Christian Cawley's Blog, page 343

Behind the Scenes at Rubbertoe Replicas [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.

Several months ago – as you may recall – we featured the work of Rubbertoe Replicas, an independent collectible replica propmaker set up by former Doctor Who prop man Nick Robatto.

Above, you can see the workshop in Barry, South Wales, where the designer and craftsman gets to work on the replicas. In the video above you can see some River Song Sonic Screwdriver/Journal presentation sets being put together, Gallifreyan paperweights and a few tips on how the replicas are made and finished.

You can check out Nick’s creations at www.rubbertoereplicas.com.

(With thanks to Leo)

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Doctor Who Fans Unimpressed by #SaveTheDay [UPDATED]

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.

Doctor Who fans have been left… well, what can you say… down-heartened by the uninspiring Twitter hashtag #SaveTheDay revealed before tonight’s premier episode of Atlantis on BBC One.

You can click play above to get an idea of just what was presented following the announcement earlier today.

Whether or not the “sting” would have caused a spike in Atlantis’ viewing figures or lead to a mass turning off of TVs across the country in disappointment isn’t yet known, but we think the following tweet sums up the mood pretty well…

#ReleaseThe50thTrailer or we wont #SaveTheDay k

— sarah jane smith (@JonasIncantatem) September 28, 2013

Clearly #SaveTheDay is intended to be part of a clever social media campaign to promote The Day of the Doctor and the show’s 50th anniversary, but it is now over two months since a trailer for the episode was played at the San Diego Comic Con.

(With thanks to Joe)

Sunday Morning Update

Compare the clip above with this:

If you were one of the 12 people who made it to the end of Atlantis, this is the full-length (for want of a better term) teaser you would have seen. Good, isn’t it?

So what in the name of the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe’s piles was the BBC thinking by splicing the teaser around the televisual equivalent of propofol? How many of Doctor Who‘s core audience were watching TV at 9.25pm, when the clip above was screened?

I really, REALLY want to get behind this. But on first viewing it is yet another anniversary year misfire by whoever is in charge of pushing Doctor Who to the masses.

 

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Signed Radio Controlled K9 on eBay!

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.

A tin dog is a Time Lord’s best friend, and none more so than this very special K9 that has recently turned up on eBay.

Although it doesn’t appear to be one of the props used on the original series, this battery-powered remote-controlled dog would make an excellent toy, or indeed, collector’s item, as it has been signed by John Leeson (K9′s voice) and Mat Irvine (his operator) no less!

As the seller on eBay puts it:

Both autographs were obtained by me, in person at different conventions in the UK. All the functions, lights, movement, sound etc. on the model work perfectly - just put in some batteries and off you go. Personally I’ve had this as part of my Who collection and only used it a couple of times to show people. This is a reluctant sale but I need the money for a few bills and they have to come first! K9 will be sent to you via courier, at my cost, and packed well to ensure you receive him safely. Feel free to collect in person if you wish.

As of writing, there are still two days left on the auction, with the price at a very competitive £100. Admittedly, this “shooty dog thing” may not have a functioning laser or artificial intelligence, but surely – everybody needs their own K9…?

Happy bidding!

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50th Trailer “Stings” Tonight on BBC One!

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’s official Doctor Who website has revealed that tonight’s premier of Atlantis on BBC One, 8.25pm, will be topped and tailed with ‘stings’ for The Day of the Doctor.

So what is ‘sting’? Well, we’re not entirely sure at this stage, but according to the announcement, it will include the ident which will be used for the 50th anniversary special as well as a hashtag that the BBC wants fans to use for the anniversary.

Although this isn’t the announcement of a trailer, worry not: a brand new trailer has been specially written and filmed for the episode, and the never-seen-before promo is currently in post-production, in preparation for leading us into the big day.

If you can’t catch Atlantis tonight, meanwhile, the BBC will have the stings on their official site tonight.

(With thanks to Paddy!)

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Essential Guide To 50 Years Of Doctor Who Signing

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.

If you can make it to London on 2nd October, head to the Forbidden Planet Megastore for a signing of the new Essential Guide to To 50 Years Of Doctor Who with Justin Richards!

