Christian Cawley's Blog, page 29

Out Now: The Tenth Doctor Vol. 3: The Fountains of Forever!

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.

The collected comic adventures of the Tenth Doctor and his latest companion, artistic New Yorker Gabby Gonzalez continue with The Tenth Doctor Vol. 3: The Fountains of Forever which is out now from Titan Comics.

In the latest collected volume, the Doctor and Gabby return to Earth and quickly become embroiled with alien artefacts, a clandestine agency and an ancient foe.

The full synopsis reads:

“Returning to New York from her travels with the Doctor, Gabby has never felt more alive. But for the Doctor, Gabby and Cindy, this is only the start of their greatest adventure yet, as a secret auction, a cult organization, an ancient artifact, an aging movie idol, a cosmic conspiracy and a cosmic threat from the heart of the universe collide in NYC to threaten all of reality!”

The Tenth Doctor Vol. 3: The Fountains of Forever is written by Nick Abadzis with artistic contributions from Elena Casagrande, Eleonora Carlini, Rachael Stott & Leonardo Romero, is available now from Amazon for £13.23.

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The Husbands of River Song: New Images and a Kiss Under the Mistletoe for The Doctor

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 nearly that special time of year where, young and old gather around to share that special gift, the gift of Doctor Who – letting us peel back the wrapping a little early the Beeb have released a few new snaps from this year’s special, The Husbands of River Song.

The special will see the Doctor reunited with a disbelieving River Song; who’s having her own troubles with a hitherto unseen other husband, King Hydroflax, who was described by Davies as a ‘deluded, nine foot cyborg’.

And what’s more, how about a little kiss under the mistletoe for Alex Kingston, Peter Capaldi, and guest star Greg Davies from Wednesday’s première screening in London?

The Husbands of River Song airs on Christmas Day on BBC One.

The post The Husbands of River Song: New Images and a Kiss Under the Mistletoe for The Doctor appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Big Finish Reveal Details of Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 5

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.

Remember the days when we were all pining for Tom Baker to join Big Finish? At the start of 2016 (which is very soon), the fifth series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures begins!

Can you believe it?

Tom is joined by Lalla Ward as Romana and John Leeson as K9 for this run of stories. Here’s what adventures are to come for this iconic TARDIS team.

1. Wave of Destruction

Written by Justin Richards and directed by Nicholas Briggs

Coming January 2016

A modulated frequency wave cancellation signal isn’t something that the Doctor and Romana expect to detect in 1960s London. But then they don’t expect to find Professor Lanchester, the man who invented it, lying unconscious. Or MI5 investigating.

With the help of MI5 Agent Miller, Lanchester’s daughter Jill, and his nephew a pirate radio DJ called Mark, the Doctor, Romana and K-9 investigate. They soon discover that there is more at risk than they imagined, and an alien invasion is about to begin.

Can the Doctor identify and defeat the aliens in time? Will Romana manage to find a recombinant transducer before it’s too late? And how will K-9 cope with his new job?

2. The Labyrinth of Buda Castle

Written by Eddie Robson and directed by Nicholas Briggs

Coming February 2016

The Doctor and Romana land in Budapest in 1979, intent on enjoying another holiday, but shortly after landing they find themselves too late to save the life of a man who has seemingly been attacked by a vampire. As they learn that this is the latest in a series of violent attacks, it becomes clear that they have stumbled onto something that needs investigating.

Aided by a vampire hunter who is searching for Dracula, they look into the nearby Buda caves, currently being used for storage by the military – and find that the soldiers have problems of their own.

Stalked through the tunnels by a monster, and up against an ancient evil, the race is on to escape alive – and foil the dastardly schemes of the maniacal Zoltan Frid.

3. The Paradox Planet

Written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Nicholas Briggs

Coming March 2016

The TARDIS arrives in the path of an advanced war machine. But this isn’t just any tank – it’s a Time Tank, and it smashes through time. Welcome to a planet quite literally at war with itself…

To be continued in…

4. Legacy of Death

Written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Nicholas Briggs

Coming April 2016

Events on the planet Aoeris take a turn for the worse, as its citizens begin to turn on each other. Can K9 fight to keep the timelines from imploding?

5. Gallery of Ghouls

Written by Alan Barnes and directed by Ken Bentley

Coming May 2016

The Randomiser brings the travellers to the future site of Brighton Pavilion, where a travelling waxworks has set up a show. But what horrors does Madame Tissot’s Exposition hold? And what does it have to do with Marie Antoinette?

