Christian Cawley's Blog, page 341

Steven Moffat Boasts 77 Million Strong Doctor Who Audience

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.

In his interview with Nerd³ last week, Doctor Who head honcho Steven Moffat was quizzed with regard to the show’s ratings which have fallen under attack from certain areas of the press.

It’s only the papers that care – and it’s only a certain section of fandom that cares. The BBC knows exactly how huge Doctor Who is.

The Moff’s response to these nay-sayers is to look at the bigger picture, which in this case is an audience of 77 million internationally.  And in all honesty it’s not like the ratings are terrible, the lowest point for Series 7 was The Crimson Horror which still managed a respectable 6.47 million viewers, and that’s not counting iPlayer hits which could add up to another two million to the total.

An episode of The X Factor – no one watches again after its first week, our audience has migrated to the point where… more than half of our audience watch it later – whether it’s later that same day or later that week.

So have viewing figures dropped or have fans simply changed the way they watch the show? I know that in my house, many times, I have had to wait until my son was in bed so I had the required peace and quiet to watch an episode on iPlayer; am I part of the reason that figures are down?

How do you watch Who? Are you a dedicated live viewer or, like me do find there are simply times where iPlayer is the only way you can see it uninterrupted?

The post Steven Moffat Boasts 77 Million Strong Doctor Who Audience appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Moffat: Casting Doctor Who Lead Not a ‘Gender Thing’

Rebecca Crockett 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.

While there are always many opinions on who should be cast as the next star of Doctor Who, according to showrunner Steven Moffat, the casting choice should not be about “casting a gender.”

Since the character has always been portrayed by a man, the thought that a woman could one day occupy the role is a divisive topic in the fanbase.

In a now much-quoted interview with YouTube channel Nerd³, among such topics as how many viewers the show really has with the use of DVRs and downloads and when we might see the Weeping Angels again, Moffat was asked his thoughts on the possibility that the Doctor would ever be female.

One day I’m reasonably confident somebody in this role – whether it’s me or someone else – will say not, ‘Let’s cast a woman’, they’ll say, ‘That person, that’s the one who could the be the Doctor’.

You’re just casting someone that you think will set that role on fire. I think for now that is Peter – I thought it was Matt before – it’s not about the gender thing.

To know that someone so important to the life of the show thinks there will come a time when the right person for the role is female is an exciting thought. Changing the gender of a main character that has historically been portrayed as specifically male would be a major step in the life and history of the show as well as the whole television landscape. Is the fandom, or the world even, ready for such a monumental step? Only time will tell.

A shame we can’t just hop in the TARDIS and find out the answer!

The post Moffat: Casting Doctor Who Lead Not a ‘Gender Thing’ appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

#SaveThePodKast with a Competition!

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.

This week’s podKast covers a trio of topical Doctor Who news items AND gives you the chance to win a copy of Doctor Who: The Vault from BBC Books!

James McLean, Christian Cawley and Brian Terranova are on hand to offer their thoughts and discuss the recent #SaveTheDay teaser, the sad tone to the rediscovered William Hartnell interview and Steven Moffat’s suggestion that Fires of Pompeii‘s Caecilius and Torchwood: Children of Earth‘s John Frobisher resemblance to the Twelfth Doctor (for obvious reasons) will be written into the show.

We’ll leave you to listen to the show rather than challenge you to guess as to what we thought about these topics (although the word Atlantis is uttered with derision…) but note that the competition is towards the end. Email your answer to christian@kasterborous.com before midnight, Saturday October 5th – so act quickly!

So why a competition? Well, it’s simple. Since we’ve been running the podKast through Audioboo, our audience figures have skyrocketed. We’re talking of an effective doubling of our listeners, so not only do we wish you all a hello and welcome, our competition is there to give something back for your growing support over the past two years.

Let’s hit play!

Kasterborous Series 3 Episode 35 Shownotes

#SaveTheDay
Steven Moffat planning “explanation” for Twelfth Doctor resembling Fires of Pompeii‘s Caecilius and Torchwood: Children of Earth‘s John Frobisher
Hartnell’s Difficult Daleks
The IT Crowd
Terror of the Zygons
Carnival of Monsters
Doc Martin/Saving Grace

Before we move onto the other playback options, don’t miss our live podKast on Google Hangouts this Sunday, October 6th at 3pm GMT/11am EST.

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 #SaveThePodKast with a Competition! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who in Nation’s Dream Schedule

Alex Skerratt 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.

Doctor Who has been named as the most-wanted drama in a dream TV schedule!

