Christian Cawley's Blog, page 377

Reality Bites the Twelfth Doctor Press Circus

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.

Not so much playing down rumours as shooting them down with a blunderbuss, mounting them in her study and occasionally hanging bits of washing off their formerly fearsome horns, Olivia Colman has denied that she’ll be the Twelfth Doctor in no uncertain terms.

The actress who was one of the favourites with bookies has said that there’s no chance she’ll be boarding the TARDIS:

“My brother sent me a text saying, ‘Congratulations, they’ve released odds on you being the new Doctor Who’ – which we thought was very funny. It’s all on Twitter, isn’t it? I don’t have Twitter. It is all on Twitter, isn’t it?”

It is. But don’t worry, it’s mostly nice.

Cutting to the heart of the matter, the Broadchurch star added:

“No-one’s ever asked me about it. I assume they would have to ask me for it to be true.”

And there you go.

The simple heart of the matter is that we don’t really know at what stage the BBC and the Doctor Who crew are at with their hunt for the next Doctor other than we expect it to be announced at some point in August.

Everything else is at best guess work and at worse arbitrary choices based on a mixture of what is popular and what characteristics best sum up the Doctor to the causal viewer; even though we are seeing a lot of choices put forward that subvert that rudimentary understanding of his character.

None of which seem to be coming out of the need to take the show in new directions organically. There are some very interesting names being linked to the role that lay out a whole host of interesting routes to take the show down but if it were simply a question of waiting to see who was cast before planning what comes next the show would grind to a halt or be at the whim of one choice.

A change of sex for the Doctor would be one of those arbitrary choices. It would be like making Captain Ahab a woman just to freshen up Moby Dick or making James Bond a woman – he’s written as a man, it’s one of his defining characteristics unless there was a specific reason to change his gender, the choice shouldn’t be made.

That’s not a reflection on the names being linked to the role; if it was just a case of being a superb actor then every actor could be the Doctor. And we know that’s not true. It takes a certain something to be the Doctor. Though this isn’t to say that an actress couldn’t possess that same mixture of agelessness and whimsy that Matt Smith brought to the role but it means changing what is fundamental to the character.

You can argue (and should argue) for equality in our choice of genre characters but that doesn’t mean swapping out one gender for the other; that means crafting the kind of well written parts for female actors that Doctor Who has and continues to do.

Still, for better or worse, that doesn’t mean that the choice won’t ever be made; the sole hope is that when it does happen the story attached to that choice is a belter and that the performance is magnetic because it could break what makes the Doctor who he is.

(Via Digital Spy.)

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August Reveal for Twelve More Likely?

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.

While the speculation might well continue as to who will be the new Doctor (it could be Anthony Head; it could be Rupert Grint – we just don’t know!) the Radio Times – which remember is now a licensed magazine no longer produced by the BBC – is claiming we’ll find out in August!

According to the magazine’s website, the reveal may also include the return of Doctor Who Confidential for a one-off special.

consideration is being given to unveiling the new Doctor on a surprise Doctor Who Confidential as happened with Matt Smith’s unveiling in 2010, with some sources confirming that it will be in August.

Perhaps the wait won’t be as long as we’d thought – but who will it be? And have they already been cast, despite what Steven Moffat says…

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National Media Museum Wants Your Doctor Who Memories

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.

Bradford’s National Media Museum has been busy planning their celebrations for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary and they’ve come up with a rather original idea.

Their exhibition will concentrate on Doctor Who’s fans and explore the various aspects of their devotion to, without question, the greatest television show ever made.

So, this is where things get interesting, you can be a part of events. The Museum wants your stories and your memorabilia in order to make this event a lot more personal.

What kind of Doctor Who memorabilia have you got lying around your house? Maybe a rare collectible, a unique piece of fan art or Tom Baker’s shoe from City of Death episode 3? Take a good, long look at it because it could well become part of the show.

All you have to do is submit your Doctor Who story and memorabilia by emailing drwho@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk with a photograph of your chosen object and a (maximum) 100 word outline explaining the story behind it, when you got it and why exactly you like Doctor Who so much.

The museum will be collecting contributions until Friday 9th August in preparation for the exhibition run from 12th November 2013 until 2nd March 2014.

The lucky few who are chosen will not have to hand over their treasured Doctor Who possession until they have been officially selected for the exhibition.

You can find out more by visiting www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/.

(With thanks to Phil Oates)

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Eve Myles Wants Torchwood 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.

It’s not a question of whether or not Torchwood might return, it’s a question of when and one person who’ll be there in a heartbeat is Eve Myles.

Speaking to Red Carpet TV, Eve cagily spoke about the future of the show, her love of her fans and popularity of the show during this hiatus.

So will there be any more Torchwood?