This fifth series continues with June’s The Trouble with Drax, and the two-part finale, The Pursuit of History/ Casualties of Time in July and August 2016. The last serial also stars David Troughton as the Black Guardian…

The sixth series of the Fourth Doctor Adventures has already been confirmed and will start in 2017.

Each of these audios are available to pre-order now; £10.99 for a CD and £8.99 for a download.

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You Can Now Read Five Series 9 Scripts Online

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.

It’s now been a week and a half since Doctor Who Series 9 concluded, and anyone who wants to relive Heaven Sent/ Hell Bent can either watch them on iPlayer or, perhaps even better, digest them by downloading the script.

Made available through the BBC website, the addition of this two-parter now means that five scripts from Series 9 are now available online: The Magician’s Apprentice/ The Witch’s Familiar, and Face the Raven were uploaded to the BBC Writer’s Room Script Library, in the hope of inspiring new generations of screenwriters.

It’s fascinating to see how each scene was imagined in the writers’ minds and compare those descriptions to what actually appeared. You’ll also see a few missing scenes, presumably taken out during editing. Perhaps we’ll see them on the full DVD boxsets…?

While Under the Lake/ Before the Flood was my favourite serial of Series 9, I think the most fascinating script would be for the underrated Sleep No More, Mark Gatiss’ story from the viewpoint of… well, sort of the monsters! How would you script that exactly? Would it be a simple line or two, or would it be more extensive? I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed.

In addition to the scripts, a selection of storyboards from Hell Bent can also be seen online.

Personally speaking, I find the scripts endlessly interesting and helpful, and would love to see more. Take note, BBC!

Here’s Heaven Sent. And here’s Hell Bent.

Have you looked at the scripts? What’s the most intriguing aspect in your mind? And which scripts from Doctor Who would you like to see?

The post You Can Now Read Five Series 9 Scripts Online appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Out Now: Doctor Who – The Complete History #8

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 latest issue f Doctor Who: The Complete History is out now, the eighth of the 80-part series but the first to feature the Second Doctor, the wonderful Patrick Troughton.

The volume covers stories 45- 47, including two fan-favourites… Also, The Krotons.

Oh, that’s unfair. I rather like The Krotons, and no, I can’t explain why either.

The Mind Robber

In a bid to escape disaster, the Doctor propels the TARDIS into the Land of Fiction, There he, Zoe, and Jamie meet characters from myth, legend, and literature who are all being manipulated by the mysterious Master.

 The Invasion

The TARDIS lands on late twentieth-century Earth, There, the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie discover that Tobias Vaughn, the sinister head of the global International Electromatics organisation, is in league with the Cybermen, who are poised to launch a full-scale invasion.

The Krotons

The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe encounter the Gonds, who have been unwittingly sacrificing their most gifted offspring to the Krotons for generations. The Doctor is determines to expose the truth and free the Gonds from the tyranny of their unseen masters.

This is Volume 13, while the next issue features the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. Keep ’em peeled for a review soon!

Doctor Who: The Complete History #8 is available from all good newsagents, priced £9.99.

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Rubbertoe Replicas Gives Us a Better Look at the New Sonic Screwdriver

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.

Rubbertoe Replicas produce some of the finest props in the Whoniverse, with their popular replica range including Captain Jack Harkness’ Vortex Manipulator, Flatline‘s Siege Mode TARDIS, and the cubes from The Power of Three (2013). But they’re perhaps best-known for their stunning sonic screwdrivers.

And Hell Bent gave us a brand new one. It’s all flashy and bright, and we don’t get a proper look at it until Christmas Day when it’ll appear (opposite River’s sonic trowel) in The Husbands of River Song. Fortunately, we don’t have to wait another week (and a bit) to see it in all its glory because Rubbertoe has treated us to a special glimpse.

There she is, what a fine specimen.

A photo posted by Rubbertoeprops (@rubbertoeprops) on Dec 6, 2015 at 3:51am PST

We’ve seen it in blue, but is that… green we can see too?

The new sonic screwdriver is expected to be available from Rubbertoe early 2016.

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UNIT: Extinction Reviewed!

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.

What with the Earth being the central hub of nefarious alien plans, it seems only fair that it has some protectors. But what happens when the Avengers or the Defenders or Superman or Buffy happen to not exist?

It’s very simple, you call on UNIT to do what they’ve always done best-keep everyone protected.

UNIT: Extinction begins an exciting new faze for Big Finish productions, the merging of Doctor Who both old and new, in this case an older format of storytelling with the post 2005 iteration injected in to give it some welly. The result, as one would expect, is something tremendous.