In a survey of 30,000 people, (carried out as part of the Radio Times’ anniversary celebrations), the good Doctor was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Only Fools and Horses, The Morecambe and Wise Show, and Blue Peter.

As Ben Preston, the Radio Times editor, explains:

Our poll captured the imagination of our readers. Who wouldn’t be tempted to stay home for a golden night of British television? Everyone had their say in this poll and the great British public have spoken, but am I the only person wondering how Wallace and Gromit and Fawlty Towers didn’t win a place in Radio Times Hall of Fame?

Our advice to Ben Preston would be to include airings of The Ice Warriors and City of Death in his golden night of television, as both feature the stars of Wallace and Gromit and Fawlty Towers respectively! But in all seriousness, this recent poll highlights the obvious love and affection the British people have for their show, demonstrating that it is in no way a cult programme for die-hard fanatics. And, given the noticeable absence of Saturday night staples Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor on this list, could we one day see a schedule which favours the Hath over the Hopefuls…?

Here is Britain’s dream TV schedule, as chosen by readers of the Radio Times:

Children’s:

Blue Peter

Entertainment:

The Morecambe & Wise Show

Comedy:

Only Fools and Horses

Drama:

Doctor Who

Documentary:

Around The World in 80 Days

News:

Sir Trevor McDonald

(Via BBC News)

The post Doctor Who in Nation’s Dream Schedule appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Cover Story: Radio Times at 90

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 Radio Times is a British institution. To celebrate the listing magazine’s 90th birthday, the Museum of London is holding an exhibition dedicated to the iconic publication.

Covers adorn the walls and, accompanied by facts, figures and trivia, visitors can explore the history of Radio Times from small beginnings, through the war, paying tribute to those legendary Christmas issues that could easily break your foot if you dropped them, praising changing designs, evolving templates, eye-catching designs, artists, the mass movement from radio to TV – and, of course, highlighting the very best shows.

It’s perfect that Cover Story: Radio Times at 90 also lauds another British institution – one which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

In case you weren’t sure, the centrepiece of this exhibit is a Dalek.

The memorable ‘Vote Dalek’ image from 2005 is recreated beautifully with the chance for visitors to pose next to a stunning RTD Bronze model. With that cover, the Radio Times celebrated both the return of the menaces from Skaro and the general election; just one week earlier, Downing Street had been blown up in order to destroy the Slitheen and a certain Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North, was mooted as the next PM.

(For those unsure, Tony Blair actually won the election, and y’know, I don’t think he would’ve dealt with the Sycorax as well as Harriet.)

The cover is a recreation of The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) and involved clearing Westminster Bridge and lining four Daleks up against the iconic backdrop of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. It’s a wonderful attention-grabbing prop, right at the heart of the exhibition… but for hardcore fans, it’s not the most exciting thing there.

There’s no fanfare around the fabulous item that really got my heart pumping. Publicity proudly yelled ‘we’ve got a Dalek’ at the top of its voice. What it really should’ve screamed is:

‘We’ve got the original Dalek design plans!’

I’ve seen the wonderful design template before, of course: Raymond Cusick’s brilliant design has been reprinted time and time again. But actually being in its presence, seeing the detail and its intricacies and frailties behind glass is something else entirely.

Never before have I seen the note at the bottom, simply reading ‘1 DALEK ARM TO BE READY FOR EPISODE 1 15/11/63 AS DISCUSSED WITH DESIGNER.’ Or its scale or the bumps described as ‘4” DIA VOIDS TO BE EQUALLY SPACED ROUND FRONT + SIDES.”

Honestly, if I weren’t with company, I would’ve stayed and examined it all day.

Clips from An Unearthly Child and The Dalek Invasion of Earth play by its side – it’s only in retrospect that I worry about an electrical fault with the TV in close proximity to that wonderful, unique document! – displaying the very first TARDIS scene and the latter’s cliffhanger with a Dalek emerging from the Thames.

It’s a beautifully designed exhibition, a perfect representative for that stylish yet warm publication: a projector flicks through 90 years of covers; there’s a wall displaying the eight mastheads that have adorned the fronts; ads; information about how RT started, how it carried on through the war, how it dealt with competition, and about how its listings expanded from just radio into TV; and there’s some fantastically-crisp original art – including some Doctor Who items.

Victor Reinganum’s The Evil of the Daleks is the most recognisable, but I was surprised to see how tiny it actually is. Frank Bellamy’s The Sea Devils is quite reminiscent of his most famous RT illustration, Day of the Daleks, and is nonetheless superb.

