Christian Cawley's Blog, page 93

Book Yourself On the Doctor Who Filming Location Tour This Summer

Josh Maxton 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.

Ever wanted to walk where the Doctor walked? To see the sights he’s seen?

Well, while we all would love to go sauntering around the universe in a raggedy old TARDIS… We can’t, sadly.

But, the Doctor Who Experience is offering something similar. And, I promise, sauntering is involved. More tickets are being released for their ever popular Walking Tours. These special tours give visitors to the Experience the chance to, indeed, stand where the Doctor has stood. Fans get the chance to see where some of the chapters of the amazing legacy we know and love – Doctor Who – were made.

Interested?

Tickets will be released on Wednesday 8th of July for Walking Tours which will run between Saturday 18th July – Sunday 30th August.

Thanks for stopping by the castles of Kasterborous!

Now go!

The post Book Yourself On the Doctor Who Filming Location Tour This Summer appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield Volume 2 – The Triumph of Sutekh

Chris Swanson 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.

Pyramids of Mars is one of the most well-remembered, frequently-watched episodes of the original Doctor Who. Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen are both at the top of their games, and seldom work better as characters or display better chemistry than they did with that story. Oddly, it was one that was never followed-up on in the series; neither on TV nor in audio form. At least not until now.

Here we have a set of four connected stories chronicling the return of Sutekh, and the efforts of the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield to put a stop to him. It’s something of a mixed bag, and though not bad at any point, it does drag a bit in parts. Let’s have a closer look.

1) The Pyramid of Sutekh by Guy Adams

Professor Bernice Summerfield, archaeologist and adventurer, has discovered a Pyramid on Mars. Inside she finds her old friend the Doctor is fighting a battle with the Osiran God Sutekh. One he is losing.

2) The Vaults of Osiris by Justin Richards

Egypt in 2015 is an unsettled place. The trade in stolen antiquities is a murky one, and it’s about to get a whole lot worse, as an ancient and terrible force enters the market.

3) The Eye of Horus by James Goss

Ancient Egypt is enjoying a golden age – peace, prosperity and a powerful Pharaoh. But something is moving through the sands. A forgotten god requests an invite to the feast.

4) The Tears of Isis by Una McCormack

Russell Courtland prophesied the world would end on Tuesday. No-one was more surprised than he was when it did.

Written By: Guy Adams, Justin Richards, James Goss, Una McCormack

Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

Lisa Bowerman (Professor Bernice Summerfield), Sylvester McCoy (the Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Gabriel Woolf (Sutekh the Destroyer), Diveen Henry (Alozza), Nicholas Briggs (Vasha), Sakuntala Ramanee (Hatshepsut), Matthew J Morgan (Tutmosis), Dan Bottomley (Kamos), Matthew Bates (Courtland), Rachel Atkins (Susannah), Naomi McDonald (Alyx), Guy Adams (Cultist)

Producer and Script Editor James Goss

Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

The first story, The Pyramid of Sutekh, has Bernice stuck in a tomb on Mars, with the Doctor unable to help her as she navigates a maze with a robot that’s using the voice of her former husband. It’s a bit of an odd tale, and not as strong as it could be; at least in part because the Doctor doesn’t do much and Ace doesn’t pop up until the very end. Plus the use of Jason Kane was a little odd, though it worked for the most part.

In The Vaults of Osiris, we have Ace and Benny on Earth trying to track down the Eye of Horus. They encounter a character who should have been voiced by Sydney Greenstreet (see YouTube, youngsters), and deal with all sorts of excitement with guns and chases and boats and stuff. It’s an okay story, but I can’t help but think it was a little unfocused and felt like it was kind of all over the place.

The Eye of Horus was the most entertaining. The Doctor… more or less… and Bernice in ancient Egypt. This installment has a very good guest cast, and just enough oddness to keep the story going, particularly with the Doctor building a bunch of obelisks and having memory issues. Also the tension between the Queen (or is it King?) and her son was really wonderfully handled, with some great acting from the guest cast. It was the best of the three, and I very much liked it.

The finale, The Tears of Isis, was also gripping, and a close second to being the best. Basically… Sutekh wins. The world is destroyed. How this happens and how it gets resolved is not something I’d dream of revealing here, but it was extremely satisfying and done without any timey-wimey nonsense. Moffat take note.

Basically… Sutekh wins. The world is destroyed.