I hope it goes again. There’s a huge want for it to go again. What I can say is that when they call John and I will be there.

Encouraging signs indeed and what’s more, there remains a lot of love for the show despite its much-maligned fourth season:

With Torchwood we’ve been off air for about three years now and it’s still alive, it’s unbelievable. And if quotewe thought for one second that on that read through on the first day that it was going to be this huge global beast/phenomenon; I don’t know how we would have reacted. We had no idea this was going to happen. It’s just a big, bold, sexy, fun show that people really took into their hearts and we appreciate it more than ever.

Someone the fans took to their hearts is Gwen, whose enduring popularity Eve puts down to her everyday qualities:

I think it’s because she’s not all Teeth and…butt. She’s someone you know. Someone who struggles everyday with work life and family life and whether you’re a superhero or whether you’re saving the world when you’ve  got a full time job and family, you can relate to it…she’s a modern woman, she’s a warrior…she’s a strong iconic woman.

What do you tihink? Has the time come for a Torchwood revival?

 

 

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Join The Stars Of Time This Weekend!

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.

Celebrate 50 years of Doctor Who with Weston-super-Mare’s Stars of Time event this weekend.

The convention, which has been running on and off since 2005 but most prominently in the last three years, features more guests from the world of Who than ever before: in fact, only three guests – Chris Barrie, Caroline Munro and Ruth Wheeler – haven’t been in everyone’s favourite show.

Andrew Cartmel, script editor of the Seventh Doctor Era, will be signing items as well as holding a Q&A session on Saturday 27th July.

Anneke Wills (Polly) will be making her Stars of Time debut, alongside John Levene (Benton); Wanda Ventham (who’s appeared in The Faceless Ones, Time and the Rani and, most notably, as Thea Ransome in Image of the Fendahl); Derek Martin (The Mind of Evil; The Claws of Axos); and Jon Davey, who has starred as various monsters since the show’s 2005 revival like Daleks, Cybermen and Whisper Men.

Nisha Nayar (Paradise Towers; Bad Wolf/ The Parting of the Ways) has only been to the Stars of Time once – back in 2005 – but returns this year; meanwhile, Louise Jameson (Leela), The Daemons’ Damaris Hayman and The Impossible Planet/ The Satan Pit’s Will Thorp have attended a small signing in Weston a few years ago – but this year’s Stars of Time will be their first.

Some guests from previous years are back too: Katy Manning (Jo Grant); Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot); John Challis (Scorby in The Seeds of Doom); and Peter Roy (a supporting artist in too many serials to note!).

Aside from these guests (all of whom will charge for autographs – normally about £5 for each personal item, or a special offer if you purchase a signed print), there’ll be a special Doctor Who corridor of monsters and a Dalek show, The eXterminate Factor.

The event is held at The Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare, on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th July, including entry to see all the aircraft on show. To find out more, head over to their website now.

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The *Other* Comic-Con Trailer…

Christian Cawley is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

You’re probably aware that the Doctor Who 50th anniversary panel revealed to fans a much-sought after trailer (that is yet to be released) of the multi-Doctor special scheduled for November 23rd.

When that trailer is available, we expect the Internets to melt, but it wasn’t the only thing on show during the panel, which featured Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman and David Bradley.

As you’ve probably guessed from that list of names, a trailer for An Adventure in Space and Time was also shown, with guest Bradley starring as William Hartnell in the story of Doctor Who‘s genesis. Unlike the trailer for the main event, Steven Moffat didn’t threaten to pull future Comic Con treats (like he can make good on that threat…) but at this time, only on trailer exists on YouTube.

And it’s bloody awful.

Seriously, we would advise you not to watch the jerky, unfocused and wonky footage (which has since been pulled, but we expect others to appear…) from the back of the auditorium. Instead, wait for the official trailer because all this leak is going to do is spoil dialogue and ruin your expectations.

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What We Learned About the 50th Anniversary at Comic Con…

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.

So, at some point in the near future, the Doctor Who 50th anniversary trailer screened at San Diego Comic Con will apparently be shared with the rest of the Whoniverse.

Until then, we’ve got a few choice quotes to mull over… Beware, spoiler-phobes!

50th Trailer Snippets

Thanks to io9.com we know that the episode appears to take place in the Time War! There are also various fascinating quotes from the trailer shown at the panel (which featured Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss):

“I’ve had many faces. Many lives. I don’t admit to all of them. There’s one life I’ve tried very hard to forget.” - Eleventh Doctor

“Great men are forged in fire.” – John Hurt Doctor

“Oh, you’ve redecorated. I don’t like it.” – Tenth Doctor

But perhaps most importantly is this from Steven Moffat, concerning some perceived loose ends from the recent couple of series of Doctor Who.

