th The Silence (4%)

The magazine’s editor, Moray Laing, had this to say about the Dalek victory:

It’s official. Daleks rule! Well done to all the Daleks throughout time and space for coming first in our poll. They must be delighted with the result! It’s great to know that these unstoppable creatures continue to scare and enthrall children in 2014 as much as they did when they first appeared all those years ago. Thanks to our readers for voting!

The poll results can be found in issue 339 of Doctor Who Adventures, out now.

So dear reader, do you agree with the poll results? Or do you think another of the episode’s monsters reigned supreme?

The post Daleks Top Christmas Monster Poll In Doctor Who Adventures appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Minister Of Chance Movie 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.

A wholly independent micro-pilot movie based on the groundbreaking audio series The Minister of Chance has been in production for a while

Kasterborous has already been invited to a special online screening, but in advance of that we can share this brief trailer from the movie, a combination of live action and CGI…

Starring Paul McGann and Tim McInnerny (Planet of the Ood) and financed by its worldwide fanbase, you can find out more at www.ministerofchance.com.

 

The post The Minister Of Chance Movie Trailer appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Blogtor Who’s Doctor Who Documentary Gets Film Festival Screening

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.

Who’s Changing-An Adventure in Time with Fans, a new documentary co-produced by Blogtor Who and Talking Who, came to the land of baked beans, clam chowder, and the biggest tea party ever on Thursday night.  Boston’s Sci-Fi Film Festival hosted a showing of the full-length documentary, which explores the changes in Doctor Who fandom in recent years.

Since Doctor Who returned in 2005 and became one of the BBC’s premiere programs, there do seem to be more and more fans who are female, who dress up in character-inspired costumes (cosplay), and who wear very cool bowties.  The documentary looks into these perceived changes and features interviews and comments from a virtual Cyberfleet of Doctor Who celebrities, including:  Louise Jameson (Leela), Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Dan Starkey (Strax), Caitlin Blackwood (Amelia Pond), Simon Fisher-Becker (Dorium Maldovar), Catrin Stewart (Jenny Flint), Andrew Smith (Full Circle), James Moran (The Fires of Pompeii), Eric Saward (Earthshock), Jane Espenson (Torchwood: Miracle Day), script editor/author Gary Russell, and many more.

For those of us who couldn’t make it to Boston, the DVD version of Who’s Changing is available to order online (from Amazon) or in selected shops (including Forbidden Planet), or a streaming version can be rented from the official website, priced at £3.49.

And make sure to keep your computer tuned in to Kasterborous for our upcoming review of Who’s Changing!

Kasterborites, do you think the times are a’ changin’?

(Via Blogtor Who.)

The post Blogtor Who’s Doctor Who Documentary Gets Film Festival Screening appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

New Doctor Who: Wave 2 Action Figures – The Monsters!

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.

Accompanying the three TARDIS travellers unveiled in 3.75 inch guise last week, Characters’ Doctor Who Wave 2 also includes a quartet of monsters, arguably better realised than their humanoid foes.

Available for pre-order now from Forbidden Planet are a screaming Weeping Angel, an Assault Dalek, an Imperial Guard Dalek, and a Zygon.

Clearly presenting us with some of the key monsters from The Day of the Doctor and The Time of the Doctor, these new additions to the unpopular range are nevertheless well-produced, and resemble their models much better than the Eleventh Doctor, Clara and the newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor.

Each figure is £6.99 from Forbidden Planet. Pre-order is available now ahead of an expected release on March 15th.

The post New Doctor Who: Wave 2 Action Figures – The Monsters! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Reviewed: The Moonbase on DVD!

Barnaby Eaton-Jones 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 some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things that act against everything we believe in. They must be fought.”

No, we’re not talking about Internet Fan Forums here.

The above is an iconic quote from a not universally-loved serial, broadcast in 1967. The Moonbase (out now on DVD) is almost like a sequel to The Tenth Planet, which appeared a few months earlier and was the last show of the William Hartnell/First Doctor era of the show. Here, we get the return of The Cyberman (in redesigned and much more recognisable costumes) and we get the a-typical ‘base under siege’ story. Of course, the problem with watching a serial from so long ago is that it doesn’t seem fresh, innovative or fast-paced. Everything that The Moonbase does well has, by now, been done to death, improved upon and upgraded. If you could actually time travel and take yourself back to 1967, this would have been a very scary, very engaging and very new type of Doctor Who.

Here’s a rule to stick to when you’re watching older serials from our beloved show: Don’t Watch Them All Together. It’s that simple. These episodes weren’t designed or written to be watched as a coherent whole. Therein lies the problem of perceived boredom or slowness. If you watch an episode an evening (or an episode a week, as they were broadcast), you’ll enjoy the story a lot more and actually look forward to the next one. This isn’t suited to the modern-day obsession of watching entire seasons of shows in one go via DVD boxsets (and, knowing that, programmes are designed to endure that kind of concentrated viewing). There’s no overall season arcs, like the new series, and these are all self-contained stories and all the better for it.

What makes this release unique is that Episode One and Episode Three have been animated. Again, like The Reign Of Terror and The Tenth Planet before it, this is the same company (Planet 55 Studios) and they have improved on each release. There’s always a sort of Marmite reaction to animation but, personally, I like it a lot and I’d rather be watching it than listening to the audio with limited photos of the production flashing up to help you imagine what it’s like.

