Christian Cawley's Blog, page 8

Just Matt Smith Singing The Doctor Who Theme Tune

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.

Most of us are pretty scared of doing karaoke, right? Especially if it’s in a huge room, full of people staring intently at you.

Fortunately, Matt Smith isn’t one of us. He’s a Time Lord. This gives him special karaoke powers. It’s true! It must be. That’s surely why Matt had the courage to sing the Doctor Who theme tune in front of a whole crowd of Whovians.

Matt Smith karaoke sesh of the #doctorwho theme

Manga Adaptations of Sherlock Coming to UK & US!

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.

This June, Titan Comics is thrilled to unveil Sherlock: A Study In Pink – a manga comic series adapting the episodes of the smash-hit Hartswood Films TV show starring Sherlock Holmes as played by Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game; Doctor Strange) and Dr John Watson as played by Martin Freeman (The Hobbit; Captain America: Civil War)!

Originally airing in 2010, the TV show is a reimagining of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic, following Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson’s adventures in 21st Century London, written by Doctor Who showrunner, Steven Moffat. It’s run for three series so far, plus a festive special on New Year’s Day, while a fourth series is due to air next year.

Announced at ComicsPRO retailer summit in Portland, Oregon, the manga comic adaptations of Sherlock episodes co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (Cold War; Sleep No More), illustrated by acclaimed manga illustrator Jay. They will be translated into English for the first time and published in the US and UK with extended page-counts – perfect for comics and manga audiences alike!

The comic series will feature all new art and covers by a host of top comics talent including fan favorite artist Alice X. Zhang, who has covered all the ongoing Doctor Who Titan titles; Peter Capaldi also commissioned her to create a piece of art for the Doctor Who Series 9 steelbook, out next month from Amazon.

The first story, Sherlock: A Study In Pink #1 hits stores in June 2016 and will also be available on digital devices.

The post Manga Adaptations of Sherlock Coming to UK & US! appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

How I Got Chucked Off 2 Doctor Who Facebook Groups In Just Over A Week

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.

For as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to chat about Doctor Who on Facebook.

The internet used to be so uncomplicated. It was the domain of the educated and the tech-savvy: merely being able to use it was, in some respects, an initiation ritual. Over twenty years on and the playing field has levelled, but we’ve paid the price in terms of the sorts of people who hang out here, many of whom display about as much discernible intelligence as your average Jeremy Kyle guest. Intelligence is only a part of it, of course. There are also the malicious, the malingering, the master manipulators of media (Britain First, I’m looking at you). Put another way, there are some horrible, horrible people out there, just as there are in the real world.

But everyone is on Facebook. And Facebook is a curious beast, in some respects reflecting the best and worst of us. It has the power to do tremendous good and wreak untold damage. It promotes important causes and helps find missing children. It also spreads unfounded rumours and facilitates witch hunts. Over the years I’ve actually had some scintillating debates. I have also spent more hours than I care to measure deciphering ill-conceived text speak apparently written by people who didn’t realise that the evolutionary ladder was in fact a ladder, and mistook it for a chair. There is only one place to go for conversation that is more inane than Facebook, and that is YouTube.

Still, a system is only as good or bad as the people who use it. A friend of mine once told me that Facebook was “full of people seeking self-gratification through likes”. I argued (and still do) that this was the way society had worked for years – that it was the coolest trainers, the best clothes, the right computer that gave you cause to boast in the playground. Facebook didn’t change who we are. Facebook – its accessibility, its ethos of unmoderated laissez-faire, its in-built narcissism – gave us the means to transform the internet so it reflected who we were all along.

Into this new world I’ve plunged, for better or worse. Now: there are right and wrong ways to engage with people. I know this, and after years of practice it was something I’d assumed I’d mastered. It’s therefore disconcerting to discover yourself cast adrift by moderators not once but twice, for no practical reasons that you can fathom. But here’s the curious thing: in both cases, I got kicked out of Doctor Who groups. Twice, in the space of just over a week. What remains of my journalistic integrity is enough for me to avoid naming them publicly, although I welcome speculation and guesswork, which I will of course neither confirm nor deny.

