Christian Cawley's Blog, page 298

Jenna Coleman In Death Comes To Pemberley [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.

Jenna Coleman has certainly proved “popular with the dads” when it comes to fitting into Doctor Who. But did you know that the actress is appearing in an adaptation of Death Comes to Pemberley, a gripping and suspenseful 3×60-minute serial set to air over the Christmas period?

It’s the 200th anniversary year of Pride And Prejudice’s first publication, so PD James’ remarkably inventive homage to original author Jane Austen makes a perfect Christmas treat. Austen’s best-known characters, including Elizabeth (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Mr Darcy (Matthew Rhys) have been stunningly recreated in Juliette Towhidi’s adaptation, directed by BAFTA-winning director Daniel Percival

Playing Lydia Wickham (née Bennet), Coleman has a key role in the story, which features various cast members with a Doctor Who connection. Anna Maxwell Martin appeared in The Long Game back in 2005 as Suki Macrae Cantrell, while The Snowmen‘s Tom Ward is Colonel Fitzwilliam. Jane Bingley is played by Wife of the Master Alexandra Moen and the excellent James Fleet who has never appeared in Doctor Who on TV play Mr Bennet; he has, however, appeared in several Big Finish plays.

Whether we get to see Jenna Coleman nude in this drama isn’t known, but as so many of you seem to end up here on Kasterborous to find out, we thought we’d set the record straight on this one.

Death Comes to Pemberley premieres on BBC One on 26 December at 8.15pm and continues on the 27 and 28 December.

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What We’ve Learned From the BFI Tonight…

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.

I’ve just spoken to occasional Kasterborous contributor and omnirumour expert Gareth Kavanagh concerning this evening’s BFI event and the absence of any Doctor Who, or indeed any genuine confirmation of anything at all, really.

What he has told me can be found listed below. First, however, thanks to Gareth’s discussions this evening, we do know that nothing is being announced this year, but next year we’ll be getting something big.

So, what’s the deal with tonight’s event?

10,000 film cans have been uncovered by Philip Morris’ TIEA
Internet gossip (by Doctor Who fans, mainly) is slowing things down
Total haul is back in the UK but not all back at the BBC
It will take years and years to catalogue, grade and restore material
ITV material being handled by BFI
Episodes of Steptoe and Son, Morecambe and Wise and Dad’s Army have all been mentioned as being in the collection
Glimpsed in the screened documentary was a pile of film cans one of which was Marco Polo episode 5.

Can we allow ourselves to get excited by that last detail? Why not?

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Have 10,000 Canisters of Lost British TV Been Found?

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.

And are there any missing Doctor Who episodes among them? Well, we don’t know. Few do. But at least they (meaning, for instance, the BFI and Philip Morris) are clearly aware of what we think we know.

Despite hopes to the contrary, this evening’s event at the BFI apparently revealed little as far as missing episodes are concerned, but hope remains.

After all…

10,000 cans found – confirmed by the @BFI. Surely there's #MissingEpisodes included. 10,000 cans is a big number.

— Ryan Bridgewood (@BrIdGeWoOd4Be) December 21, 2013

However, that big figure of 10,000 isn’t confirmation. Rather, it is comprehension. The players in this omnirumour are aware that the magic number of 10,000 has been cited. A lot. Whether they’re now using it as a confirmation or as a simple reference to the rumour and perhaps even communicate some sympathy with just how frustrating it is being on the inside… well, we don’t know this.

In fact, we don’t even know if they entire thing has been faked to smoke out British collectors who may have been sitting on material for years, intrigued by the dollars of iTunes.

Put simply, the omnirumour remains a rumour tonight, a possibility, a dream. Early promise has sadly fallen by the wayside.

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50 Years of the Daleks!

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.

Fifty years ago today, the Daleks made their debut.

Written by Terry Nation, The Daleks saw the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan land on the irradiated planet of Skaro and met the peaceful Thals and the terrifying Daleks, horribly mutated creatures hidden away inside armoured machines – capable of exterminating the universe. These certainly weren’t the ‘Bug-Eyed Monsters’ Sydney Newman was so concerned about.

Their incredible popularity saved Doctor Who and Dalekmania swept the nation.  Those little alien death machines, designed by Raymond Cusick, captured the imagination of… well, everyone! Fifty years on, you can still see why the Daleks are as popular as ever.

The following season, the Skaro menaces returned in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, framed by London iconography, and – after a brief sort-of-appearance in The Space Museum - appropriately concluded Ian and Barbara’s travels in time and space with The Chase.

Since then, they’ve appeared in fan-favourite tales like Genesis of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks, and Bad Wolf/ The Parting of the Ways, as well as the epic The Daleks’ Master Plan.

So, Kasterborites… Which is your favourite Dalek story?

