Christian Cawley's Blog, page 353

Enjoy Trivial Pursuit for Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary!

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 NOTHING trivial about this. Before now the only way to properly test your high-brain knowledge of Who was by pitting yourself against the contestants in that one-off Mastermind Doctor Who special. But soon we’ll have our own Trivial Pursuit. It’s amazing it’s taken this long, given how perfect the show is for a trivia challenge.

“Do you know your Daleks from your Cybermen? Rose from Martha? Or which Doctor had a stick of celery with him at all times? Then Doctor Who Trivial Pursuit is the game for you! Packed with 600 questions to challenge even the biggest Doctor Who fan, this Trivial Pursuit edition requires no board and can be carried around in its bite-size wedge case.”

Games maker Winning Moves are producing other Who-themed favourites including Top Trumps Turbo and Risk. I know I would have literally killed for a pack of Doctor Who Top Trumps way back when it was a game that just involved cards and no batteries…

So now the family can heave themselves from Christmas dinner to the living room and indulge in some good-natured Who-based competition before watching the Christmas special. Alternatively if you’re seeking the source of the Nile next spring in a desperate effort to pass the time until Series 8 starts, never fear for the Doctor Who Trivial Pursuit comes in an easily portable carry-case. Shaped like a wedge. Excellent.

You can pre-order Doctor Who Trivial Pursuit now from Forbidden Planet – it’s just £9.99!

The post Enjoy Trivial Pursuit for Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doomsday 5″ Figure Set for North American Release

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.

Doomsday is coming… but, alas not to England it seems.

Reports are coming in that a box set featuring David Tennant’s Doctor, Dalek Sec and a Cyberman is set to be released in the new style ‘Diamond Classic’ packaging as seen on the current range of Toys-R-Us exclusive Doctor/Dalek twin packs. The pack will feature Tennant in his 3D glasses and updated ‘tooling’ on Dalek Sec, all beautifully presented in a snazzy new box design.

The downside is that while the set is available to pre-order for both U.S and Australian fans (if you are in the USA from www.entertainmentearth.com, or in Australia from www.popcultcha.com.au) there are currently no plans to release the set here in England.

This leaves fans with a potential dilemma, do you order from abroad and risk massive import tax charges or simply miss out on the set?

Are you one of the lucky ones who will get to see this release? Are you in the UK but really not to bothered to be missing out? Leave us a comment below and let let us know your thoughts on the set and its international implications.

The post Doomsday 5″ Figure Set for North American Release appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Nighy Praises ‘Terrific Choice’ Capaldi

Jonathan Appleton 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-might-have-been Bill Nighy has joined the acclaim for Doctor Who’s new star, praising him as a “terrific choice”. Interviewed by Digital Spy whilst promoting new time travel rom-com About Time, Nighy says casting Peter Capaldi is a “great idea”.

Also interviewed is the film’s writer and director Richard ‘Vincent and the Doctor’ Curtis, who is amused that Steven Moffat has “cast himself” in the role:

“They’re both 50-year-old, slightly grumpy Scots!”

Curtis also says he’s excited by the coming 50th anniversary, and doesn’t rule out returning for another crack at an episode.

Bill Nighy has previously said he Doctor Who Magazine, it’s well worth reading for The Way Back feature on the series’ 2005 return, which includes Clayton Hickman recounting the time he got himself into all sorts of trouble on BBC Radio 4 by letting slip that Russell T Davies had mentioned Nighy’s name!

See more About Time coverage at Digital Spy.

The post Nighy Praises ‘Terrific Choice’ Capaldi appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The Ninth Doctor on UKTV

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.

Here’s some “fantastic!” news for Ninth Doctor fans – Christopher Eccleston’s episodes are about to get a re-run! UKTV Australia and UKTV New Zealand will be airing two classic episodes from 2005 every Sunday throughout September, as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations.

For Who fans Down Under, here’s the complete schedule:

1 September: Rose - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 4:50pm (NZ repeat 2 Sep, 4:30am), followed by The End of the World – AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 5:40pm

8 September: Aliens of London - AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 3:00pm, followed by World War Three – AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 4:00pm (NZ repeat 9 Sep, 4:35am)

15 September: Dalek – AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 4:45pm, followed by The Long Game – AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 5:40pm (NZ repeat 16 Sep, 4:30am)

22 September: The Empty Child – AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 4:50pm, followed by The Doctor Dances – AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 5:40pm (NZ repeat 23 Sep, 4:35am)

29 September: Bad Wolf – AU: 4:30pm; NZ: 3:50pm, followed by The Parting of the Ways – AU: 5:30pm; NZ: 4:45pm (NZ repeat 30 Sep, 4:45am)

Due to a crack in the skin of the Universe, three episodes have been omitted from the line-up. These are The Unquiet Dead, Father’s Day and Boom Town. (We blame an exploding TARDIS.)