Things we have been setting up for a very long while that we’ll be resolving in the 50th and Matt’s final episode. But the most exciting idea is obviously the one we’ve just come up with.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can see for ourselves…

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Time War Daleks in 50th Anniversary! [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.

As promised late on Sunday evening, the BBC has revealed a new image of the Daleks from the forthcoming 50th anniversary Doctor Who special!

The famous Dalek redesign from 2005 (known as the “RTD Dalek” or “Time War Dalek”) has perhaps proved to be the most iconic yet, so it seems fitting that this version of the deranged monsters from Skaro should appear, rather than their unpopular “Smartie Dalek” guise from 2010.

As the BBC excitedly announces (and who can blame them?!) the Doctors, Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt will battle the deadly Daleks in the show’s 50th anniversary special.

Returning to BBC One on 23 November the highly anticipated adventure will star: Matt Smith; Jenna Coleman; David Tennant; Billie Piper; John Hurt and Joanna Page.  In a surprise twist in the recent series finale it was revealed John Hurt would be playing a Doctor, alongside Smith and Tennant.

The Daleks are the second monster to be announced for the 50th and will join the shape shifting Zygons, which have only appeared in the show once before in 1975.

Says Steven Moffat:

The Doctor once said that you can judge a man by the quality of his enemies, so it’s fitting that for this very special episode, he should be facing the greatest enemies of all.

We’ll have more on the 50th anniversary and the trailer screened at SDCC later today…

More Dalek Images!

The BBC’s Doctor Who Twitter feed has decided to share a couple more snaps…

More to come? We shall see…

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Introducing: The End of the World

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.

As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, we’re looking back at some of the pivotal tales of all of time and space, taking on one Doctor each month, running up to November – and An Unearthly Child…

In 2005, Doctor Who entered a brave new world.

Rose, the first episode for ‘nuWho,’ was watched by 10.81 million viewers, with an audience share of 43.2%. The press heralded it as a stunning revival; the fans loved it: Doctor Who was back. But the pressure was on. That debut story was so strong, could the production crew, headed by showrunner, Russell T. Davies, maintain such a high-standard?

The End of the World showed that Doctor Who will always have a future. It’s bright and clever and explosive; funny and sad and cheeky. Ironic then, that so close to transmission, it was revealed that one of the most successful elements of the revival would soon be a thing of the past…

“I’m the Doctor; this is Rose Tyler. She’s my Plus One.”

Just three days after Rose was broadcasted, Jane Tranter, controller of commissioning at the BBC, who – alongside Lorraine Heggessey – recommissioned Doctor Who in 2003, ordered a Christmas special (which would be realised as The Christmas Invasion) and another full series of thirteen episodes. This was confirmed on 30th March, giving hope to the ever-expanding fanbase that the BBC had faith in the show long-term.

Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler also proved such a hit that she was confirmed to be in both the Christmas special and the next series. Best-known as a pop star, Piper’s initial announcement came as a big shock – but when Rose aired, she was welcomed into the fold universally. Digital Spy’s Dek Hogan said of her:

“From the looks of this she’ll be capable of far more than being Head of Screaming and it was a nice touch in the opener that it’s her and not the Doctor that manages to overcome the alien invaders.”

The Daily Mail called her pairing with lead man, Christopher Eccleston “just what the Doctor ordered” and Kasterborous editor, Christian Cawley, said:

“Everything about Billie Piper’s performance in Rose tells me that she is perfect. She can act, she can move, she can look, she can express. Billie is Rose.”

But, just hours after it was announced that Doctor Who would continue, a statement was issued by the BBC, as a result of press enquiries, confirming that Eccleston would not return to the role after Series 1. With only his debut tale under his belt, the public learnt that the man who brought back the Time Lord would only be with them for 12 more episodes.

Christopher and the production team has hoped to keep this a secret, and Tranter had to apologise for the statement, which incorrectly identified harsh recording schedules and not wanting to be forever known as the Doctor as the reasons why the actor left. To this day, we don’t know exactly why he turned down a further series.

Bookmaker, Ladbrokes was already placing bets on who the Tenth Doctor would be, but William Hill refused to: as far as they were concerned, there was a lead runner already. And that man was a little known actor called David Tennant.

Nonetheless, as The End of the World aired on 2nd April 2005, the 7.97 million viewers knew that time for the dry-witted, leather jacket-wearing Ninth Doctor was running out.

“They say mankind has touched every star in the sky.”

The episode itself is a perfect metaphor for the news of the last week: it’s a great mix of hope and disaster. We are at the end of the world, waiting while the sun expands and engulfs the Earth; but there’s far more going on here, and much of it is so little and so petty. As Rose sadly notes, “No one saw it go. All those years, all that history… and no one was even looking.” The Earth is in its death throes, and those supposed to be there to send their respects are, in fact, there ‘to be seen.’ Politics: that’s all it is, despite Jabe (Yasmin Bannerman) assuring the Doctor that they all feel a connection to this brilliant piece of rock.