Might you go for their big 2005 return, Dalek, in which a furious and reeling Ninth Doctor explained how he wiped out both the Daleks and his own race? Or perhaps the time-twisting Day of the Daleks? Is the colourful (and barmy) Destiny of the Daleks a contender? Or that chilling scene in Asylum of the Daleks when the Doctor is begging Oswin to open the door as his greatest enemy advances from all sides?

You could even go for a story that we may never see again: Mission to the Unknown, The Power of the Daleks or The Evil of the Daleks…

Or have more modern endeavours impressed you? Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday anyone? Victory of the Daleks? Don’t forget their brief but breath-taking appearances in The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang and the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor!

Oh, and of course, you might be a Peter Cushing fan…

Happy anniversary, Daleks. We love you. All together now – -

EXTERMINATE!!

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Is Big Doctor Who Missing Episodes News About To Break?

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.

Tonight’s Missing Believed Wiped event at the BFI Southbank - where lost episodes of Doctor Who have been screened in the past – is shrouded in mystery. No one seems to know exactly what they’re expecting to see. Mysterious, eh?

However, interesting noises are coming from the screening tonight (also unveiling a Thirty Minute Theatre recovery from 1972, Not Counting the Savages which was directed by Mike Newell and written by BS Johnson) that suggests confirmation of a haul of 10,000 film canisters – shipped to the UK by Philip Morris’ TIEA – is pending.

We say “noises” – until confirmation is forthcoming, the omnirumour remains just that. Let’s sit tight and see what happens, okay?

As soon as any new details are available, we’ll bring them to you.

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You Can’t Roast a Turkey with a Sonic Screwdriver. Who Knew? [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.

As the Doctor and Clara look on at the Christmas turkey, it soon becomes apparent that there is only one solution. Still, no need to go into that here. You want to watch this short clip featuring the departing Doctor, his companion and a piece of undercooked fowl, don’t you?

So, sit back and click play. You’ll smile (probably).

The Time of the Doctor airs at 7.30pm on BBC One and BBC HD on December 25th, known to many as Christmas Day. It will also be screened at 9/8c on BBC America.

The post You Can’t Roast a Turkey with a Sonic Screwdriver. Who Knew? [VIDEO] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Orla Brady on Tasha Lem, the Silence and Capaldi

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.

Orla Brady, who guest stars in this Christmas’ The Time of the Doctor, has spoken about her role as the mysterious Tasha Lem – and has busted a few rumours about her being a young Madame Kovarian.

The Irish actress, who’s appeared in Sinbad, Mistresses and a recent Poirot tale, The Labours of Hercules, reveals that Lem is an old friend of the Doctor’s… but not one we’ve met before:

“We have not met Tasha before, but we’ve met her forces. We’ve met the troops of the Papal Mainframe in a former episode and this is the big boss. She’s the Mother Superior of the Papal Mainframe.”

Fans might remember the Papal Mainframe getting a name-check once before in 2011’s A Good Man Goes To War, in which only the Mainframe herself could grant permission for a Headless Monk’s hood to be lowered.

And although she’s friends with our favourite Time Lord, that doesn’t mean their relationship will go swimmingly:

“She will use her firepower if necessary because she does get cross, shall we say, with the Doctor at a certain point because she’s used to troops pretty much being under her control and doing what she asks of them. She does ask the Doctor to do a particular thing and he’s a bit of a loose cannon and goes rogue, so she’s not best pleased to a certain point.”

Oh, and she’s also friends with the Silence…

“Obviously the Silence are part, or become part, of the Papal Mainframe, so I did have scenes where Silence were present and they have a certain allegiance to me… Broadly speaking I’m on the side of good. I’m supposed to be not frightening, but authoritative. You’re supposed to believe that she can run these troops and the Silence, and this giant ship and the UN of space.”

Presumably, she’ll wear an eye patch too…?

Of course, Time is the Eleventh Doctor’s swansong, and Brady says she was excited to hear Peter Capaldi would be the next Doctor when she was in Belgium:

“I’d been listening to French and I needed a break, so I spanned the channels and there it was, on BBC World. And I thought: ‘That’s right, that’s really clever. There’s something particular you need to be Doctor Who and Peter has it’… I’m very much bound up in Matt’s farewell, so I can’t really make any comparison between him and Peter. But I know he’s going to be great.”

She was especially impressed with the energy and range of those on set:

“You feel it when you walk on set; it’s a different kind of energy because you’re balancing elements of different genres at the same time. You can be doing a scene that’s pure slapstick, Matt boinging about the place, then a moment later there’s a scene that is really intense and intimate. You really have to keep your wits about you.”

The Time of the Doctor airs on BBC1 on Christmas Day, in case you’d forgotten!

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The Time of the Doctor DVD & Blu-ray Release Details

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.

