Christian Cawley's Blog, page 36

Doctor Whobit and the Lord of the Rings of Akhaten

Simon Mills 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.

Well, I was NOT expecting that all over my news feed this morning!

Peter Capaldi (you know, the chap that plays The Doctor, right?) is currently “down under” for the Antipodean leg of the Doctor Who Festival in New Zealand and, while there, he has paid a visit to the set of Hobbiton and had some lovely photographs taken while doing so.

stuff.co.nz reports on the actor’s Unexpected Journey to the set, making use of the time to take a break from filming Doctor Who and just enjoy himself with a quiet visit to the attraction. Well, it wasn’t really unexpected, but it was kept quiet! But, wait a minute! What else has been going on that we had no idea about???

It would seem that the lead actor in the global phenomenon that is Doctor Who paid a visit to Doctor Who Superfan and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and made a spoof video trying to persuade him to sign a contract, presumably to direct an episode of Doctor Who!

You can watch the video as posted on Peter Jackson’s Facebook page right here with the rather pithy comment “This was an interesting weekend…”

Home InvasionThis was an interesting weekend…

Posted by Peter Jackson on Sunday, 29 November 2015

 

But is it a spoof? That’s the question we all want answered! Is this a not-so-subtle hint that The Moffit and The Lord of the Films have come to an arrangement? It has long been rumoured and spoken about in darkened holes in the ground that PJ would love to direct an episode, but with his hectic schedule it would be nigh on impossible to arrange. Jackson has also stated for the record that he would do it, and would even waive his fee if he could be paid in the form of one of those new “gold Daleks!”

Now, what about the video itself? It’s actually very funny! It starts with Jackson sat at the dinner table with his daughter while he’s polishing some of his Oscars. PJ’s daughter tells him Steven Moffat is trying to email him. There then follows a hilarious character assassination of The Grand Moff whilst Peter Capaldi creeps into the house in character and proceeds to try and persuade PJ to sign a contract. You really ought to go and watch it NOW if you haven’t already seen it. It’s a superb piece of sketchery and, just maybe, a clever attempt at trolling the whole world, teasing us with something that might never happen… On the other hand, remember that bit about payment with a “gold Dalek”? Well, towards the end of the sketch we see one of them trundling along, chasing the Doctor out of the house! Could that Dalek be PJ’s payment???

We can only hope so!

The post Doctor Whobit and the Lord of the Rings of Akhaten appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Big Finish Review: The Early Adventures – The Forsaken

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.

In the interests of full disclosure – I am a Big Fan of the Big Finish forays into the First and Second Doctors’ eras and their very deliberate recreation of the atmosphere from that part of the show’s history. I’m also a BIG fan of the Second Doctor and quite happy with Frazer Hines’s studied audio impersonation. While not quite the Second Doctor, you can tell that Troughton’s performance was burned into Fraser’s memory and a little bit of the Cosmic Hobo lives on!

The Forsaken is set on an island near Singapore, in and around a hotel surrounded by jungle. It’s February 1942. WWII is in full swing and the Japanese are coming. After surrendering Singapore, the British evacuated and the guest cast are soldiers and civilians waiting for their boat off the island. Intriguingly one of these includes Ben Jackson’s father less than a year before Ben’s birth…

As you’d expect from Who super-author, Justin Richards, the adventure is another competent recreation of the era. Carefully realised historical settings and the more Classic end of Who’s legacy are his specialty. It’s also good to hear the TARDIS team of Ben, Polly, and Jamie brought to life, especially given they’re underrepresented in surviving television episodes.

This is the second outing for Elliot Chapman as Naval Cockney, Ben Jackson, after the character was first re-cast in The Yes Men. Recasting roles created by deceased cast is a brave move, most notably with the Third Doctor, but seems to be paying off. Chapman is spot-on in the role and a few minutes in I had forgotten that there was anything unusual to listen out for. This may be because I’m less familiar with the character from surviving episodes, but for this listener it worked a treat. If anything Chapman was noticeably more like Ben than the original actor’s voices are for Polly and Jamie!