But I fully admit to never having seen two pieces of art before: Bellamy’s intricate Terror of the Zygons and Reinganum’s classy The War Machines, which is reminiscent of his gorgeously simple Cityscape with hints of cubism and art deco. I love these understated illustrations by artists very few have heard of but whose work has been seen by thousands of people.

Of course, Cover Story only occupies a small section of the Museum of London, which is free to enter. Don’t just go there to see the story of the Radio Times: the museum is a wonder to explore. Particular highlights include: healing trephined skulls that show that the victims actually survived Stone Age surgery (I have a strange interest in medicine through time); a printing press; Charles Booth’s map of poverty in London; and a stunning realistic Victorian high street. There’s also a really creepy section that projects a sort of 3D adaptation of Twelfth Night. It’s like a cross between Autons and the Command Nodes from Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead.

(There are also a few Radio Times items available in the shop, notably a box of 100 postcards and a book on the criminally-underrated magazine artists.)

Just like the Radio Times itself, Cover Story is relatively small but full of information, trivia, neat designs and a friendly atmosphere that conjures up images of a family gathering around a warm fire and listening to the wireless. At Christmas.

There’s a lot for enthusiasts to enjoy, not just for those who dream of time and space, but for those who really love that cultural phenomenon, the Radio Times. Happy Birthday, RT. I can’t wait for your centenary.

The post Cover Story: Radio Times at 90 appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Mobile Apps You Should Be Using

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.

In multiple incarnations and across mediums Doctor Who fans continue to expressed their love for the Doctor as we creep closer to that all important 50th anniversary date.

However one facet you may not have considered painted a celebratory shade of blue is your mobile device. There are dozens of excellent mobile apps for both Android and iOS and our editor-in-chief, Christian Cawley has compiled this handy guide to the best official and unofficial Doctor Who mobile apps.

For the newshounds, the gamers, the readers, the viewers on the go, and those just looking for something a little quirky the article over at Makeuseof, is an indispensable guide to bringing the Doctor to your mobile platform.

If you want to keep abreast of all the latest developments then you’ll do no better than the Who News app. Covering all of the Doctor Who news websites, Google news and the BBC; as well as the hundreds of reviews, podcasts and blogs – you’ll never miss a beat.

Perhaps you’d rather be the Doctor? Then why not face down some familiar foes in Doctor Who: The Mazes of Time, a top-down action puzzle adventure that is available on iOS devices (it was previously available on Android but this now seems to have been pulled from the store.)

Or perhaps you’d rather be those foes, well, there’s an app for that too. The Eyestalk app, which includes seven visual effects covering all 50 years of Doctor Who, allows you to snap photos of your friends from a Dalek point of view from the classic and modern eras. Meanwhile, I Am A Dalek (free) is the handy voice manipulation tool that you can imitate the angry tones of a Dalek, and can be found free on iTunes.

Be sure to check out the whole article over at MakeUseOf.

The post Doctor Who Mobile Apps You Should Be Using appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Should The Doctor Sound English?

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.

There is insurrection amongst the Scottish Who-mafia! David Tennant has accused his countryman and successor-in-waiting, Peter Capaldi, of being ‘lazy’ if he uses his native Scottish accent to play the part of the Twelfth Doctor. Fellow Scot, Steven Moffat is “pretty certain” Capaldi will use his own accent when he debuts this Christmas. Now Tennant is obviously indulging in friendly media-banter, but it raises a fair question – should the Doctor sound English?

When Christopher Eccleston brought the character back to our screens in 2005 he used his own Mancunian accent, prompting Rose to challenge him on his alien credentials and his famous reply, that “lots of planets have a North!” But the fact that it matters at all begs the question of what features make up a character when their body and personality can completely change every few years…

Every time a new actor steps into the role, debate rages over whether the Doctor could or should be a woman or a different ethnicity. Arguably the way we speak is almost as important to how we see our own or anyone’s identity. For example, while I would be more than happy with an actor of any ethnic background in the role, I’m not sure I could believe that a Doctor with a strong American or French accent was really the same character… but perhaps someday I’ll be proven wrong. The fact is most English people speak with a regional accent and don’t really sound like the Doctor.

One concern might be that Capaldi’s Scots accent encouraging closer comparison with his role as bad-mouthed spin-doctor, Malcolm Tucker, in The Thick of It. Be that as it may. I’m sure I remember McCoy giving us a subtly Scottish Doctor back in the 80s and this won’t be the first time the character’s accent has strayed North of the border. So whether it’s a soft Caledonian brogue, Glaswegian growl or ‘Queen’s English’, what do you think? Should the Doctor sound English -or British- or could any accent work?

