Christian Cawley's Blog, page 300

BBC Announces The Moonbase DVD Contents and Final Cover Art

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 BBC has released details for the forthcoming classic Doctor Who DVD release, The Moonbase, which features the first return (and redesign) of the Cybermen!

Set to arrive on DVD in early 2014, the disc will ship with two missing episodes reanimated. Sorry, omnirumour-fiends.

Starring Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, Michael Craze, Anneke Wills and Fraser Hines as Ben, Polly and new companion Jamie McCrimmon, the story is officially incomplete, and is presented on DVD for the first time with the missing episodes 1 and 3 animated.

But what’s it all about?

2070: the tides and weather on Earth are controlled from a station on the Moon. When the TARDIS lands on the lunar surface, the Doctor, Polly, Ben and newly-joined Jamie discover the base has been over-run by a mystery plague epidemic. As men begin to go missing and Jamie succumbs to the virus, it’s down to the Doctor to work out who is behind the attack…

Contents and Extras

Fully remastered Episodes 2 and 4.
Newly animated Episodes 1 and 3, using original off-screen soundtrack recordings.
Commentary on Episodes 2 and 4: a traditional commentary with actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Edward Phillips and Special Sounds creator Brian Hodgson.
Commentary on Episodes 1 and 3: a series of interviews featuring writer Kit Pedler’s daughters Lucy Pedler and Carol Topolski, archive interviews with producer Innes Lloyd, AFM Lovett Bickford, and Cyberman actors Barry Noble, Derek Chaffer and Reg Whitehead. Moderated and linked by Toby Hadoke.
Lunar Landing - cast and crew look back on the making of the story. With actors Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines and Reg Whitehead, production assistant Desmond McCarthy.
Photo Gallery – production, design and publicity photos from the story.
Coming Soon – a trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.
Radio Times listings.
Programme subtitles.
Subtitle Production Notes.

Availability of the DVD is as follows: Region 1  (US, Canada) – 11 February 2014, Region 2 (Europe, Japan, Middle East, South Africa) – 20 January 2014, Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America) – 22 January 2014. These dates are, as ever, subject to change.

UK readers can order the DVD from Amazon for just £14.64. Meanwhile American fans can order The Moonbase from Amazon for $22.48.

The post BBC Announces The Moonbase DVD Contents and Final Cover Art appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

BBC America Releases Extended Doctor Who Christmas 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.

The end is almost upon us, and BBC America has decided to tease our Doctor Who regeneration nerves further with this intriguing extended trailer of The Time of the Doctor.

Matt Smith’s last hurrah as the Eleventh/Twelfth Doctor features a good cast of character actors and monsters, but what sort of impression will the episode make on us in comparison to, say, The End of Time, Part Two?

Looking at the clip above, the smart money is on this being a memorable departure, but we’ll have to wait a week to know for sure!

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The Proofs Are In! Daleks’ Master Plan Update

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 been a long time coming, but we’re days away from dispatching our charity adaptation of missing Doctor Who serial The Daleks’ Master Plan!

Following an issue with the layout, printing was put back a few days. As you can see above, however, the proofs (featuring Rick Lundeen’s artwork) have been delivered to Kasterborous Towers, with receipt of the 200 copies of this limited edition graphic novel expected on Friday 20th December.

Dispatch of the graphic novels will therefore commence on Monday, after a weekend of boxing them up.

Copies are still available – head to The Kasterborous Store to place your order now!

The post The Proofs Are In! Daleks’ Master Plan Update appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Moff Talks Matt’s Regeneration

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.

Just when you thought there could be no more to speculate about the upcoming regeneration, the Moff manages to do it again and get everyone’s tongues wagging again.

This time the man in charge has been letting slip to SFX Magazine about what it means to regenerate and how they wanted to play the big change this time.

I was trying to think about it from the point of view of what it would be like if someone told you, “When you wake up tomorrow morning, you’ll still be alive, but you won’t be the same. You will like different things, you will sound different, you will look different, and have a different temperament.” That would be utterly terrifying…I think that’s what contemplating regeneration must be like for the Doctor. So there’s an element of that, but because it was played that way the last time we wouldn’t play it the same way this time – that would just be wrong.

Hmmm, so its the same, but different. Very helpful.  But it does make sense, when Ten became Eleven we were given all the angst and “I don’t want to go” and it worked, mostly, so to do it again would be a let down, but to brush over the fact that whats going on is incredibly traumatic would be an outright sin.

The key to this regeneration seems to be based around humour, and remembering the good times we had with Matt’s Doctor.

There’s a lot of humour in this one, because Matt’s Doctor has been a funny Doctor, and if you’re going to make people miss him then just remind them how funny he is…he should be as he was, and what you will miss is not him crying – I think the danger is if you cry the audience don’t. It’s about “This is the last hurrah. These days will not come again.

So it seems we can expect things to end with some laughs and a bang rather than a teary eyed whimper, and then there is the small matter of having no more regenerations left but still regenerating. It seems we still have plenty more questions to be answered come December 25th.

What are your thoughts, how do you think the regeneration should go, should it include an explanation for the familiar face or not? (I have my own theory, but that’s a story for another day) Leave your musings and ramblings below so we might all be enriched by them, or at least spark a lively debate.

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Mark Gatiss’ Christmas Spooks

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.

Veteran Doctor Who and Sherlock writer, Mark Gatiss, is about to unleash a little horror upon us all on Christmas day! The actor/producer/writer is responsible for two separate horror programs to debut Christmas evening: an adaptation of The Tractate Middoth by MR James and a documentary exploring the life of MR James, entitled, MR James: Ghost Writer.