The story makes ample use of the war time setting and paranoia you’d expect when one aggressor is approaching and your escape is yet to appear. The underpopulated hotel and jungle are well evoked and allow for some creepy set-pieces. All in all this is a solid piece of retro-Who in a slightly more exotic setting than 1960s BBC was able to conjure up.

There are a couple of disappointments however…

Polly feels a little under-used. We get a lot of her being told to make hot drinks or kept out of the action by the Doctor with a sexist sheen that could have been approached differently. Given how The Companion Chronicles managed to introduce our anachronistic views on race and sexuality into ostensibly ’60s Who, this feels a little limp.

Another minor gripe is the use of Ben’s father, James Jackson, who is one of the key military characters in this whodunit runaround. I spent most of the adventure wondering what clever allegory was going to link Ben’s encounter with his father at a young age to the underlying plot – though nothing really seemed to come of this. It added another thread of jeopardy as Ben would presumably never have been born if his father doesn’t make it back to Blighty and do the needful. But other than a couple of lines from Ben to this effect, the otherwise intriguing time-space coincidence feels like a missed opportunity.

The monster is again, solid, and well-used with one particularly sinister reveal late in the story. Again my feeling is that more could have been made of the fact that it looks a lot like the Grim Reaper but my hopes were left unrealised.

So, in conclusion:

This is a solid recreation of the era and a wonderfully believable performance from Elliot Chapman in his second outing as Ben Jackson.
Creepy and an enjoyable runaround with an underrepresented TARDIS crew in a well-evoked exotic location.
More could be made of Ben meeting his Father and in general the story did more re-treading of the cosily familiar than pushing boundaries.
It’s lovely but more hot cocoa than spiced cider. More bucks fizz than Champers…
You’ll like this if you like Dreams of Empire (BBC Past Doctor Novel), Jago & Litefoot… or any story featuring Ben and Polly!

The Kasterborous Rating: 6.5/10

The Early Adventures: The Forsaken is out now from Big Finish.

The post Big Finish Review: The Early Adventures – The Forsaken appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Christmas Special Title Revealed!

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.

The BBC have released both the title and a brand new image for this year’s Christmas special – which sees the Twelfth Doctor met Alex Kingston’s River Song for the first time.

Yes, this Christmas get ready to meet The Husbands of River Song.

And what to make of the image above? Well in terms of River’s look it certainly seems to fulfil Steven Moffat’s promise that we’re going to be getting a more hands on (steady…) River this time around – her garb certainly recalls her more action-heavy days from the likes of The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon.

As for the giant robot guard? It’s similar in design and make to the robots in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the two aren’t connected or a comedian maybe voicing it just like previous robo-voices David Mitchell and Robert Webb – maybe there’s a factory setting for ‘British Comedian’?

I’m not sure what’s in the Doctor’s bag but, knowing him, it could either be a whole mess of danger or presents.

Here’s the full synopsis for The Husbands of River Song.

“It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor is hiding from Christmas Carols and Comedy Antlers. But when a crashed spaceship calls upon the Doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy. King Hydroflax (Greg Davies) is furious, and his giant Robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas) survive? And when will River Song work out who the Doctor is?

All will be revealed on a starliner full of galactic super-villains and a destination the Doctor has been avoiding for a very long time.”

So what do we make of the title? Is it me or does the synopsis make it sound like a jumble of previous Christmas specials? Are you looking forward to a more kick-ass River Song?

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Time Lords, Daleks, and Ohila: Hell Bent Image Gallery

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.

Series 9 comes to its conclusion this Saturday, but what’s in store for us dedicated Whovians? The BBC has released a set of very exciting photos, just to pile on the excitement even more!

Naturally, minor spoilers follow.

Scattered among the images are of course Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor; Ken Bones, returning as the General; Clare Higgins as Ohila; and Donald Sumpter as the President.

You’ll also glimpse Daleks, Weeping Angels, Cybermen, and the Wraith…

So without further ado, feast your eyes upon this gorgeous gallery of goodness. And try not to get too excited, okay? Someone might need that chair after you.

Hell Bent airs on BBCOne this Saturday at 8pm.