The post The Ninth Doctor on UKTV appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Pledge Your Support for ‘Who’s Changing’ Documentary

Jonathan Appleton 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.

Fancy an ‘Executive Producer’ credit on a new Doctor Who documentary? If you’ve got a grand going spare you could have your name in the credits of Who’s Changing – An Adventure in Time with Fans, coming soon from Capital City Entertainment. But you can still help deliver the film for a more modest contribution.

Co-directors Cameron K McEwan and Elisar Cabrera are seeking financial support for the independently produced film, a taster for which can be found below. Those sharing their thoughts on the programme’s unique appeal include Louise Jameson, Sophie Aldred and that trio of nineteenth century adventurers Neve McIntosh, Dan Starkey and Catrin Stewart (who is commendably honest about her lack of in-depth Who knowledge when she took the part!).

You can pledge anything from a fiver (which gets you a shout on Twitter) to £1,011 for the aforementioned credit. In between there’s an imaginative range of perks available, such as a hand-knitted Cybermat (£96) or one of your convention pics including in the finished film (£44). Check out the full range of packages at the film’s Indiegogo fundraising page.

The post Pledge Your Support for ‘Who’s Changing’ Documentary appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Coming Soon: Doctor Who Strategy Fun with Risk!

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.

WAR! HUUGN! What is it good for? Well, board games for one. There are tonnes of skirmish-based dice rollers out there, from land based platoon ‘em up Conflict of Heroes to the fearsomely contested territories of Axis and Allies; but there’s one game that has risen from the trenches and dominated the Battle of the Dreary Sunday Afternoon and that’s Risk.

Developed by French film Director Albert Lamorisse (yes, the Oscar Winning director of The Red Balloon created Risk) in 1957; this political, strategy based game of skill and cunning has leant itself to various incarnations including a Mass Effect edition, a Star Wars one and also a Last of the Summer Wine edition (Maybe not the last one…)

Well now, after missing a go, it’s the Doctor’s turn to unfurl the strategy book, open a vintage bottle of Tizer and settle in for a round of table top combat; yes, he’s only gone and got his own edition of Risk, courtesy of Winning Moves UK!

In this brand new edition multiple Dalek armies descend from the skies, seeking an ancient MacGuffin that will enable them to conquer the galaxy.

Play as one of five different armies, either classic or New Dalek Paradigm and wipe the opposition out; then and only then can you begin your search for the ancient artefact!

Will you be the last Dalek army left?

Of course, as you fight for supremacy, the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, will lay his life on the line defending this planet.

Can you wipe out the Daleks before they capture the planet?

With special power cards to boost your forces or destroy your plans, and special missions to defeat other invading forces, this game of Risk is an epic battle for control of the Earth…and the universe.

Doctor Who Risk, for ages 10+ is now available to pre-order from Forbidden Planet for £36.99 ahead of its October 25th release date.

The post Coming Soon: Doctor Who Strategy Fun with Risk! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Karen Gillan In A Touch Of Cloth III

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.

No sooner has the second double episode set of Charlie Brooker’s crime drama spoof A Touch of Cloth finished; up pops the trailer for the third featuring none other than Amy Pond herself, Karen Gillan.

Taking the scattershot humour of the likes of The Naked Gun and Airplane! and applying it liberally to the over-saturated crime drama genre, A Touch of Cloth casts the kind of familiar faces you’d find in the likes of Rebus and Messiah and drops them into a universe where you’re likely to come across cardboard cut-out police officers, dogs in the interrogation room and strangely specific posters in oddly prescient places.

Karen will be making her debut as new recruit, Kerry Newblood alongside the titular DI Cloth, played by John Hannah, The Doctor’s Wife star Suranne Jones as DI Anne Oldman (pronounced “Old Man”) and rumoured potential Twelfth Doctor, Julian Rhind-Tutt as ACC Tom Boss.

A Touch of Cloth series 3 will air in the New Year, and you can get a taste for the show (yes, with adult humour – so beware) over at Bleeding Cool.

The post Karen Gillan In A Touch Of Cloth III appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Catherine Tate “More Than Happy” to Return

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.

Donna Noble: everyone’s best mate – from her debut as a stowaway on board the TARDIS to her desperately sad departure from our lives thanks to a mind-melting Time Lord meta-crisis; she was the one to rescue the Tenth Doctor from his funk and bring a maturity to the relationship between the Doctor and his companion that had been lost since the show returned.

Speaking of returns, as the past and the future collide in a wonderfully wibbly way this November, Catherine Tate has said she would happily reprise her role as Donna.