The first group had me as a member for a fortnight before ejecting me for something that was (I can’t give you details, but trust me) utterly trivial. The second group I was in for about two and a half minutes. In companion terms, this makes me Adam Mitchell. That’s a quietly upsetting thought. I don’t even have Bruno Langley’s admittedly impressive torso. I don’t want to turn this into one of those whiny self-examination pieces, but what had gone wrong? Was I being unreasonable? Or was it that Doctor Who groups attract admin staff who have a tendency to be utter t***pots?

After some reflection, and not a little research on my part, I’ve worked out that it’s the latter. I’m still trying to fathom out the reasons. Perhaps it’s a fan thing. The facilitation of such groups requires in many ways a detailed knowledge of the source material in order to maintain some semblance of order. Shouldn’t it follow that in many cases the people in charge are unable to tell when fandom stops and objective moderation begins? I’ve long maintained that it’s dangerous to allow the fans to write Who (such a state of affairs is how we wound up with the train wreck that is Doomsday). Why should the same not apply?

Anyway, you don’t need me to give you a list of ins and outs of respectable internet behaviour. But I have prepared a brief list of things that will, in a considerable number of Who-themed Facebook groups, probably get you banned.

Criticise a positive review. This applies particularly to NuWho, which is sacred territory and must constantly be bombarded with sycophantic adulation – the word ‘genius’ is advised, but in the absence of that, anything along the lines of “OMG AMAZEBALLS I AM LITERALLY CRYING MY EYES OUT” will do nicely. Staying positive is an absolute must, because (and I have actually been told this) the BBC top brass read every single one of these pages regularly and use our comments to hire, fire, and even commission new series, so it’s important to be responsible. But it also works for Classic Who. I don’t care that it’s The Twin Dilemma; we don’t need that sort of Baker-bashing naysaying around here, thank you very much.
Criticise a negative review. Because no one likes it when you tell them they’ll never get anywhere if they watch every 1980s episode through blinkers.
Call out the moderators for unreasonable behaviour. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing. It is a moderator’s right to be cajoling, obnoxious, ill-mannered and then to remove you from the group with no prior warning and for no apparent reason, before ignoring every subsequent request for an explanation. Roger Delgado may have been universally known as the Master, but on Facebook, Admin is king. Did you not know that, you grovelling insect? Kneel! Kneel before the might of Sutekh. Now, drop to the floor and give me two hundred.
Block the moderators. See above. I know they called you a t***pot, but you’re just going to have to lump it.
Post anything that is at odds with the moderators’ particular tastes. This means anything they do not consider it acceptable to like, particularly if it gets in the way of discussions about Tennant’s coats or animated GIFs of Matt Smith crying. These are fine, but anything else is ripe for a cull – or, to quote one particular member of admin staff, “I won’t allow pre-2005 Who crap on here”.
Post anything that is at odds with the house rules. If this seems like a reasonable request, it is worth noting that some groups do not actually tell you what these rules are; they merely indiscriminately block. Tough. It’s up to you to figure out the group policy. Look, Nyssa could do it. Quit whining and get mind-reading.
Do the moderators’ job for them. To be clear, this means explaining the rationale behind house rules to disgruntled newcomers. You only think you’re helping. This is exclusively admin territory and woe betide you if you explain to someone why a particular (ostensibly discriminatory) rule might be in place – particularly if, in the process of doing it, you actually explain things better than they generally do. Leave it to the moderators, even if the moderators’ response is to refuse to explain anything.
Announce that you think Star Trek is better.

Your own experiences – names and identifying details removed, of course – are welcome. I’m aware (I’m always aware) that I’m probably preaching to the choir. But perhaps if you happen to know any particularly zealous moderators who might want to take a look at their own behaviour, you could point them in the general direction of this article.