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Here’s The TV Trailer and Cast List For Hell Bent!

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.

He’s come home… the long way round.

Yep, the Doctor is back on Gallifrey. We’re not hiding this. You should’ve seen Heaven Sent by now, and if you haven’t ever other news outlet has already spoiled that ending for you already.

So what can we expect from Hell Bent, the Series 9 finale? The above TV trailer is both massively exciting, and spoilerific. It’s not like it tells you everything that’s going to happen (ala Face the Raven!), but we do, for instance, see… Daleks. Someone important holding the Doctor’s hand. A significant console room and the TARDIS. A Weeping Angel – or so it seems. And a familiar looking barn.

Who’s in it, apart from Peter Capaldi then? We have Clare Higgins, back as Ohila, followed by the Sisterhood of Karn, who we last saw in The Magician’s Apprentice. There may be some timey-wimey twisting goodness to be had here, but that’s pure speculation. Maisie Williams returns as Ashildr/Me; and Ken Bones crops up again as the General, a Time Lord who we last saw in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor.

The President is played by Donald Sumpter, who some will know from Jekyll & Hyde, Atlantis, or, Game of Thrones, but Doctor Who fans will recognise him from The Wheel in Space and The Sea Devils. He also played Erasmus Darkening in The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap.

Here’s the cast list announced for Hell Bent so far:

The Doctor Peter Capaldi

Ashildr Maisie Williams

The President Donald Sumpter

The General Ken Bones

Female General T’nia Miller

Gastron Malachi Kirby

Ohila Clare Higgins

The Woman Linda Broughton

Not long now…

The post Here’s The TV Trailer and Cast List For Hell Bent! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Lethbridge-Stewart Range Spring 2016 Details Revealed

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 Lethbridge-Stewart novels will continue into 2016 (and hopefully beyond!) with three exciting titles in the spring, and then three more in the autumn. Candy Jar Books launched the fully-licensed Lethbridge-Stewart series in February 2015, with Andy Frankham-Allen’s The Forgotten Son, which followed on from the events of The Web of Fear, with three more titles subsequently released.

But what can we expect from the three novels to be released in Spring 2016?

We kick off with Moon Blink by Sadie Miller – the daughter of Deep Breath‘s Brian Miller, and the dearly-missed Elisabeth Sladen. Sadie started off as a child actor but has since gone into fiction writing. Candy Jar’s Publishing Co-ordinator, Hayley Cox said:

“It’s a great honour to be here at the start of Sadie’s writing career, working with her on her debut novel. She came to us with an amazing idea and it was a case of how could we not do it.”

In Moon Blink, a new drug is on the streets, and it appears to have come from the moon. But Apollo 11 has only just landed on the moon! Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers are all set to investigate, when Anne receives a very unexpected visitor.

The series continues with The Showstoppers by Jonathan Cooper:

A new TV show is about to hit the airwaves, one connected to a notorious Nazi war criminal. Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers investigate.

Jonathan Cooper is the author of two novels in the Space: 1889 steampunk series, and Doctor Who correspondent for The Independent – so he knows his sci-fi!

Rounding off Spring’s releases, we have a new novel by John Peel. No, not the DJ. Peel is the author of countless novels, including several for Star Trek and Doctor Who like 1991’s Timewyrm: Genesis and 1997’s War of the Daleks. His Lethbridge-Stewart book is The Grandfather Infestation:

Something strange is happening in the North Sea, bringing Pirate Radio to its knees. The Fifth Operational Corps is called in to investigate.

We’re excited. You should be too. The Lethbridge-Stewart books so far have been an utter joy, so we’re sure they’ll be just as brilliant throughout 2016.

As ever, Candy Jar Books is offering several different bundles for fans desperate to get into the range, including a new subscription deal: that;s six books for the price of five!

The post Lethbridge-Stewart Range Spring 2016 Details Revealed appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Cast and Crew At #SaveTheBBC Protest

Simon Mills 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 poor beleagured BBC needs all the allies it can find these days with the government seemingly intent on tearing down this national treasure by saddling it with ever increasing costs – making the BBC foot the bill for the free licenses for the over-75s, for one thing, which will severely impact the BBCs budget and, therefore, their ability to produce quality dramas.