From Forbidden Planet -

This essential guide to fifty years of Doctor Who includes all eleven incarnations of the Doctor, and a TARDIS-full of fascinating facts on his adventures in space and time. Meet his helpful companions and his fearsome foes! Find out all about the TARDIS, the Doctor’s regenerations and much more! This book takes you all through the Doctor’s space and time, listing all the episodes for every Doctor. It’s packed with information about his most exciting adventures!

Justin Richards is one of the contributing authors to the new Essential Guide. He has written numerous spin-off novels, reference guides, and audio dramas for Doctor Who. He is also the Creative Consultant for the BBC’s range of Doctor Who novels.

The event at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore (179 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8JR) is scheduled for Wednesday, 2nd October from 6 – 7pm.

Scheduled for an October 2013 UK release, if you aren’t lucky enough to be in the London area that day, signed copies are available to preorder online from Forbidden Planet while North American fans can order unsigned copies from Amazon for $12.00.

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Former Companions Recall Life in the TARDIS

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.

Right now on The Guardian website, Doctor Who fans can find a few choice treats laid out in preparation for this Saturday’s (28th September) ‘Weekend Magazine’  article featuring interviews with several former companions.

Currently the site has short video interviews with a host of former companions, talking about their respective times on the show, its impact on their careers and experiences with fans and other companions on the convention circuit.

Such gems include:

I’ve not really seen anyone at conventions. I was sat next to the Incredible Hulk.

Billie Piper

Also on the site is a nine minute video featuring Billie Piper, Karen Gillan, Freema Agyeman, Louise Jameson, Katy Manning and Carole Ann Ford discussing everything from the functionality of their characters costumes (poor Katy Manning and her frozen feet) through to their views on  the possibility of a female Doctor and a great many point inbetween.

Having watched the videos, I don’t know about anyone else, but I could listen to these ladies talk all day.

You can read interviews with a grand total of thirteen of the Doctor’s companions in the Guardian’s Saturday 28 September Weekend magazine.

(Via theguardian.com | With thanks to @Hannah_Freeman)

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Seventh Doctor Jumper and Scarf On Sale Now!

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 Seventh Doctor Jumper and Scarf are now available to order, as part of a range to celebrate Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary.

The products, by scarf specialists Lovarzi, are great for collectors and cosplayers who love Sylvester McCoy’s enigmatic Doctor. The Jumper, priced £44.99, is made from Acrylic, which feels like wool, but is resistant fading from sunlight exposure. The incredibly-detailed scarf, RRP £36.99, is 100% silk and comes in a presentation box foil-printed with the Doctor Who and BBC logos.

While the jumper is for sale right now, the scarf will be released on 15th October.

Lovarzi began their range of Who products with 2012’s multi-coloured Fourth Doctor Scarf and a follow-up Season 18 Burgundy Scarf will be released later this year alongside their exclusively-designed Dalek Scarf. Maninder Singh Sahota, Director of Lovarzi, says:

After the success of the Doctor Who Scarf last year, it is great to offer Whovians some other classic products. We are dedicated to providing fans with fine quality products which I’m certain they’ll love.

While Lovarzi offers free UK delivery and a 90-day money-back guarantee on both their own site and from Amazon UK, their Doctor Who range can also be found in Forbidden Planet stores nationwide and in Cardiff’s Doctor Who Experience shop.

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William Hartnell Considered Daleks “difficult”

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.

You never really leave the Doctor behind. As an actor you may go on to equally interesting and challenging roles, or perhaps never really step out of it shadow but in the minds of the public and the fans, you’ll always be the Doctor.

It’s a struggle for validation outside of the blue box which is all too apparent in this only surviving on-screen interview with the First Doctor William Hartnell, set to feature on the upcoming DVD release of 1966 story The Tenth Planet.

In it, he expresses his frustrations not only with the question of every escaping questions about Doctor Who but also his co-stars, the most famous creation in the shows history, and perhaps a greater enemy because of it, the Daleks:

I’m not brassed off, it’s just it’s the association of the Dalek question, this mechanical mobile object, I’m beginning to find it distracting. And they were difficult to play to, because you’re not looking into human eyes. You’re looking at a metal object, moving about, with a voiceover.