I mean, I’d tell them myself, of course. But they’ve blocked me.

The post How I Got Chucked Off 2 Doctor Who Facebook Groups In Just Over A Week appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Out Now: The Labyrinth of Buda Castle

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.

Big Finish’s The Fourth Doctor Adventures continue this month with a lovely trip to Budapest… complete with vampires!

The second release of the range’s fifth series stars Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Lalla Ward as Romana, getting into the Season 17 vibe. But there’s no such thing as vampires, right?

The Doctor and Romana land in Budapest, intent on enjoying another holiday, but shortly after landing they find themselves too late to save the life of a man who has seemingly been attacked by a vampire. As they learn that this is the latest in a series of violent attacks, it becomes clear that they have stumbled onto something that needs investigating.

Aided by a vampire hunter who is searching for Dracula, they look into the nearby Buda caves, currently being used for storage by the military – and find that the soldiers have problems of their own.

Stalked through the tunnels by a monster, and up against an ancient evil, the race is on to escape alive – and foil the dastardly schemes of the maniacal Zoltan Frid.

Actually, with State of Decay in their future, maybe vampires do exist…

Written by Eddie Robson, and directed by Nick Briggs, The Labyrinth of Buda Castle also stars Kate Bracken (Celia Soames), Mark Bonnar (Zoltán Frid), Peter Barrett (Guard-Major Priskin), John Dorney (Ensign Kanta), and Anjella Mackintosh (Anita Kereki).

The Labyrinth of Buda Castle is out now, priced £10.99 for a CD or £8.99 for a downloadable copy, from Big Finish.

The post Out Now: The Labyrinth of Buda Castle appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Get 15% Off Doctor Who Products From Lovarzi

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.

To celebrate the London Super Comic Convention at the ExCel this weekend, Lovarzi are giving us 15% off all their brilliant Doctor Who products.

This includes the Fifth Doctor Jumper, The Pandorica Opens Scarf, and TARDIS Stick Umbrella. The company’s first officially-licensed Doctor Who item was released in 2012: the Fourth Doctor Scarf proved a best-seller and a subsequent Shorter variant, and an 18ft version soon made their way onto shelves – as did a Burgundy Fourth Doctor Scarf!

For the whole weekend, concluding at Midnight on Sunday night, you just have to select your item(s) from the specific range and enter the promo code DOCTORWHO15.

The company are at the London comic con this weekend, and are launching new Star Trek scarves at the show. Go find them, and the lovely folk manning the stall will be only too happy to let you try them on!

The post Get 15% Off Doctor Who Products From Lovarzi appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

One Fan Made His Girlfriend A Doctor Who Guess Who Set

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.

Guess Who has been articulating our right fusiform gyrus’ uncanny knack for remembering faces via the medium of shouting for nigh on thirty years – but it took one man’s generous gift to his other half to make a pun come to life.

That’s right, its Guess (Doctor) Who!

If you’re a fan of classic board games  then you’ll be familiar with Milton Bradley’s face spotting game, where by players had to guess which card/face the other player had drawn by calling out descriptive traits or a lack thereof (male, female, glasses, no glasses…) until the chosen face remained.

Unless you got a faulty board or your brother drew a moustache on his card while you went the bathroom.

Well now, thanks to one fan, we have a Guess Who set featuring all the NuWho Doctors and companions, and many other fan favourites including Strax, John Simm’s Master and Captain Jack Harkness.

It really begs the question: why hasn’t anyone done this before? Well just like the game itself, you’re guess is as good as mine…

You can check out the video below from Karen Kavett to see how the set was made.

The post One Fan Made His Girlfriend A Doctor Who Guess Who Set appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Doctor Who Legacy Launches The Husbands of River Song Level

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.

Tiny Rebel Games have unveiled the latest update for Doctor Who Legacy – and this time, you’ll get to play an entire level devoted to The Husbands of River Song.