It is with this in mind, that a dedicated number of Doctor Who fans and personalities from the show took to the streets on 23rd November 2015 (the date sounds familiar – I wonder if it has any significance?) to show their support for the BBC and the wonderful programmes it produces. Programmes such as this one about our favourite Time Lord, Great British Bake Off, Strictly Come Dancing and other such hugely popular fare. Programmes that are under threat of being shipped out to commercial producers if the government gets its way.

Great to hear @sophie_aldred @bertiecarvel @PeterDavison5 & more #BackTheBBC today.

https://t.co/p5eD2c8hA3 pic.twitter.com/yR4OZEDx4c

— Love Your BBC (@LoveYourBBC) November 23, 2015

Been Campaigning to save the BBC the best TV in the world with @sophie_aldred Peter Davidson & more pic.twitter.com/Q54yQswCUN

— KatyManning Official (@ManningOfficial) November 23, 2015

All write to your local mp @Robotmeile @sophie_aldred 40p a day for the best tv in the world! Xxx

— KatyManning Official (@ManningOfficial) November 23, 2015

Love It or Lose It protest outside BBC Broadcasting House 2 pic.twitter.com/5Qy54ziVgU

— OnTheTimeLashPodcast (@OnTheTimeLash) November 23, 2015

The purpose of the demo was, of course, to raise awareness and to join together in a resounding chorus of “Not on my watch!” lead by such luminous figures as Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, former companions Sophie Aldred (Ace) and Katy Manning (Jo Grant), production staff from the past such as June Hudson (yes, that one – the one who designed Tom Baker’s iconic Fourth Doctor outfit) and many others. They all voiced their support for the BBC, citing the corporations top quality world-renowned dramas and news coverage.

Inspirational words this lunchtime from #DoctorWho cast members outside Broadcasting House! #SavetheBBC @bectu pic.twitter.com/TS1hOftXdf

— Ian McArdell (@IanMcArdell) November 23, 2015

Peter Davison summed it up best:

“It’s very easy, as with the National Health Service, to take things for granted. The BBC pumps an amazing amount of entertainment into our homes for an amazingly small amount of money. It’s the cost of a good cup of coffee from one of our finer tax-avoiding coffee shops on the high street. If the government wants to take away popular programming, and I understand that’s what they want to do, then they undermine popular support for the BBC. And what’s going to happen to these popular programmes? Presumably someone else is going to make them and they will charge us £35 a week to watch them. We have to protect the BBC … this is something really, really precious. And once it’s gone it’s gone forever, it’s not coming back.”

Great big THANKYOU all those loyal fans who turned out today to support the BBC Love it or lose it campaign. Good way to celebrate Who Day

— Sophie Aldred (@sophie_aldred) November 23, 2015

If you want to help save the BBC, there is a petition you can sign right here.

The post Doctor Who Cast and Crew At #SaveTheBBC Protest appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Sadie Miller Launches 2016’s Lethbridge-Stewart Novels

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 very pleased to announce that the Lethbridge-Stewart novels will go from strength to strength in 2016, with the Spring range launched Moon Blink… written by Sadie Miller, the daughter of the much-missed Elisabeth Sladen (our lovely Sarah Jane Smith)!

The news was broken at the end of the Nick Walters’ Mutually Assured Domination, the last Lethbridge-Stewart book of this year, which contained an exclusive preview of Sadie’s novel.

Candy Jar Books launched the fully licensed Lethbridge-Stewart series in February 2015, with Andy Frankham-Allen’s brilliant The Forgotten Son kicking off the venture in style. Three more titles were subsequently released; each met with high praise from fans and the press.

