Christian Cawley's Blog, page 292

Doctor Who: Worlds in Time to Close

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 Beeb has called time on Doctor Who: Worlds in Time with the MMO set to discontinue service on February 28th – less than two years since its official launch in March 2012.

As of January 14th, the online video game, developed by San Francisco studio Three Rings, will no longer be accepting transactions from players.

Existing player who were charged with aiding the Doctor as he took on his various foes from across the universe, are welcome to spend their in-game currency until the cessation date.

A statement on the games website reads:

We want to thank the loyal players of Worlds in Time for supporting the game through its years of operation.

The BBC has also provided a discount code ‘DWAPP’ which entitles players to 10% off their next order at BBCSHOP.COM to use under the ‘redeem a promotion code’ section at the checkout.

The news follows on from the cancellation of planned sequels to Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, which was originally on PS3, Playstation Vita, and later PC.

So what does the future hold for Doctor Who video games? Are we seeing a dramatic shift solely towards mobile gaming? Should the BBC ignore other avenues based on the reception of these two ventures (bearing in mind Worlds in Time received favourable reviews) Or is it onwards and upwards for Doctor Who games?

And more importantly, did you play Worlds in Time?

Issue 2 of Kasterborous Magazine is currently in production and is dedicated to Doctor Who video gaming. Keep an eye out for more news soon!

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Doctor Who Features In Classic Starlog Magazine Online Archive

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 move towards digitizing and preserving past print media has been one of the greatest accomplishments of the digital revolution.

However, a vast majority of the time, what’s preserved and archived is of general and historical interest; not a bad thing, to say the least! History is important. It’s an even sweeter victory when the archivers save something genre related. With that in mind, the team at archive.org has managed to archive back issues of the groundbreaking American SciFi magazine, Starlog, which ran from 1976-2009.

It’s at this point, dear reader, that you may be thinking, “What in Rassilon’s ring does this have to do with Doctor Who?” Well, issue 23 of Starlog (available here) captured a very important snapshot in the American history of Doctor Who. The issue gave a reintroduction to the Fourth Doctor and his companions as renewed interest in Doctor Who brought the show back to independent American networks. It’s a fascinating look at how things transpired on this side of the pond. Given the American popularity the show enjoys now, it’s almost hard to imagine a time when it was considered “too British” for American viewers.

Issue 23 also has some interesting details about Star Wars, Star Trek, and a little film now known as Alien. Check it out and then let us know down below your thoughts on the magazine and the piece.

h/t @theVodkaYeti

The post Doctor Who Features In Classic Starlog Magazine Online Archive appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Ninth Doctor’s The Cruel Sea!

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.

Following in the same vein as Doctor Who Magazine collections like The Flood, Nemesis of the Daleks and Hunters of the Burning Stone, the Ninth Doctor adventures from 2005 will be getting the graphic novel treatment this May!

The Cruel Sea is expected to collect together stories by Gareth Roberts (The Unicorn and the Wasp; Closing Time); former-DWM editor, Clayton Hickman; Dalek‘s Robert Shearman; artist, Mike Collins; and possibly the awesome Scott Gray. Collins also provides artwork throughout.

The Ninth Doctor and Rose’s debut comic strip, The Love Invasion, is a refreshing romp in 1960s London, followed by the fun Art Attack!, written and drawn by Mike Collins. The Cruel Sea, which lends its name to the whole collection, is an absolute masterpiece; wonderfully atmospheric and surreal. Rose’s dream sequence is particularly effective, playing off that final iconic scene in Rose.

Here’s hoping that the 132-page graphic novel also features the 2006 Annual tale (written by Gray, with art by John Ross), Mr. Nobody. It concludes with Gareth Roberts exploring the world of Shakespeare two years early (well, sort of) in A Groatsworth of Wit – could the adventure have inspired The Shakespeare Code?

The stories have been collected together before quite a few years ago as a DWM Special, but it’s nice to see they’re getting another look-in nearly eight years after they premiered.