The Tractate Middoth is an adaptation of James’ book of the same name, and tells the story of a man who is searching for a very rare Hebrew text in an academic library. However, his motives aren’t exactly scholarly. The drama features an excellent cast, including Doctor Who alum, Louise Jameson (also known as the leather wearing warrior companion of Tom Baker’s Doctor, Leela), and Sherlock star, Una Stubbs. It will also be Mark Gatiss’ (television) directorial debut!

The documentary, MR James: Ghost Writer, focuses on life and background of James and is hosted and narrated by Gatiss himself. It also includes a trip to many of the locations where James lived and drew his inspiration. Gatiss has already acheived success in the docudrama genre and this will be his first BBC Two documentary following a couple of successful previous outings A History of Horror and Horror Europa on BBC Four.

The Tractate Middoth will air on BBC 2 at 9:30 on Christmas day, followed by MR James: Ghost Writer at 10:05. Any one fancy a bit of horror after the regeneration festivities have ended?

(With thanks to Mark)

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Christmas Ideas: Bernice Summerfield’s Epoch

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.

Stuck for a present for the Whovian in your life? We’ve got an idea that’s a little bit different…

It’s amazing the endurance that characters from the world of Doctor Who can have.

Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures are rating winning spin-offs based on characters that appeared in Doctor Who for a small number of years.

K-9 now has his own spin-off after guest starring in another spin-off (The Sarah Jane Adventures) and even having the very first spin-off in the 1980s (K-9 and Company).

However one of the most impressive characters to receive their own drama series from the world of Who is former Seventh Doctor companion Bernice Summerfield – Archaeologist, adventurer and heavy drinker.

The most impressive bit about this character is that she was never in the television show but was created by writer Paul Cornell in literary form in the early 1990s when The New Adventures were being released by Virgin publishing.

Not only has the character had her own range of novels, she’s also had long-running audio adventures courtesy of Big Finish as well as an animated adventure.

Voiced by Lisa Barrowman, the character on Professor Summerfield looks set to have many continuing adventures whilst her old friend the Doctor saves the Universe elsewhere.

Big Finish released an impressive box set of Summerfield fun called Epoch, which saw a rebranding of the Bernice Summerfield range, taking it to exciting new places.

Four stories are included - The Kraken’s Lament, The Temple of Questions, Private Enemy No.1, and Judgement Day – plus a bonus fifth disc contains two documentaries, one called The making of Dead and Buried, focussing on the animated adventure.

The other documentary, Bernice Summerfield Rebranded, looks at the new series of adventures and how things have changed. It also includes interviews with Paul Cornell and Lisa Bowerman.

The bonus disc also features the DVD debut of Dead and Buried.

The five-disc box set is £45.00 from Big Finish or £40.00 as a download.

The post Christmas Ideas: Bernice Summerfield’s Epoch appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Destiny of the Doctor Box Set Finally Available!

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.

Thankfully, Big Finish now has the complete Destiny of the Doctor series box set.

The conclusion to the celebratory 50th anniversary CD series was put into some question upon the sad demise of AudioGo, the Bath-based company charged with putting out a wonderful range of Doctor Who audio adventures. But the box set, which is a glorious silver TARDIS, is, very fortunately, now available from Big Finish, which also sells an array of other AudioGo titles.

And order before the end of January and the impressive set will cost an incredible £40 – a massive saving off the £100 RRP!

Featuring all eleven Doctors, the adventures are read by Carole Ann Ford, Frazer Hines, Richard Franklin, Lalla Ward, Janet Fielding, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldred, India Fisher, Nicholas Briggs, Catherine Tate, and Jenna Coleman.

The box also includes a bonus ‘making of’ disc. Note that this offer is only for the CD set, but if you download each title – for just £3.99 each! – you’ll get the ‘making of’ stuff for free.

We were all very sad about AudioGo, but the release is a fitting obituary. What’re you waiting for? http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/d... it now!

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Sherlock – in the TARDIS! [VIDEO]

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.

An epic meeting of minds; two British icons finally sharing a scene together and the results do not disappoint – thanks to YouTube user John Smith, and the collective will of every inquisitive fan across the globe, Sherlock Holmes has boarded the TARDIS.

This homemade treasure was compiled by nothing more than programs like Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, and a lot of hard work and dedication – it’s an impressive piece of work, with absolutely perfect characterisation for both these telly icons.

There’s also a complete VFX breakdown of how John brought the TARDIS to 221b Baker Street after the clip.

(Thanks to everyone who tipped us off about this!)

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Christmas Ideas: Soft TARDIS and Daleks!

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.

If you’re looking for something for the Whovians in your household, how about one of the cutest bits of merchandise to ever be made available in the name of Doctor Who…?

Talking soft toy Daleks and a soft toy TARDIS with sound effects!

These little gems were the first time that there has ever been an officially licensed Doctor Who cuddly toy and are big sellers with younger fans.

“Series one” of the toys includes two talking Daleks and a TARDIS with a flashing lamp and (presumably) the familiar old wheezing and groaning take off/landing sound we’re all used to. These mighty objects stand at an impressive nine inches tall.

There is also a secondary line of smaller, four inch toys which include Cybermen. These little critters can be attached to bags or keys, if you want to show off to all your friends. Or maybe just to fool thieves into thinking that all you’ve got in your bag is Doctor Who merchandise and maybe they should look elsewhere.

Check out the Underground Toys website for more details of shipping and cost.

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Smith and Tennant: Our Differences

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.

Does having another Doctor around change the way they react to monsters and peril? Is one luckier with the ladies? What is it like returning to Doctor Who and what makes different to other TV shows?

Discussing the differences between their respective Doctors, Matt Smith and David Tennant share what makes theirs special, what they love about working together and what makes them envious of their counterparts, in this: a look behind-the-scenes of The Day of the Doctor.

And let’s hope the two get to meet up again for future anniversaries!

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