Steven Moffat’s era of Doctor Who is certainly one that is filled to the brim with characters that are full spin off ‘fodder’. From the Paternoster gang, to the further adventures of River Song and now including the possibility that out there in the Whoniverse, somewhere, Clara Oswald and Me are saving planets in their brand new classic TARDIS. Out of all of those newly born players however, one Doctor Who gang has remained a fully grown organism for nearly fifty years: UNIT. From Colonel Lethbridge Stuart to his daughter Kate, UNIT has been safely and successfully guarding the Earth from dangerous alien incursions whilst the Doctors been swaggering around the Universe saving planets and generally being brilliant at the same time.

The Doctor can’t always be there to help Kate, Osgood and their colleagues but don’t worry about that, because UNIT: Extinction proves that they can more than take care of themselves (and everyone else) when the chips are down.

Extinction finds UNIT slap bang in the middle of an Auton invasion, and what an invasion it is. Sleek, scary, menacing, exciting and relentless, the Nestenes in this story have never been so smart or so ingenious. The moment that you hear their weapons arming, you know that this is the perfect mix of new and old. Whilst television may have no place for endless spin-offs, Big Finish can provide the sound that we’ve all been looking for.

Jemma Redgrave, Ingrid Oliver, Warren Brown, Ramon Tikaram and James Joyce are all splendid and tremendous in their roles, helping to bring further colour to UNIT and help build a team of noteworthy characters, ones that you care for and invest in.

A special mention must be paid to Steve John Shepherd, who not only ties the entire adventure together but also lights up every moment of this story. He oozes charm at the right moments and then bleeds anger, resentment, negativity and hatred at all the best moments. He toys well with his UNIT counterparts, turning from friendly to psychotic in the blink of a well-acted eye. Shepherd is the shining light in this production, the revelation if you will. Hopefully, he and his character are set to return for further Big Finish stories and with even more excitement, this reviewer hopes that he is one of the few that makes the transition from audio Doctor Who to its television relation.

Those seeking thrills, worldwide danger, clever subtle nods to Doctor Who’s past and a strong story featuring UNIT’s finest will not be disappointed with this release. There’s something for everyone here.

Television spin-offs can come later; Big Finish have already proved with UNIT: Extinction that they’re the team to really tackle a proper adventure that doesn’t need to feature the Doctor.

UNIT: Extinction is available on CD or via download from Big Finish now.

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Out Now: The Martian Chronicles

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.

I’m ridiculously excited about this, and so will book lovers around the globe. Big Finish’s adaptation of the incredible Ray Bradbury work, The Martian Chronicles is out now.

And how appropriate, with three astronauts, including the UK’s Tim Peake, docking into the International Space Station and getting the human race one step closer to regular space travel.

The actual book is somewhere between a novel and a short story collection, episodic tales forming a more complete narrative about our struggle to cohabitate on Mars. No, the Ice Warriors don’t feature. The Big Finish audio stars some familiar faces from the Whoniverse and beyond, including Utopia‘s Derek Jacobi; Hayley Atwell, who is best-known for Agent Carter, but she also starred in Blood of the Daleks; and EastEnders‘ John Altman.

Derek Jacobi and Hayley Atwell lead an all-star cast in The Martian Chronicles, a thrilling new dramatisation, reimagining Ray Bradbury’s timeless fable of doomed Martian colonisation.

When the first expedition to Mars mysteriously disappears, Earth sends a second to find out what happened. But the real mission is classified. And only Captain Wilder knows the truth…

Spender, an anthropologist on Wilder’s crew, attempts to prevent the colonisation that she believes will eradicate the last of an ancient people living on Mars. But to what lengths will she go?

As the honourable but duty-bound Captain Wilder tracks the now rogue Spender into the Martian mountains, the future of this ancient planet is at stake.

Meanwhile, Earth itself teeters on the brink of its own global catastrophe as the very survival of humanity hangs in the balance.

Adapted by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle, this is a much-loved book by Bradbury, whose other seminal works include Fahrenheit 451 (one of my favourite novels ever), The Illustrated Man, and The Hallowe’en Tree.

Directed by Andrew Mark Sewell, the audio (created for BBC Radio 4) stars Derek Jacobi (Captain Wilder), Hayley Atwell (Spender), Anna Madeley (The Lawyer), Mark Lewis Jones (Hathaway), John Altman (Parkhill), Zoë Tapper (Evie), Jonathan Rhodes (Biggs), Dean Harris (Thompson), Ryan Sewell (Young Wilder), Rachael Naylor (Pluto Survey Officer), Jacob James (Soldier), Robert Lock (Prison Officer), Melissa Aston-Munslow (Miss Edwards), Owen Sewell (Robert), and Polehampton Junior School (Mayflower Rocket Kids).