Sadie’s book headlines the 2016 series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels, and is published in the spring, followed by The Showstoppers by Jonathan Cooper and The Grandfather Infestation by John Peel. Keep your eyes peeled for the synopses of those very very soon…

And that’s not all: a further three novels will be released in the autumn! Gary Russell, former script editor of The Sarah Jane Adventures and long-time family friend of the Millers, said:

“When I first heard that Sadie was writing a novel, my initial reaction was ‘ahh, a chip off the old block’– her delightful mum was one of the most creative, sharp and incisive individuals I ever knew. But then I realised I was doing Sadie a disservice, because from the first day I met her, Sadie Miller has always been her own person, utterly talented and rapaciously gifted which, other than encouragement and support, owes nothing to either of her parents and everything to Sadie’s own determination to be brilliant. And with this novel, she’s proven that she is.”

Sadie enjoyed a career as a child actress through many voice-over parts, making her screen debut when she was eight, playing Penny in the BBC film, Royal Celebration. She is best-known to Doctor Who fans for her role in both series of Sarah Jane Smith audio dramas produced by Big Finish in 2002 and 2006. She won much critical acclaim for the role of the wheelchair-bound Planet 3 researcher, Natalie Redfern, particularly in the story Test of Nerve.

She completed courses with the National Youth Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre’s Young Writer’s Programme, and RADA’s Shakespeare Course, earning a BA in English and Related Literature, and graduated with honours. Sadie turned from acting in 2011.

“After University, I went to drama school and was actually in my final term when mum died. This obviously impacted how I looked at my future and I decided to switch to writing instead so that I could have a little more control and flexibility to be around for my dad.”

She is currently working on an original Young Adult novel, having already contributed to anthologies. In 2014 she was a finalist for the Glass Woman prize with Mirandolina.

Sadie is no stranger to Doctor Who, of course. Her father is actor Brian Miller, who has appeared in both Doctor Who – appearing opposite Peter Capaldi in Deep Breath – and The Sarah Jane Adventures, and her mother played Sarah Jane throughout Doctor Who‘s history. Elisabeth Sladen sadly passed away in 2011, which led to Sadie distancing herself for some time from Doctor Who fandom. She said:

“I needed time to mourn, to be there for my dad. The constant reminders of my mum, obviously very hard to avoid, were just too painful. But now I feel that the time is right to reconnect with Doctor Who, and the fans. My dad did so last year with an appearance in Peter Capaldi’s first episode, and so now it’s my turn. It’s exciting to be writing my first novel, and that it features the Brig adds another layer of importance. He, in the form of Nicholas Courtney, was there when mum debuted as Sarah in 1973, and she was there for his very last on screen appearance as the character in 2008. So in many ways this is important.”

Series editor Andy Frankham-Allen says:

“I almost worked with Sadie a good ten years ago on the second series of Sarah Jane Smith, but alas that did not come to be. We’ve kept in touch since, and as soon as I learned she was switching careers I immediately asked if she wanted to write for the Lethbridge-Stewart range, feeling it may be the right time for her to reconnect with Doctor Who fandom. And bless her, she agreed without a second thought!”

The usual discounted pre-order bundles will be on offer from Candy Jar, with a new subscription deal for those wishing to get six books for the price of five: that’s just £45!

The Lethbridge-Stewart series of books can now be pre-ordered from Candy Jar Books.

The post Sadie Miller Launches 2016’s Lethbridge-Stewart Novels appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Everything Has Its Time And Everything Dies

James Baldock 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.

Coming soon to a newspaper near you: an article about ratings. Ratings or contracts. Ratings or contracts or BBC cuts. The future of Doctor Who, it seems, has never been so shaky or uncertain. Rumours abound about the prospect of the show being put on hiatus, or cancelled altogether amidst fears of falling popularity and failure to put up a fight against The X-Factor (which seems to be having troubles of its own). Those of us who browse the press and the forums will know that this is nothing new. But the most disturbing thing about the current trend, at least for me, is how little I actually care about it. For the first time in a long while, the prospect of the show’s cancellation, however unlikely (and we’ll get to that), fills me with far less dread than it ought to.

Wait! Put down your pitchforks! Here at K Towers, we don’t all feel the same. But let me explain.