The game has been running for three years now and boasts over 2 million installs with as many players who’ve devoted their time to over 100 hours of playable content.

This new level is in response to customer demand and adds new costumes, new allies, new enemies and new backgrounds to the game.

Tiny Rebel Games confirmed the update via their news page.

“Our player community voted and we listened — they loved the Christmas special so much that they wanted us to more fully recreate it in game! Last night, February 16th, we launched a 10 level premium pack. The level is on sale this week for a special reduced price of $2.99 USD.”

The game already includes all 13 Doctors, nearly 200 playable allies and companions, enemies from both modern and classic Doctor Who, and extended universe content from Big Finish, Titan Comics, and George Mann’s Engines of War novel as well as the Bigger on the Inside 8-bit style retro adventure.

The post Doctor Who Legacy Launches The Husbands of River Song Level appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peter Capaldi To Feature In The Complete Shakespeare Walk

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.

Is this a Doctor which I see before me? Peter Capaldi is to feature in a special series of films marking 400 years since William Shakespeare’s death.

The Complete Walk has been organised by Shakespeare’s Globe, the theatre complex based on London’s southbank and the location of the 2007’s The Shakespeare Code. The Walk – held over the spring weekend of 23 – 24 April – will feature a series on short films, shown on 37 screens, along a 2.5-mile route on the Thames embankment between Westminster and Tower Bridge.

Each screen will show a 10-minute film based on one of Shakespeare’s plays, each shot in a location with particular historical and narrative significance to the play. Capaldi will play the general Titus Andronicus in scenes specially shot in Rome.

Other films will include Cleopatra in front of the Pyramids, Shylock in Venice’s Jewish ghetto, Hamlet on the rocks of Elsinore, Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace and Richard II in Westminster Hall – as well as other Doctor Who alumni giving readings, including, amongst others, Lindsay Duncan in All’s Well That Ends Well, filmed in Roussillon; and Meera Syal as Lucetta in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

After appearing in London, the project will be presented in cities across the UK and internationally, after which the films will be accessible on Globe Player.

You can see the full list of actors and their corresponding plays via the Shakespeare’s Globe blog.

The post Peter Capaldi To Feature In The Complete Shakespeare Walk appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

What Does BBC Three’s Online Move Mean for Class & British TV?

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.

So farewell, then, to BBC3 – at least in its former incarnation as a television channel. Monday 15th February saw the channel take its leave of our electronic programme guides as it made the transition to become an ‘online first destination’.

The BBC have been desperate to portray the decision in the most positive light possible, with executives insisting that the move online will free up creative talent to make innovative content without the strictures imposed by the need to fill a nightly schedule on broadcast television. They may have a point, but there’s no getting away from the fact that the BBC were forced to sacrifice the channel by the need to make drastic cuts to their budget.

So what does the BBC3’s regeneration into an online-only presence mean for forthcoming Doctor Who spin-off series Class, due to launch this autumn? And for the future of British television as a whole?

Firstly lets take a quick run through the ways to watch BBC3 content (and there are a few…). All programmes will be available via the BBC iPlayer, as they were before, as well as on the revamped BBC3 website. Handy tabs (Comedy, Drama, Documentaries and so on) will help viewers find things they want to watch as will The Daily Drop, a stream of new content on the site updated, well… daily. As you’d expect for a youth-oriented channel, there’s a big role for social media in all of this, with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and so on all featuring pages with that much-derided new BBC3 logo.

This wealth of different platforms on offer surely encapsulates the biggest risk of taking BBC3 off the air – that programmes, however good they may be, will become lost in the crowded ether of the internet with hidden gems remaining hidden, known only to the enthusiastic techie few who have the time and the know-how to track them down. Importantly however, the BBC has pledged that all new BBC3 programming will get an airing on BBC1 or BBC2 at a later date, so the more old-school viewers will have an opportunity to watch without having to work out how to switch their kid’s tablets on.