Hartnell is then asked whether he would ever “shake off” questions about Doctor Who, to which he tersely replied:

Oh yes, of course, by making a success in something else! That’s an actor’s job.

However, there’s a difference between finding success in a fulfilling role and inhabiting a role that fires imaginations and taps into our desires to be beguiled by a dramatic, fantastical persona.

The full interview, of which only a fragment survives, was filmed in Hartnell’s dressing room in the Gaumont Theatre, Taunton, during his run as Buskin in the pantomime Puss in Boots. It was initially broadcast on the BBC regional news programme Points West on 17 January 1967.

The clip was discovered by researcher Richard Bignell in 2009, working for BBC DVD.

Though digitised in 2011, the interview will appear for the first time on the DVD release of The Tenth Planet this October.

Next month William Hartnell will be played on BBC2 by David Bradley in An Adventure in Space and Time, a drama telling the story of the show’s conception that forms part of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebrations.

Available on DVD on October 14th, you can order The Tenth Planet from Amazon now for just £13.50, and we’ll have a review soon!

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Reviewed: Prisoners of Fate

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.

Prisoners of Fate certainly has a lot to live up to. It’s not only the last story of the year in the Fifth Doctor’s trilogy of plays for Big Finish but it also address storylines that have been ongoing since 2010 when Nyssa rejoined the TARDIS after many years away from her friends.

And hasn’t Nyssa been through so much in those three years? Avoiding death on a regular basis, adjusting to life back on board the TARDIS, keeping secrets from the Doctor regarding her new family and having her age decreased by several years to give her back her youth that she lost.

But with this series finale, if you will, , that all comes to a head. Nyssa’s past is about to catch up with her and not everything will be able to stay the same.

Certainly with this story, writer Jonathan Morris has been able to pack a lot of emotional character development into the narrative. So much so in fact, that the first episode feels as if the whole adventure is going to be less action and more drama. The TARDIS arrives at the penal colony Valderon where Nyssa’s son Adric is still trying to find a cure for the disease that Nyssa was trying to stop all those years ago before she disappeared: Richter’s Syndrome. What unfolds for the next twenty-five minutes is a ‘drama-of-errors’, if you will. The audience knows that Nyssa is in her correct timeline but her son, having been told tales of her travels when he was a boy, fears that this is an earlier version of Nyssa due to her youthful looks, little does he know she’s just had a bit of work done. Whilst this is an interesting premise in itself, the listener can’t help but hope that the idea is not drawn out for long and thankfully, or skilfully, it’s not.

The first fifty-or-so minutes of Prisoners of Fate starts to revolve around a punishment system where crimes can be foreseen and therefore prevented, a bit like Minority Report but thankfully without Colin Farrell. Of course, Tegan and Turlough are accused of a murder that they’re destined to carry out and it’s up to the Doctor to help exonerate them. But that’s not even half the tale, because by the end of part two, there’s a nice, big twist. The more enlightened of you will start piecing together the clues to this dramatic reveal along the way and by the end of the first half, you think you’ve guessed what’s coming, but Jonathan Morris being Jonathan Morris means that he’s put a twist on his twist, and it’s a belter.

Prisoners of Fate really stands out because of its time paradoxes and sterling performance from Sarah Sutton as Nyssa who occasionally here, brings a tear to the eye. For those of you that don’t like too much wibbly in your wobbly don’t worry, the story is easy to follow and wonderful to digest. Morris takes an idea that’s never been used before and offers a unique perspective on the Doctor’s travels that Doctor Who fans may not have thought of before. This is a solid end to a high quality Fifth Doctor trilogy and a wonderful addition to the Doctor Who mythology during its 50th anniversary.

Another sterling effort by cast and crew alike.

Prisoners of Fate is available from www.bigfinish.com now.

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Doctor Who: 50 Years and Counting [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.

Few fan-made Doctor Who 50th anniversary video celebrations can be as wonderfully captivating as this superb piece of work by TroughtonLover94. It has simply everything – every Doctor, companion, memorable monster and even Take That.

Yes, Take That’s “The Flood” provides musical accompaniment. But then, given that song title’s relevance to the Doctor’s comic strip adventures, it does seem apt…

Click play. Enjoy.

(Big thanks to Elton for spotting this)

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