It’s a great job, getting paid to write about Doctor Who. I wouldn’t swap it for all the elephants in Mumbai. Is it worth the affront you experience when you receive a critical drubbing from people who’ve missed the point, or (far worse) the heartache and disappointment that bites when a piece is routinely ignored? Yes, it is. Is it worth the long, coffee-fuelled 2am finishes every Sunday morning scribbling reviews and opinion pieces and uploading endless GIFs in order to make deadline and beat the web traffic? Of course it is. Is it worth the torture of having to endure the atrocity that was Before the Flood not once but twice so that I can explain it to my children? Yes, just about. Is it worth the sense of weariness my wife experiences when I persuade her to sit through yet another tedious episode because my reviews are always better when I can feed off her witty and acerbic remarks? Well, you’d have to ask her that, although she’d probably sigh a little bit and give you a smile that speaks volumes.

But the problem is that it’s now the writer in me that is pleading for its continued renewal, rather than the fan. Writing semi-professionally about something you love is a dangerous tightrope, and one that many of us walk. I’d hate for it to become any sort of crutch, but writing about Who – in whatever capacity – is one of the few things I know how to do reasonably well, and it’s for that reason alone that I pray that the continuous reports of the show’s imminent demise are nothing more than an exaggeration designed to shift units.

Pay particular attention to that word ‘alone’, because it’s where I’ve been going with this. Because the fan in me no longer cares about New Who. Seriously, I don’t. I’m worn out with high expectations that are constantly dashed. I’m tired of the ominous looks that plagued this series whenever Capaldi was alone with Clara, leading to a death scene that lasted seven minutes longer than it should have. I’m tired of the mysteries and arcs and things that are supposed to be important and the stupid tendency the show has now to make great, bold affirmations about why the Doctor left Gallifrey / grew up scared of his own shadow / bought a new toaster when it doesn’t actually matter. I’m tired of inconsistent writing and good ideas squandered. I’m tired of humourless gravitas and awkward, ill-fitting social commentary shoehorned into poor scripts (the Zygon stories were a notable exception). I’m tired of all the sodding electric guitar references (although I don’t dispute that Peter can play). And I’m tired of the cult of smugness that surrounds it: the press saturation and stunt casting and the feeling that this should somehow be BAFTA-standard high drama, rather than lightweight family entertainment.

Moffat sits in a different chair to the one occupied by John Nathan-Turner, but ultimately it’s the same situation: outstaying your welcome. The longer he’s here, the more we allow him to do: not content with having undermined everything Russell T Davies achieved (I’m not going to expand on this; if you can’t figure it out it’ll give you something to argue about), he’s now making his mark in other ways, too numerous and obvious to mention here. Somewhere, I’m convinced he has a list of “Things I want to do before I step down”, and presumably if he manages to tick off everything on the list then Mark Gatiss has to buy him a PlayStation 4.

Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt. There was a time, not long after the 2005 resurrection, where I’d rebuff any criticism of the show with “Yes, I agree, but it’s Doctor Who. Isn’t it better that it’s back?” There was a time when I truly believed that. There was a time when if asked to choose between episodes like Fear Her and cancellation, I’d plump for the former in a double heartbeat. The frightening thing is that if you’d asked me the same question after viewing The Woman Who Lived a few Saturdays ago, or the dirge that was Face The Raven just the other week, I genuinely don’t know what I’d have said. Are stories like this really the best we can do? Is this the height of quality for a flagship programme, for prime time Saturday night television?

The fact of the matter is that the years when Doctor Who was not on air were some of the most productive and fruitful in the history of the show. The Big Finish franchise – now a bloated and distorted mutation of its former self – was established in order to make the stories that the BBC no longer wanted, and did it brilliantly. The New Adventures, Past Doctor Adventures and the webcasts all came out of the fans’ desire to fill the vacuum that Michael Grade had created. Oh, not everything worked. (Have you read Eye of Heaven? It’s appalling.) Still, some of the most interesting stories and ideas ever featured in Doctor Who came out of that period. The Americans don’t want Paul McGann? Fine. We’ll give him a whole history. We’ve even got a companion who gets turned into a fish.