The Martian Chronicles is just £7.99 as a download, or £9.99 for a CD, and is out right now!

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Rubbertoe Replicas’ Confession Dial is Coming

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 Doctor’s Confession Dial: an endless maze, a trap conceived by the Time Lords for peaceful purposes but corrupted by a Gallifreyan society hiding from the universe.

And from the end of this year, you can own it.

Rubbertoe Replicas has been producing top-quality products based on on-screen items for a number of years now, turning their hand to the sonic screwdriver, the Siege Mode TARDIS (Flatline), and ‘The History of the Time War’ plaque from 2013’s Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS, and their latest replica is the beautiful Confession Dial.

Seen in episodes like The Magician’s Apprentice and Face the Raven, the Doctor was trapped in it throughout Heaven Sent; as to where it is now…? Possibly still on Gallifrey. Who knows?

The original prop was made by Paul Lynch, and Rubbertoe’s is screen accurate, and cast from ABS resin, and then hand painted and art-worked to a beautiful aged finish, and is a stunning piece both as a prop replica and a piece of decorative artwork in it’s own right.

This is the open version, and the lid has been left loose so that you can see the detail inside the Confessional Dial.

A closed version will be forthcoming next year.

This open version, priced £49.99, will be released on 30th December 2015.

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Major Tim Peake Proves Kill the Moon is a Fantasy

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.

No, I’m not talking about the giant egg in space. I’m concerned with the laissez-faire attitude that Doctor Who shows towards space-travel.

In last year’s Kill the Moon, and in previous tales like The Seeds of Death, humanity has grown weary of reaching for the skies. It’s perhaps a common trait in science fiction in general. Heck, even in The Simpsons, NASA sends up ‘ordinary guy’ Homer Simpson in order to interest viewers again.

While this complacency will eventually happen, as a consequence of widespread space travel, it’s not something that will happen any time soon. Major Tim Peake showed us that.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Tim is the first Briton to serve on the International Space Station, his Soyuz craft blasting him into the depths above this morning. He’ll be in the ISS for six months, while the journey to the station will last just six hours.

With a show fronted by The Science of Doctor Who‘s Professor Brian Cox (also The Power of Three), and comedian, Dara O’Brien, the launch from Kazakhstan was screened on BBCOne in front of a packed auditorium. Kids. Sure, some were just there to get on television, but there was something genuine in the enthusiasm and cheers of excitement as Peake gave the camera a thumbs-up – just as he was edging into space.

Doctor Who captures the wonder extremely well. That’s what the show is all about. Forget monsters: even the TARDIS is used to show the otherworldliness that captivates millions of us. Rewind to the start of The Beast Below, and Amy Pond is in space. Floating impossibly in nothingness. And The Runaway Bride, where the Doctor and Donna witness the birth of the Earth.

The Doctor is, at times, an excitable child, and at others, moaning about not being able to see all of time and space as anything noteworthy. He does say that it becomes “a back yard.” But he sees it through the eyes of his companions.

And I think this sums up the mood of the general public, at least to a certain extent.

A good day for any child of the Space Age! Well done #TimPeake

— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) December 15, 2015

I was aghast to see so few people bothered by the solar eclipse in March this year. This was a huge, mind-blowing event, yet many didn’t see it at all. Some bothered to look up, most during its peak, and I suppose that’s all you can do. However, there was so little actual excitement. That full-to-brimming glee that most of us have during childhood seeps away until you’re just doing the 9-to-5, going on and on as the world rotates.

Days blur and you miss the important stuff, when the Earth is cast into shadow by two fascinating celestial bodies. But all it takes is a few people who still consider themselves stargazers, who are still amazed by the universe around us, who want to exude this passion so that it infects their peers, the next generation, and even the generation after that.

Doctor Who is a story of wonder, and that’s something we all need. There isn’t a human alive who hasn’t looked up at the stars and wondered. Been blown away. Had their imaginations driven wild by the limitless boundaries of the starscape.

The BBC’s coverage of Tim Peake continues tonight on BBC2 at 7pm, as the rocket connects with the ISS and the wheel turns once more. It’s an incredible thing.

That’s what counts. The number of people alive today that’ll step into space must surely (and sadly) be a small number, but as long as we all keep a sense of perspective and curiosity in our heads and our hearts, we won’t become complacent about something so immense, no single mind can truly grasp it.

All you need are individuals with starlight in their souls.

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