Expected to be released on 23rd May 2014, you can pre-order The Cruel Sea from Amazon UK for just £11.62. It’s guaranteed to be fantastic!

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Capaldi Caught on Location! [VIDEO]

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.

Thanks to the amazing dedication @DWSRtweets we now have our first glimpses at new Doctor Peter Capaldi in action on the set of the first episode of series eight.  So what can we learn from this incredible haul of pictures and clips? Well firstly we know that the episode is Victorian in setting and features the familiar gang of Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

We now also know it involves the Doctor on a horse (apparently a real one at some point too, not just the mechanical beast seen in the clip above) and we know that the odd outfit (can it really be called an outfit, more like Victorian underwear perhaps?) is not the new costume. we can also see a carriage in some of the snaps, could this be where the Doctor acquires his steed?

As always, every answer simply leads to another question, but hey, that’s the fun of speculating about the show, the possibilities. It’s the reason why absolutely any theory, no matter how outlandish could be true. As such what are your thoughts and theories about this episode? Do you think the shirt may be part of the final costume, or is it simply an in-between stage much like Pertwee in his hospital gown at the start of Spearhead from Space?

Make like Mulder and leave your mark below so we can all conspire together.

Check out @DWSRtweets’s Tweet:

https://twitter.com/DWSRtweets/status...

 

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See Peter Capaldi as Richelieu in The Musketeers

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.

Here’s a treat – here’s what Peter Capaldi was (probably) wearing when he heard that he had been cast as the new star of Doctor Who!

The following BBC photos are from new series The Musketeers, in which the new Time Lord plays villainous politician and churchman Cardinal Richelieu. The first episode is directed by Toby Haynes, whose Doctor Who work includes A Christmas Carol and The Big Bang/The Pandorica Opens.

The Musketeers kicks off this Sunday evening (January 19th) at 9pm, and should be a good opportunity for any Capaldi doubters to see the quality of the man…

The post See Peter Capaldi as Richelieu in The Musketeers appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Two Awesome Doctor Who Tees Available Today Only!

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.

“Peace, Love, Who” and “This is how you get Daleks!” by Khallion and Harebrained are the latest pair of stunning Doctor Who tees from RIPT Apparel, available today only.

Available in a range of sizes for men, women and children, for just $10 plus shipping, these designs can also be purchased as hoodies, laptop or tablet cases, posters and even on headphones.

Head to RIPT Apparel to grab yours today!

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Here’s Peter Capaldi as the 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.

Thanks to the BBC we can share this brand new photo of Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman preparing to shoot the new series of Doctor Who.

The first block of episodes of series eight are currently in production, with episode one by Steven Moffat, and episode two by Phil Ford. These episodes are directed by Ben Wheatley, and mark Peter Capaldi’s era as the Doctor.

Arriving on set in Cardiff to begin filming, Peter Capaldi, said:

New job, first day, slightly nervous. Just like the Doctor, I’m emerging from the TARDIS into a whole other world.

Steven Moffat added:

First the eyebrows! Then, at Christmas, the face! Coming soon, the whole Doctor. In the Cardiff studios, the Capaldi era begins.

Controller of Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson said:

Excitement and anticipation fills the air as Peter Capaldi’s Doctor takes control of the TARDIS for the very first time today. It’s going to be one hell of a ride and I can’t wait for the journey to start.

Finally, Charlotte Moore is Controller BBC One:

A new year, a new face, a new Doctor! 2014 has arrived and it’s Peter Capaldi’s time so let the adventures begin!

We couldn’t have put it better. Let’s hope they can begin soon!

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Bargains at Big Finish

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.

Following on from their Twelve Days of Big Finish-mas, the audio company headed by Dalek voice, Nick Briggs, is offering 25 titles in the Doctor Who main range for just £5 each.