Posed the question by TV Times, the Big School actress responded:

“Yes, I would be more than happy to.”

Which begs the question: should she return? With story being the sole important caveat to bringing anybody back on board the TARDIS, Donna’s own sage seemed complete after the events of Journey’s End and to a lesser extent The End of Time.

Besides another cameo or perhaps even a little jaunt with an unfamiliar Doctor (the terms of the meta-crisis might put a stop to that though; there’s nothing like an instant meet cute killer than total mind devastation) might be the sole ways the Doctor can hang out with his mate once again.

Asked besides David Tennant, who was her favourite Doctor, she joked:

“Is there any other Doctor beside David?”

Is there? Should Donna return? Who else would be welcomed back from the RTD era?

(Via The Gallifrey Times.)

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Gillan’s Oculus to premiere at Toronto Film Festival

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.

Things are certainly taking off in a big way for Karen Gillan as her new movie Oculus is set to have its premiere next week at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival.

Oculus is a horror movie about a young woman (Gillan), who attempts to exonerate her brother after he was convicted of a murder that he did not commit. The woman sets out to prove that the murder was actually committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackoff is also in the movie, appearing as Karen’s mother and in an interview with Metro US commented on the role, and her feelings about the film in general:

It’s a very, very different take on a very simple horror movie. It’s fantastic. It’s one of the best pieces of work I’ve seen. I spend the majority of the movie — I don’t even know how to say this without giving too much away — I spend the majority of the movie not being the best mom.

With regard to what kind of horror experience we can expect from Oculus Katee added:

I mean, there’s a lot of blood. But there’s no swearing, there’s no sex, there’s no nudity. It’s just f—ing scary.

As well as starring Karen Gillan and Katee Sackhoff, Oculus also stars James Lafferty, Brenton Thwaites and Rory Cochrane and is directed by Mike Flanagan, based on the screenplay developed with Jeff Seidman and Jeff Howard. For more information and, if your lucky enough to be in Toronto this coming week, tickets head over to the Toronto International Film Festival website.

The post Gillan’s Oculus to premiere at Toronto Film Festival appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Reviewed: Council of War

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.

Poor old Sergeant Benton, why was he mistreated so? During the Third Doctor’s tenure, Benton played an integral role as part of the UNIT family, working alongside the Brigadier, Mike Yates and Jo Grant to help battle Daleks, Autons, Axons and, more often than not, the Master. Then the Doctor’s exile on Earth was lifted and he spent less and less time with UNIT. Soon after that, the Doctor regenerated and his Fourth incarnation had no time for nostalgia. As important as John Benton had been in the Doctor’s life for a time, he was soon forgotten and replaced by new friends and allies.

So it’s a wonderful thing indeed that Big Finish have finally got the actor himself, John Levene to finally come back to the role after so many years and remind us of exactly what we’ve been missing.

Council of War finds Sergeant Benton undercover investigating reported sightings of ghosts as well as missing persons. This is all on the request of the Doctor of course, who is feeling a little lacklustre after the departure of his friend Jo Grant and the downtime of his colleague, if you will, Mike Yates. Whilst posing as a local councillor at a Christmas party, Benton meets Margery Phipps and that’s when things get really out of hand.

This particular Companion Chronicle is a game of two halves, especially since the two writers, Simon Barnard and Paul Morris wrote one episode each rather than both together. Episode one is a small scale adventure with a feel of The Saint about it, not to mention other popular spy series from the same era; the episode also takes great care to try and give a more pinpoint accuracy to the whole ‘UNIT dating’ fiasco that has occurred in Doctor Who over the years, much to this reviewer’s amusement (I found myself pausing the play for a few moments to register what was said and see if the dates add up which technically, they do).

The second episode is more of a sweeping space opera that unravels the plot of the story. Margery Phipps plays a far greater role in events than she could ever dreamt of and her involvement in the alien invasion of Kettering is satisfyingly refreshing and new.

Where Council of War really shines is in its performance form the two leads. John Levene is, as ever, fantastic as John Benton, his likeable nature and James Bond style performance remind us just quite how much we’ve missed good old Benton over the year. Sinead Keenan (Being Human, The End of Time Part One and Two) however is the star of the show. Her telling of this story brings a breath of fresh air the Companion Chronicle range; she’s an absolute natural at doing it, and if ever there was a professional production that proves she should be in more Doctor Who, it’s this one.

Ultimately however, this is a Benton story. There’s very little of the Third Doctor in it, and we’re reminded exactly why the Sergeant was chosen to work for UNIT in the first place. He’s brave, kind, thoughtful, resourceful and cunning, all of the qualities that UNIT needs for defending the planet Earth in the 1970’s.

Or was it the 1980’s?

Council of War is available now from www.bigfinish.com

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