I was reiterating this to my children just the other day. “There are hundreds of old stories you’ve not watched,” I told them. “And most of them are worth a look. There are hundreds of books and hundreds of audio dramas and comics and even I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s on offer. If they stopped making new Doctor Who stories tomorrow it’d still take aeons to get through everything.”

I once met a Christian speaker who talked eloquently on the matter of dying churches. The crux of his argument ran thus: if churches filled with an ageing population are in danger of becoming empty, perhaps we shouldn’t be so desperate to refill them. If clubs and organisations are winding down, perhaps we should let them. Perhaps Doctor Who is drawing to a natural conclusion that we should allow to happen before it reaches series-too-far territory (a ship which I’m sure many people would argue has already sailed long ago). Perhaps, as the Ninth Doctor famously says to Rose at the close of The End of the World, everything has its time and everything dies. Perhaps we’ve forgotten that. Perhaps instead we’re more concerned that everybody lives, whatever the cost.

At the same time, a thought occurs: Doctor Who is probably not going to be cancelled, and in its current form it is not going to change. Moffat shows no signs of leaving; he outlasted Smith and he may well outlast Capaldi. For as long as he’s willing to believe his own hype (in the weekly cries of “Genius” and “OMG BEST EPISODE EVER I AM LITERALLY CRYING BUCKETS!” that frequent forums and Tumblr feeds) then there’s no reason why he should. The rants of old fogeys like me will not shake him, nor should they. I’ll shout into the wind for as long as I feel the need, but I seldom expect anyone to actually hear, and maybe that’s not a bad thing. And truth be told I like a man who stands by his convictions, even if we’re polar opposites in terms of how we approach things.

So I’ll keep watching – I have a vested interest in the show’s continuation, after all – and I’ll keep complaining because I’m not a sycophant, I can’t heave my heart into my mouth, and eventually after all this shouting into the wind there is at least a distant possibility that someone is going to listen (just as there is a possibility that an infinite number of monkeys given an infinite number of typewriters will eventually produce a script better than Evolution of the Daleks). At the same time, if the front page exclusive tomorrow morning read “DOCTOR WHO CANCELLED” I think I can say, for the first time in ten years, that I probably wouldn’t care that much. I mean, I’d have to find something else to fill my Saturday evening.. But that’s fine. It’s been years since I watched The X-Factor.

The post Everything Has Its Time And Everything Dies appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

New Companion… and The Grand Moff Moves On?

Simon Mills 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 Grand Moff is teasing us with little dribbly bits of teasing news nuggets! In this week’s Radio Times magazine he says that he doesn’t have anyone specific in mind to replace Jenna Coleman yet, but this will be a good way to relaunch the show and they have “got a really cool new idea about how to do that.”

Neat! Personally, I am hoping this means we’re going to get a non-human, or at least, if it is a human then it’s one from a different time period – but one still vaguely familiar so the audience gets the character they need to identify with to “access” the show. Just, please, for the love of all that is, ever was or ever will be holy, don’t make him/her/it a love interest!

Steven Moffat also talks about moving on from the show, albeit not for another year at least, as he has signed on for Series 10. He is not saying that he’s actually moving yet, but it certainly sounds like he’s doing some succession planning!

“That’s an issue I’m actively engaged in. Everything is difficult in Doctor Who, including leaving. I’d never leave it in the lurch because it means too much to me. Let’s not pretend it’s not a big problem. But there will be a solution.”

At K Towers I think most of us (or maybe just me? I can’t really speak for the other denizens of the depths of the K dungeons) would be of the opinion that the show needs a really good shake up every few years to keep it fresh – a new Doctor isn’t really enough; it needs a fresh and reinvigorated approach from someone who isn’t exhausted by the never-ending punishing production schedule of the Doctor Who juggernaut. Someone like Toby Whithouse, maybe?

Anyway, I didn’t come here to push my idea for showrunner. I am here to regurgitate news nuggets for your entertainment and to solicit your ideas and feedback on the subject… So! Want to retread the discussion on who should be the next showrunner? Or maybe you want to tell us your ideas about the next companion? Go right ahead, there’s some text box thingy down below furnished for the purpose of you doing just that!

The post New Companion… and The Grand Moff Moves On? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.