The cast were all their usual wonderful selves, and particular attention needs to go to Gabriel Woolf, who took a minor role from 40 years ago and brought amazing new life to it. Sutekh’s gift of acting, perhaps. It’s also worth noting that unlike Big Finish’s recently-released, heavily-hyped return of Omega, in this case Woolf played a very large role and was “on screen” in all the stories.

Overall this is a very well produced, thoroughly enjoyable set of stories, that leaves the listener satisfied. I do hope Big Finish continues with the New Adventures line, because the first two volumes have been just fantastic. If you haven’t already, you can order your copy of The Triumph of Sutekh from Big Finish on CD (£30) and digital download (£25).

 

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Doctor Who: Legacy Teases Version 3

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.

We’ve just heard the exciting news that the teams behind the award-winning Doctor Who: Legacy mobile game have two massive treats in store for Whovians! Not only is  new version 3.0 of the game launching in mid August, it will be followed by weekly live content updates alongside Doctor Who Series 9 on TV!

The “Sonic Adventures” story arc is introduced in version 3.0, led by the First Doctor and which includes beloved characters Donna Noble, Mickey Smith, River Song, and the introduction of the Third Doctor’s companion, Jo Grant. This finds players collecting many of the sonic devices and gadgets from across Doctor Who‘s history.

Another major feature of 3.0 is the addition of “Doctor Who: Legacy Kids”, a special dedicated area for the youngest Doctor Who fans, inspired by the popular “Anna’s Playground” levels which we created for the child of one of our fans.

As with 2014’s Series 8, the team at Tiny Rebel Games is working closely with the BBC Doctor Who brand team and BBC Worldwide to prepare for the new series with plans to release allies, costumes, enemies and levels based around the upcoming series on the same weekend as the corresponding new episode airs.

Unsurprisingly, Doctor Who: Legacy is played by nearly 2 million Whovians, and now has over 80 hours of playable content. It includes all 13 Doctors, over 140 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.

This is an update not to be missed! We’ll have more about it when Doctor Who: Legacy v3.0 launches next month…

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You Are The New Showrunner: How Would YOU Change Doctor Who?

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.

“‘Tis nature’s law to change”, as John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester wisely said. Writing in the seventeenth century he wasn’t talking about DoctorWho but change is, of course, the one constant in the programme. Eventually, everyone who works on the show will move on: actors, writers, technicians, showrunners…

Whilst there’s no sign of Steven Moffat moving on just yet, what with Series 9 due to hit the screen in a couple of months and the recent news that he’d signed up for a further series, the day will inevitably come when he decides it’s time to do something else. We’ve discussed possible replacements in some depth here at Kasterborous in our ‘Man Who Would Be King’ series but today it’s all about you. What would you do if, unlikely as it may sound, the BBC chose to put you in charge of your favourite show?

Previous changes of leadership in the Doctor Who production team have led to significant new directions being pursued in the tone and style of the programme. Think of Jon Pertwee’s debut in Spearhead From Space, which, along with colour filming being used for the first time, established the show’s new, earth-bound setting and slicker feel reminiscent of the classic ITC shows of the previous decade, once Barry Letts’ and Terrance Dicks’ influence was felt.

Philip Hinchcliffe took over as producer with a clear plan to take the Doctor away from UNIT and back into space. The stories he and script editor Robert Holmes oversaw, influenced in many cases by literary and cinematic classics, have endured as some of the very best in the programme’s long life. Later still John Nathan-Turner’s era burst into life with a new title sequence, a new colour palette for the Doctor’s costume and an emphasis on more serious story-telling, ditching the comic whimsy of the Williams/Adams period.

Moffat himself has spoken of the need for such a long-running programme to constantly re-invent itself and has overseen not one but two significant changes of tone and style. Matt Smith’s debut in The Eleventh Hour heralded what some have described as a ‘fairy tale’ feel for the next few years, with the mysteries of the girl who waited and later the impossible girl (not to mention River Song) serving as enduring arcs which would span multiple seasons. Just when he felt things were getting a little too cosy he went and shook things up again, delivering a new acerbic incarnation of the Doctor who would no more eat fish fingers and custard than he’d wear question marks on his jumper. This most recent change is still being played out, with hints in the build-up to Series 9 that the grumpiness will be toned down, allowing the Doctor to rediscover his sense of fun.

So what do you think? How would Doctor Who be different if it was your name on the credits? New writers? New monsters? Old monsters? More multi-episode stories? Series-spanning arcs? Bring back the Ergon? Give us your views below! Be as bold as you like – but remember, this is about you and the future, not any perceived mistakes of the past…

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NuWho 10th Anniversary: What Is Your Most Underrated Specials Story?