The Time of the Doctor is approaching, as Matt Smith makes his final appearance as the Doctor on Christmas Day, and the BBC has released details of the DVD and Blu-ray collection that features all of the Eleventh Doctor’s seasonal specials.

Orbiting the quiet backwater planet of Trenzalore, the massed forces of the universe’s deadliest species gather, drawn to a mysterious message that echoes out to the stars.

And among them, the Doctor. Rescuing Clara from a family Christmas dinner, the Time Lord and his best friend must learn what this enigmatic signal means for his own fate and that of the universe.

This must-have release for fans of Matt Smith’s incarnation of the Doctor will also feature for the first time in one box in January 2014.other Christmas specials from throughout his four years in the role;

The Snowmen (2012) starring Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman and Richard E. Grant.
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011) starring Matt Smith and Claire Skinner.
A Christmas Carol (2010) starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Michael Gambon and Katherine Jenkins

Extras!

The release is also packed full of extra content from The Time of the Doctor including:

• Behind the Scenes of The Time of the Doctor - It’s Christmas! A time for peace and goodwill to all. But hang on, its Doctor Who, surely it can’t be that simple? We take a peek behind the lens on this cracker of a Christmas special. The tinsel is out at the Oswald’s and we meet a familiar enemy in a new form. The Doctor comes face to face with the enigmatic Tasha Lem and makes a new friend. With Matt Smith, Orla Brady, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat, Danny Hargreaves, Jack Hollington, Sheila Reid, James Buller and Elizabeth Rider.

• Farewell to Matt Smith – Narrated by Alex Kingston (River Song), this compelling special looks back at Matt Smith’s extraordinary tenure as the Eleventh Doctor, featuring highlights from the show and copious interview footage with Matt, his cast-mates, writers, producers, guest stars

• Tales from the TARDIS – A look back at the full, 50-year history of this iconic series. Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and past Doctors David Tennant, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Tom Baker tell what it was like to be the Doctor, how they got the job and how it changed their lives. With companions Jenna Coleman, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and more, this truly insightful special offers a unique insight into the world’s longest running sci-fi series.

 

The Time of the Doctor & other Eleventh Doctor Christmas Specials is available to pre-order now (RRP £13.99 DVD, £17.49 Blu-ray) from the BBC Shop, in advance of release on January 20th.

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The 2014 Masters Mashup Calendar

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.

We’re big fans of Tone Cartoons and their 2014 Masters Mashup Calendar is a particular favourite.

The A3 calendar features brilliant Dalek masterpieces that riff off some of the best-known and most-loved artists, including Gustav Klimt’s, Expectation (or is that EXTERMINATION!) and Georges Seurat who spent two years completing his iconic oil painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.

Made from 100% recycled and mixed matt coated card, the 14-page calendar uses DURABrite Ultra Ink, which keeps colours bright and beautiful as well as producing lab-quality photos that can last 200 years in an album.

It’s all held together with white plastic powder coated wire comb binding and hanger so the pages won’t get damaged when turning over to the next month.

There’s a great American Gothic pastiche (which might remind Whovians of the allusion to Grant Wood’s instantly-recognisable painting in 2007′s Gridlock); a tongue-in-cheek ‘Troupe de Daleks’ which pays homage to the prolific – and controversial! – Toulouse-Lautrec; and, quite appropriately, the Dalek version of Dali’s The Persistence of Memory - better known as ‘The One With The Melting Clocks’.

But our favourites are probably October’s ‘The Son of Davros’, a mash-up with Magritte’s stunning 1964 The Son of Man that sees Dalek Sec having one of his five a day; the tribute to Nighthawks, a 1942 Edward Hopper picture focussing on a late-night diner, which has become one of the most recognisable examples of American art; and June’s ‘Dalek Decontructivism,’ which should really be a poster too. It works perfectly: constructivism was an artistic, philosophical and architectural movement that originated in 1919 and was utilised throughout the Russian Revolution. Constructivism was art for a social purpose; Deconstructivism’s purpose is to encourage you to ‘SEEK – LOCATE – DESTROY’!

It’s topped off with a cheeky Last Supper picture, with all participants replaced by various colourful Daleks!

Tone Cartoons is offering the 2014 Calendar on sale for just £13.99 – and whilst you’re there, you might as well take a look around their shop, filled with mugs, cards and t-shirts!

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Strax Sends Report On All Doctors [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.

The end of an era beckons, so what better time than for Strax – who we’re beginning to suspect may in fact be deep under cover rather than being the Doctor’s ally – to send a field report back to his Sontaran superiors?

Here, the wonderful Dan Starkey brings Strax to life once again as a combat-crazed alien potato who cannot tell the difference between girls and boys. His judgements on each of the Doctor’s twelve incarnations are well worth watching!

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