Given the need to ensure that new BBC3 programmes get the best possible chance of reaching a significant audience, it’s understandable why the corporation wanted a show attached to Doctor Who to help BBC3 make it through the first year of its new form. Sharing the same universe as one of its most recognisable and established drama hits will help attract the media coverage and launch buzz needed to pull in the viewing public who may otherwise let a new sci-fi drama pass them by.

Details are still scarce as to what we can expect from Class. Publicity from the announcement of the show told us to expect a young-adult vibe and writer Patrick Ness certainly has form in that genre with a number of best-sellers to his name. Whether BBC3’s target audience will feel that a series set in a school sounds a bit young for their tastes will perhaps be a key question, though it’s worth remembering that the channel has a good record when it comes to sci-fi and fantasy shows with In the Flesh and The Fades, both sadly cancelled before their time, and Toby Whithouse’s Being Human which ran for five successful series. The Doctor Who connection will certainly bring a portion of the parent show’s audience and help Class get a hearing but ultimately it will stand or fall on its own merits.

As Digital Spy’s Morgan Jeffery writes, the BBC’s approach to its third channel in its new online form is a ‘decent enough solution’ given the circumstances and the corporation is certainly working hard to convince licence-payers that it hasn’t abandoned younger viewers. It may be that in future years we will look back and see BBC3’s shift online as a significant stepping stone in the journey away from traditional analogue broadcaster towards becoming a more web-savvy, technology-friendly source of content in line with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, and others. It’s hard to escape that nagging concern that political forces continue to be hostile to the BBC, which isn’t always as forceful as it could be in standing up for itself. But that aside, it’s certainly going to be fascinating to see how BBC3’s future (and the BBC’s future as a whole) plays out.

What do you think? Does the move online mean you’re less likely to watch BBC3? What impact will it have on Class? Let us know your views!

The post What Does BBC Three’s Online Move Mean for Class & British TV? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peter Capaldi Sends Fanmail to Comic Artist Rachael Stott

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 big fans of Rachael Stott, the current artist on Titan Comics’ Twelfth Doctor title, but the most we do to show our love of her work is following her on Twitter, and admiring her pages (which sounds odder than intended). Some Whovians go above and beyond to show their admiration.

One such Whovian is Peter Capaldi. Y’know, the actual Twelfth Doctor.

Yep, Capaldi has shown once again what an awesome bloke he really is by sending Stott a card expressing his thanks for her portrayal of his incarnation of the Time Lord – including a painting of the Doctor! Rachael was over the moon and took to Twitter and Tumblr to express her joy and gratitude. And quite right. The painting’s stunning.

I GOT FANMAIL I'M CRYING OMG #doctorwho#PeterCapaldi pic.twitter.com/9LCLkWhyV5

— Rachael Stott (@RachaelAtWork) February 17, 2016

She told the Metro:

“I’m a really big fan of Doctor Who, especially the Twelfth Doctor – who is my favourite. His incarnation reinvigorated my love of the show… It’s a privilege and a lot of fun to draw Peter’s Doctor every day for work. He has a fabulous look – my favourite being his ‘Student rolling into a lecture at 8am’ plaid trousers, hoodie and t-shirt combo. Plus he has that incredibly expressive face.”

Capaldi also included a signed headshot.

He also sent a headshot that's now on my wall of piccys pic.twitter.com/YaraPR4bdR

— Rachael Stott (@RachaelAtWork) February 17, 2016

Stott continues to work on Titan’s ongoing Twelfth Doctor Year Two series, and says drawing Peter now feels a little surreal.

My job's always been strange but doing this feels slightly stranger today pic.twitter.com/vKtAh8zupA

— Rachael Stott (@RachaelAtWork) February 17, 2016

This is just another example of his dedication and love for the fans. But it’s also worth noting the love Rachael Stott has for the show, spending every day working to bring something beautiful to the fandom.

The post Peter Capaldi Sends Fanmail to Comic Artist Rachael Stott appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.