That sounds so grim. But The End of the World is also about how we carry on. Humanity has spread across the stars, and isn’t that – to quote the Ninth Doctor – fantastic?!

We move on, and this is what Series 1 is all about: the Doctor trying to move on from the Time War. But not everyone moves on so gracefully. Some get themselves nipped and tucked and flattened until there’s nothing left. All the others mingled. Mongrels.

The Lady Cassandra O’Brien.Δ17 (Zoe Wanamaker) purports to be the last pure human, and is obviously an exaggerated parody of our obsession with plastic surgery. In 2006, Russell T. Davies explained to The Sunday Mirror that celebrity culture was largely to blame:

“It was horrific seeing those beautiful women reduced to sticks. Nicole Kidman struck me in particular. Nicole is one of the most beautiful women in the world. But she looks horrifying because she’s so thin. It’s like we’re killing these women in public. We watch while you die.”

In 2005, plastic surgery was increasingly popular; 89% of all procedures were carried out on women, though men still had 2, 440 procedures. As The Cosmetic Surgery Consultants note, “It [was] no longer just for the rich and famous, as more and more everyday people opt for surgery to improve their lives.”

Since the series was commissioned in 2003, the number of those operations, according to The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, rose from c. 10,700 to c. 16,300 in 2004 and over 22,000 in 2005. And they continue to rise even today. Though between 2011 and 2012 there was an increase of only 0.2%, this still brings the figure for cosmetic procedures last year to an astounding 43,174.

Davies had noticed a rising trade early on, and Cassandra was a perfect way of channelling this into the nation’s psyche. While humanity has a bright future, Cassandra’s wasn’t the shining example to follow.

“This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world.”

The End of the World expands on an idea started in 1966’s The Ark: that the sun will expand into a red giant and destroy the planet. But what will really happen to our beloved Earth?

Mercury and Venus will almost certainly be engulfed by the Sun and the Earth will be uninhabitable as the oceans boil into nothingness and the hydrogen in our atmosphere will burn away. The Earth’s orbit, however, will increase dramatically – but according to research conducted by K.P Schroder and Robert Cannon Smith, this won’t help the planet’s chances of survival.

The intimate details of this vary wildly, depending on which scientific theory you take note of. That’s what we do: make educated guesses, because the future is unpredictable. The Sun is expected to reach its maximum density 7.6 billion years in the future, but the Earth won’t live that long. These notions started in 1924, envisioned by Sir James Jeans, a physicist and mathematician, and the outcome of Earth has been debated ever since.

The idea of the Sun expanding, seemingly conversely, also takes into consideration it losing much of its mass, thus allowing Earth’s orbit to extend. Some think this will mean Earth will escape its grisly fate; others say that this orbit will fall into the Sun’s outer atmosphere, which will drag the planet into the star.

To complicate things even further, the pull and orbits of all the other celestial bodies in our solar system (including asteroids) will affect Earth’s chances of survival.

And science fiction writers have speculated that the Earth could be saved by some outside force (see Trial of a Time Lord) or our own scientific mechanics. Maybe a TARDIS will drag us out of the way.

Nonetheless, mankind’s chances of survival on Earth are slim. However, Universe Today’s Fraser Cain notes that the Sun’s expansion will affect how inhabitable other planets in our solar system are:

“The new habitable zone will stretch… well into the Kuiper Belt. The formerly icy worlds will melt, and liquid water will be present beyond the orbit of Pluto. Perhaps Eris will be the new homeworld.”

It doesn’t matter: The End of the World’s message is clear. We will live on. It shows us a bright new future for both the human race and Doctor Who, encompassing bold new visions; clever scientific theory; aliens of all shapes and sizes; heroes and villains; and a bright blue box that travels in time and space. Welcome to the year 5.5/apple/26, 5 billion years in your future. And this is the day the Whoniverse expands.

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Karen Gillan’s Shaved New Super Villain Look!

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.

Former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan revealed her new hairless look on Saturday at the San Diego Comic Con while promoting the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie, in which she plays an alien super villain!

Although the stunning actress had arrived at the event and made a previous appearance with a full head of hair, it turned out that she was in fact wearing a wig (not for the first time, of course!)

Describing her new hairstyle (can you call it that?) the one-time Amy Pond said:

It’s liberating. I think everyone here should shave their heads.

Gillan will be playing the civilization-destroying Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, which according to co-star Zoe Saldana, is 85% complete. We await promo shots of Gillan in full supervillain outfit with our tongues hanging out interest.

(Via Digital Spy.)

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