The first 50 titles, from The Sirens of Time to Zagreus, are permanently £5 each, though no more CDs will be pressed after they have sold out. But until Monday 13th, releases #51- 75 have also come down in price.

This offer includes Dalek titles like The Juggernauts and Terror Firma, and a shed load of Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard tales like Scaredy Cat, Scherzo and The Next Life - as well as the introduction of companion, C’rizz (name-checked in Night of the Doctor, y’know) in The Creed of the Kromon. There’s also the excellent The Harvest, the first story to feature Hex alongside the Seventh Doctor and Ace (or Dorothy McShane as she’d like to be known…); the brilliantly-titled Fifth Doctor story, The Axis of Insanity; Katy Manning returning to the part of Iris Wildthyme in The Wormery; and even a future Doctor (sounding very manic) in Medicinal Purposes.

It’s a great range, these titles released around the time Doctor Who was coming back to screens, and starring Doctors Five, Six, Seven and Eight.

The whole lot should cost you just £125; not bad at all considering they each retail £14.99!

The big question, of course, is: once Monday comes, will titles #76- 100 be reduced too…?

Find out more over at Big Finish.

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The Curator’s Voice…

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.

Tom Baker has written a New Year’s Newsletter to his fans on his official website. In it, he talks about his appearance in the 50th anniversary special and what it was like going back to work on a show he had been away from for so long and that had been such a large part of his life.

In a particularly touching note he recalls meeting Matt Smith on-set having spent the morning feeling increasingly anxious about the job:

“In the old days I knew everybody, or nearly everybody, the technicians and make-up people and all the other actors: I was at home in those long gone times.  My gloom was lifted by the arrival of Matt Smith who welcomed me so enthusiastically that I began to think life was worthwhile.”

His writing gently simmers with wit and a playful understatement – though you can well imagine, in the midsts of worry and apprehension, Smith’s generous and genuine enthusiasm would make the world seem a brighter place!

Tom talks about his work with Big Finish and appearing at the official anniversary convention. In particular he notes how the Celebration event allowed him to briefly travel in time…

It’s also heart-warming also to read his thoughts on what it meant to appear in the anniversary special:

“My agent e-mailed me a few days ago and told me I’d had a good year, that I was magnificent and he was proud of me.  I confess to a warm glow as I read his generous assessment of the year.  And then I delved or dived into my memories of 2013 and wondered what Michael, my agent, had in mind in describing my year as good, and me as magnificent. I suppose he meant my very brief appearance in the 50th anniversary Doctor Who Special”

Our Tom has perfected the art of Grand Modesty – of course it helps if you genuinely are a bit marvellous.

I recall watching the VHS (for our younger readers, that’s an historical piece of technology, like a DVD but it rattles more) of The Tom Baker Years when I was about 10 years old (many moons ago etc.) This involved TB watching a clip from every one of his stories over his seven year tenure and talking to camera about the memories they brought to mind.

He related events around the scene in The Deadly Assassin where he had a weight tied to his foot so he could temporarily duck under the water as his pursuer passed by. He talked about how nervous he was and that he was somewhat afraid of water – and then, wide eyed, he raised an eyebrow and said matter-of-factly, “In fact I’m a very timid washer…”. Aged 10, I remember being a bit alarmed thinking. “crikey [not actually ‘crikey’ – this is mental paraphrasing] Tom Baker’s is REALLY WEIRD.” It was years later, when I re-watched the tape as an adult that I realised he is, of course, a very funny man. I’d even say he’s a delight.

Have a look through the previous newsletters on the website – some lovely reads to be found. Happy New Year, Tom – thank you for being magnificent, we’re proud of you too!

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Matt Smith’s WIRED Goodbye [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.

It’s time to grab a box of tissues as we see Matt Smith saying goodbye once again, this time accompanied by Steven Moffat and Jenna Coleman as they chat to WIRED magazine’s YouTube channel.

We’ve just left a very good actor behind. His era might have been somewhat mixed, but wow, he did a good job with the material, didn’t he?

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