The post Should The Doctor Sound English? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

75 Countries in Global 50th Anniversary Special Simulcast!

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.

BBC Worldwide has announced that The Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who will be broadcast simultaneously to millions of viewers worldwide on 23rd November 2013!

Fans in at least 75 countries including Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Botswana, Myanmar, Mexico – and of course the USA, Australia and the UK – will be able to enjoy the episode in 2D and 3D* (where available) at the same time as the UK broadcast. Further countries are expected to be confirmed within the next month, with fans on almost every continent being able to enjoy the special episode starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, Jenna Coleman, Billie Piper and John Hurt.

Says showrunner Steven Moffat:

The Doctor has always been a time traveller – now he’s travelling time zones. On the 23rd of November, it won’t be the bad guys conquering the Earth – everywhere it will be The Day of the Doctor!

But there’s more… remember a few months ago, when there was talk of a cinematic screening of the episode? Well, on top of the worldwide TV broadcast, hundreds of cinemas in the UK and across the world also plan to screen the hotly anticipated special episode simultaneously in full 3D, giving fans the opportunity to make an event of the occasion and be part of a truly global celebration for the iconic British drama series! Ticket details will be announced closer to the big day.

Tim Davie is CEO of BBC Worldwide.

Few TV shows can still lay claim to being appointment viewing but Doctor Who takes this to another level. In its 50th Anniversary year we wanted to create a truly international event for Doctor Who fans in as many countries as possible and the simultaneous broadcast and cinema screening of the special across so many countries will make for a fitting birthday tribute to our Time Lord.

The 3D episode will be the last piece of BBC produced 3D programming for BBC HD following the announcement of the conclusion of the BBC’s two-year trial experimenting with 3D production and distribution, which has also included selected coverage from Wimbledon 2012 and the London 2012 Olympic Games. The 3D version will be available to those with access to a 3D TV set and to the BBC’s HD Red Button service.

So, hugely exciting news, and yet another option for celebrations on the 50th Anniversary weekend for Doctor Who, which will also see over 20,000 fans gather at London’s ExCel for the official celebration event (featuring appearances from Matt Smith and former Doctors Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Tom Baker) not to mention a myriad of fan-run events around the UK and further afield (hello, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand!)

What have you got planned?

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Billie Piper: “Is this ever going to pay off?”

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.

While one would expect an interview with former (and soon to be again) Doctor Who companion, Billie Piper, this soon to the 50th Anniversary special to be about her return as the titular Rose Tyler, she focused mostly on the early days of shooting the first series of the 2005 revival.

Chatting to The Guardian Weekend magazine, she recalled:

At first, I didn’t know whether the show as going to be a success or die a death. It was such a hard shoot – nine months, with pretty much everyone using CGI for the first time. There were times when I thought, ‘Is this ever going to pay off?’

But it did. I remember being in a London hotel for the launch of the first episode. There was a buzz; it was thrilling. I called a friend and said, ‘I’m going to remember this feeling for the rest of my life.’

As we all know, it more than paid off and helped launch the acting career of the then teen pop singer, as well as re-launch Doctor Who for a new generation. She also seems to be aware of the divisive nature of her character, Rose, as she noted that “loads seem hacked off” about her casting.

She certainly won a number of the skeptics over with her portrayal, but there remains a sector of fandom who were glad to see her go at the end of Series two (and series 4 and the Tennant Specials if you’re counting her brief reprisals).

So, what say you? Did Piper win you over as Rose or are you still “hacked off?”

(Via TV3)

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Scream of the Shalka DVD Review

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 may not be much of a confession, but I’m a bit obsessed by the idea of animated Doctor Who. Although I consider the fan-produced anime that appeared on YouTube to perhaps be the ultimate cartoon-style adventure, I’ve been particularly thrilled by the recent reconstructions of classic, incomplete serials.

So you shouldn’t be too surprised to learn that I’m also a big fan of Scream of the Shalka, Paul Cornell’s confident online-and-official relaunch of Doctor Who from 2003 that was unceremoniously overlooked by pretty much everyone once that announcement was made in September of that year. Yes, it’s an unusual story, comprising six 15 minute episodes that were squeezed down an old dial up Internet connection in my parent’s house, but it contains some amazing ideas, some of which were picked up on in the TV series that stole its thunder.