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 year, Doctor Who has been back on our screen ten whole years. It feels like yesterday that the TARDIS materialised once more; suitably, it also feels like forever.

So join us as we celebrate a decade with the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors. Let’s find out which serials are our favourites, and shine a light on the underrated ones too. Watch us run.

And then vote on your favourites. At the end of the year, we’ll find out which serials showcase our beloved show at the height of its game.

Donna became the most important woman in the universe – and then it was all snatched away from her, and from us. But at least we can relive her adventures whenever we want. You know our favourites of the 2008/9 Specials, but what’s the most underrated serial…?

Tony Jones: Planet of the Dead

It can’t be argued that 2009 was a funny year for Doctor Who and produced some intriguing and popular episodes that perhaps produced a reaction of So What? For me it is Planet of the Dead we should turn to when we want to look at how 2009 might have been had we been treated to a full season of stories rather than a few specials.

Yes, Planet of the Dead gives us a clue as to the final end of the Tenth Doctor, with the mysterious clue of he will knock four times and its link to David Tennant’s final scenes prior to regeneration. And yes, Planet of the Dead is interesting, as in some ways, it is a Gareth Roberts’s book The Highest Science brought to screen though as he explains in the interviews on the Big Finish audio for the adaption of the latter, the remnants of his original story are actually few.

I think it’s interesting to imagine what could, or should have happened had Planet of the Dead been a two-part introduction to a new series. Most obvious is Michelle Ryan’s companion in all but fact, Lady Christina de Souza. The on-screen chemistry between the characters was strong, and in some ways she could even be seen as an update of the Andrew Cartmel character of Raine Creevy who would have appeared with the Seventh Doctor had the show not taken a brief break for a few years.

I’d also argue (though less obvious at the time) we have another new companion in this story as well. Take the UNIT scientist Malcolm Taylor played by Lee Evans. Is this not just the fan favourite Osgood as played by Ingrid Oliver? It’s not a big leap to change gender and there we have two new companions for the Doctor. We can imagine the arc now: Osgood follows the Doctor around puppy-like for a few episodes but as his behaviour grows more reckless, she rejects him, betrays him, then finally accepts him as a person not as someone to worship. Meanwhile Lady Christina flirts outrageously, upsets River Song, turns out to be working for the Master and in the end gives her life to save the day.

That, to me, is the story of Planet of the Dead – the doorway to the series we never had.

Jeremy Remy: Planet of the Dead

If I’m honest, I had a hard time with the 2009 Specials. They failed to maintain a connection between plots, relied a bit too much on gimmicks, and had too many one-time companions for my taste. In the end, the interim season felt like a dragged out and unfortunate way to conclude the Tenth Doctor era, and Planet of the Dead may have the most marks against it: it was finished at the last minute (just five days before airing), the CGI is somehow both overdone and underdeveloped, most of the characters are one-dimensional, the acting is over-the-top, and then there’s the condemnable choice to film on location in Dubai.

All this said, I have to admit there are virtues to be found in Planet of the Dead. David Tennant – fresh off his stint as Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company – plays the Doctor with a determination and dedication as fresh as some of his earliest episodes. Arguably the most outrageous character, Malcom, is a predecessor to Osgood, who would later help shift the presentation of UNIT from a punchline back to a professional organization with the Doctor more employee than legend. The episode itself is a clear mark of success as the 200th Doctor Who story. It is also the first episode to be filmed in high definition, changing the way all future episodes of the show have been filmed and allowing for development of Doctor Who on Blu-ray and the possibility of presenting the 50th anniversary in cinemas. And, while it may not live up to the standards we expect from Doctor Who today, it was nominated for a 2010 Hugo Award.

In the end, the episode has its weaknesses, but it succeeds in introducing a new era of Doctor Who.

Drew Boynton: Planet of the Dead

You can never go wrong with a Doctor Who story that has either the word “Planet” or “Dead” in the title.  Well, OK… maybe you can. But 2009’s special of the day, Planet of the Dead, is full of cool stuff:  Michelle Ryan, coming off a failed shot at big-time USA stardom in the remake of Bionic Woman, is cool and calculating as a thief who ends of being the Doctor’s companion for a few hours on a desert planet. Comedian Lee Evans is so completely uncool that he’s almost cool as a UNIT scientist who is sort of an over-the-top cheesy forerunner of Osgood. There are a couple of pretty cool-looking housefly-inspired aliens, although most of the budget must have went to their heads (caretaker coveralls, guys? Sheesh).