So, what’s The Moonbase about? Well, a Moon Base. Obviously. The entire story is set on the moon, where a sickness has swept the base personnel and the Doctor and his companions arrive to find out what’s going on. The Cybermen appear, skulking in the shadows, and have been poisoning the sugar rations to create a disease that attacks the nervous system. Obviously, the Doctor and his companions are treated with suspicion but end up saving the day. This all centres round the amazingly-named ‘Graviton’, which is a huge Flash Gordon-like laser that controls the weather on Earth in 2070. So, only another 56 years to go before we get our weather controlled by men on the moon! I’m looking forward to that.

There’s a sombre and spooky atmosphere that pervades the whole story, with the directorial hand of Morris Barry also keeping a tight rein on the cast’s characterisations. The Doctor is less whimsical and more serious, with everyone around him being more ‘realistic’ than other stories. Even the sickness – which creates black lines across the skin that follow the patterns of nerves underneath – is akin to the recent resurgence of Zombies and the Undead. Especially when the infected parties are controlled by the minds of the Cybermen, shuffling around and doing their bidding. It’s all very earnest at times, especially as the central character Hobson (played with gruff intensity by Patrick Barr) is an angrily realistic character under pressure to get the Gravitron under control with increasingly fewer men and with the added threat of the looming, lumbering metal Cybermen.

Each of the other characters wears a flag on their chest, denoting what country they come from. It’s supposed to be a multicultural workforce but, in doing so, it seems almost like segregation. “You’re French! You’re English! You’re Swedish!” etc. Hobson’s French second-in-command, Benoit (Andre Maranne) is more used to being the second-in-command to Chief Inspector Dreyfuss in the Pink Panther series of movies. I kept expecting Hobson to start developing a nervous twitch and descend into madness, firing the Graviton at the Earth and holding it to ransom, as the pressure mounted on him. There’s a Clouseau-esque quality to Troughton’s Second Doctor sometimes as well, stumbling on answers and fooling about.

So, what of the TARDIS crew? Well, Patrick Troughton gives us his ‘dark’ Doctor. Having a proper conversation with his thoughts in one scene and giving a more subdued performance that fitted with Morris Barry’s directorial style. Polly veers from screaming Dolly Bird to have-a-go Avenger, with a sideline of sexism (she’s ordered to go and make the coffee at one point and happily cow-tows) and flashes of intelligence (it’s her idea to use nail remover on the Cybermen, which defeats their initial attack). She always talks to everyone as if they’re a small child but there’s something endearing about Anneke Wills in the role. Ben, on the other hand, comes across as an angry young man with a chip on his shoulder. He’s supposed to be a working class sailor but he’s just short-tempered with everyone and shouts virtually every line. I’m not sure whether that’s Michael Craze’s decision in the role or how he’s been directed. It doesn’t help that he gets lines clearly meant for an excised scientist character, spouting dialogue that doesn’t fit his character or intellect, when half of his are given to Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines).

Jamie is basically knocked unconscious when he arrives on the moon and spends the majority of the story in sickbay, waking every now and again to spy a Cyberman and shouting “The Phantom Piper!”

Jamie’s a new addition to the crew and, being as he was a last-minute addition (after having filmed a ‘goodbye’ scene in his original story The Highlanders and then re-filmed it when the producer, Innes Lloyd, asked him to sign up for longer), the script clearly struggles to accommodate him with the merest of edits. He’s basically knocked unconscious when he arrives on the moon and spends the majority of the story in sickbay, waking every now and again to spy a Cyberman taking away his fellow inmates, and shouting “The Phantom Piper!” a lot. Rather handy that the Cyberman happens to look exactly like an ancient Scottish ghost. Jamie’s character doesn’t really develop until the departure of Ben and Polly in The Faceless Ones. Whereas Hartnell’s grandfatherly figure felt right around Ben and Polly, Troughton’s Second Doctor seems uncomfortable with them due to Ben’s challenging nature and Polly’s incessant questioning. They seemed caring towards the First Doctor, in their few stories together before the regeneration, and they just don’t seem to gel with the Second Doctor until their leaving story.

Even though the story plays like a cross between a Zombie movie, a Science Fiction matinee serial, an arty French thriller and an earnest BBC drama of the ‘60s, there are a few horribly glaring holes in the plot. Considering it was written by two scientists – Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis – you would think that suggesting the Cybermen entered the Moonbase through a hole in the outer wall (that they then covered with sacks of sugar) might stretch credibility somewhat. Suggesting a tea-tray could cover another hole in the glass dome of the base just about makes you want to give up on any logic. But, it’s Science Fiction, so we can sort of overlook these things.

As I said at the start, this isn’t a universally-loved serial and that comes from the tropes and instances being over-familiar to a saturated fan-base. But, I rather enjoyed it, got immersed in it, and – because I was watching late at night, with the lights off – it genuinely freaked me out on several occasions. If you’re a long-term Doctor Who fan, of the usually cynical and critical nature, then I’m sure the additional animated episodes won’t change your mind about it. But, if you just love Doctor Who, then there’s lots of things to love in this DVD release as well (and not just Polly’s massively false eyelashes).

Extras

Because we’ve been spoilt for extras on most Doctor Who releases, it’s almost a shock when all there is on this one is a documentary (‘Lunar Landing’), a Photo Gallery, a PDF of Radio Times listings, the usual Info Text (but only on the non-animated episodes) and a Coming Soon trailer (“Nuzzing in ze vorld vill ztop me nooooow!” or, in other words, The Underwater Menace). But the making of documentary more than makes up for it all, to be honest. It’s a solid programme that holds interest throughout and gives some really good background and stories about it all, featuring Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines amongst others.

UK readers can order the DVD from Amazon for just £13.83. Meanwhile American fans can order The Moonbase from Amazon for $18.96.

The post Reviewed: The Moonbase on DVD! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.