But, you’ve probably read all about the presence of the Master (played by Derek Jacobi) as a travelling companion and the Doctor being affected by the loss of a companion and his people. You no doubt know by now that future Doctor David Tennant appears briefly in Shalka, or that Russell T Davies had little regard for Richard E Grant’s performance as the original official Ninth Doctor. Liz 10 actress Sophie Okonedo also co-stars as companion Alison Cheney, a girl with a dead-end job, reliable but uninspiring boyfriend and a spark with the Doctor – not to mention a sense of adventure.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t she? Okonedo would probably be the best thing about Scream of the Shalka - certainly the early episodes – if not for the wonderful Derek Jacobi. How well would we have regarded 1990s Doctor Who with him as an occasional Master, had the show been properly treated by BBC One?

Hopefully you’ve also read our interview with Paul Cornell in which the writer – who apparently won’t be writing any future Doctor Who stories – recalls the genesis of the story.

So why should you buy this DVD, which includes a relatively short Doctor Who story (for a “classic” era release) and some extras?

Well, because it’s really not bad. Certainly more than a curio, the serial is a little more than a footnote in Doctor Who‘s history. Rather, it underlines the show’s ability to transcend media formats, and more importantly its innate ability to survive. Throw in idiosyncratic design and animation from Cosgrove Hall and the fact that watching it on DVD is far superior than trying to suck it up through a straw (which is how the original webcast felt) this is a release that should interest more than just the completists; the animation has also been digitally remastered, along with the soundtrack. While there might have been some other animated adventures prior to this (notably Real Time and the Paul McGann version of Shada), Shalka is notable in that it gets its own DVD release and introduces a new Doctor.

The Ninth Doctor.

For a few days, at least. Here’s the synopsis:

The TARDIS lands in a small English village in 2003, where the population are living in fear from a malevolent alien force. With the help of UNIT and his new friend Alison, the Doctor discovers that a race called the Shalka are residing underground, preparing to strip away the earth’s ozone layer and embark on a full-scale invasion of the planet…

Personally, I can’t agree with Russell T Davies’ assessment. Although Grant sounds subdued in the early episodes, it is clearly due to the recent experiences of his Doctor (or his predecessor). As the episode progresses and the tide turns against the invading Shalka (lead by queen Diana Quick, wife of Vincent and the Doctor‘s Bill Nighy), Grant’s Doctor becomes warmer, and more like the man we’ve always known. In places the adventure can be hard going, and the UNIT troops are needlessly comedic, but on the whole Shalka is there to be enjoyed.

Extras

Given the relative anonymity of Scream of the Shalka among wider fandom, it is good to see such a selection of extras on the disc, starting with a commentary track featuring writer Paul Cornell, director Wilson Milam and producer James Goss.

Perhaps one of the greatest ever value added material features in Doctor Who’s history on DVD is Carry On Screaming, the behind-the-scenes story of what appears to be a bunch of people working their way through what could have been an abject disaster. The personnel involved discuss the making of Shalka, with contributions and recollections from executive producer Martin Trickey, producers Muirinn Lane Kelly and Jelena Djordjevic, animation director Jon Doyle, writer Paul Cornell and researcher Daniel Judd. James Goss, who did sterling work on the BBC’s Doctor Who website back in the day and was one of the one of the story’s executive producers, presents with memorable aplomb.

Although the not-quite-Ninth Doctor is notable by his absence, The Screaming Sessions is an interesting look at the how the cast and crew viewed the production, recorded during their time in the studio in 2003. Sophie Okonedo (Alison), Jim Norton (Major Kennet), Diana Quick (Prime), Craig Kelly (Joe), Anna Calder-Marshall (Mathilda) and director Wilson Milam chat to the camera.

Following this and concluding the main set of extras is Interweb Of Fear, a brief history of the BBC website and the role Doctor Who has played over the years. Unfortunately this could have been so much more if the remit had been wide enough to include the fascinating roles various mediums (message boards, newsgroups, forums, websites and social media) have played over the years. Among those chatting in this programme are Internet consultant Martin Belam, editor Ian Garrard, producer James Goss, commissioner Martin Trickey, rights expert Ann Kelly, iPlayer inventor Ben Lavender (in a particularly interesting segment) and one-time Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies.

Other extras include a soundtrack of specially commissioned music for the Scream of the Shalka, which works in its isolated form (much TV show music fails to do so), the unmissable production information subtitles, the necessary programme subtitles and the usual photo gallery and coming soon trailer.

While it’s never going to be the most fashionable Doctor Who adventure or be accepted into that artificial construct known as “canon” Scream of the Shalka is available now from Amazon for £15.99. The extras alone are worth the cover price.

The post Scream of the Shalka DVD Review appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.