Planet of the Dead gets my “Most Underrated” vote, though, because of its setting. The episode was famously filmed in the desert of Dubai, and the sandy setting is one of Doctor Who‘s best. The juxtaposition of having a big red London bus sitting smack-dab in the middle of this bright yellow landscape is a really cool idea that must have come to Russell T. Davies after a long night of too much coffee and a friend’s vacation slideshow.

Honestly, in the end, Planet of the Dead doesn’t really come together, but it is a bold and silly try at doing something cool and different, which makes it worthy of an “Underrated” watch on DVD.

Philip Bates: The Next Doctor

Even I’m surprised I’ve gone for The Next Doctor! My money was on Planet of the Dead, seen as it features beautiful scenery, a mostly-fine plot, Tritovores, and truly wonderful direction.

But The Next Doctor is surprisingly good on a rewatch. Not great – certainly not. But I’ve always a soft spot for Christmas specials. And Cybermen! I love the Cybermen. That’s really the problem with The Next Doctor: one of the Doctor’s best-known and much-loved enemies are undermined completely by the ‘stronger will’ of a pitiful human. And then they blew up because Ms. Hartigan screamed! How disappointing.

But we’re also given breathtaking scenes of the Cybermen’s march through a snowy graveyard, while a vision in red waits over a coffin. It’s a surprise that director, Andy Goddard has never been invited back – yet – but his sole contribution so far looks amazing. He does a particularly great job at livening up the typically-dour Victorian setting. Infostamps displaying the Doctor’s many faces help this, mind. The factory sets towards the end are fairly uninspiring, but hey, you can’t have it all.

And no, I’m not a huge fan of the so-called CyberKing (or the Shades for that matter), but only because people would definitely remember a great big dreadnaught hulking over London. Fortunately, Steven Moffat cleared up this omission in Flesh and Stone, and so cleverly too. Nonetheless, the shots of the Doctor sending it to disintegrate in the Time Vortex are fantastic.

The heart, of course, is David Morrissey, who displays the breathless excitement and heartbreaking loss of both being the Doctor and Jackson Lake perfectly. It’s a mystery seemingly over within half an hour, but his performance sticks in the mind, as do his interactions with the ever-excellent David Tennant. The next Doctor, as we now know, was fortunately the exceptional Matt Smith, but I wouldn’t actually mind if Morrissey still turned out to be a future face of the Time Lord. For that one brief Christmas in 2008, he did superbly.

Katie Gribble: Planet of the Dead

Out of the Specials, Planet of the Dead has never reached the top of any polls for viewer favourite. However, there is a particular group of people who are not recognised enough, mainly because their narrative is secondary to the main action with the Doctor and the Lady Christina. This group is the supporting cast. Namely the characters on the bus who are dragged into the Doctor Who universe, whether they wanted it or not. Lou and Carmen, Nathan, Barclay, and Angela are all taken on a journey to a far flung world, when all they really want to do is get home. They are the epitome of a very human trait; the weary travellers wanting to go home. The scene which shows this beautifully begins when Christina makes everybody on the bus introduce themselves.

You have Angela going home to Mike and Suzanne. Barclay going to see poor Tina. Nathan who lost his job last week and was staying in to watch television. Then Louis and Carmen off home for Lou to cook chops for dinner. And of course, Christina who is going so very far away.

What is so wonderful about this scene, these characters and what Doctor Who can do is highlight how the everyday, how the normal human way of life can be so extraordinary.

James Lomond: Planet of the Dead

Planet of the Dead wasn’t great, but it had so much that was pitch-perfect Doctor Who it seems strange that it hasn’t got a better reputation. That could be due to a number of things – a slightly loose plot and a few over-camp or overacted performances spring to mind. But the idea of a group of people thrown together by chance, stuck on the far side of an otherworldly portal with mystery and danger lurking in an alien landscape while UNIT (hurrah!) frets back on Earth is a perfect Pertwee set-up.

There are some wonderful images and conceits – a skeleton emerging from nowhere as the driver makes a break for it, and the glorious sight of a red London bus taking to the air and transporting its passengers through a worm hole and even the stingray-like creatures that create such space-time anomalies by flying around a planet at extreme speeds en mass to seek out another planet to drain is a brilliant idea for a species and its behaviour. This was the first NuWho to appear in HD and good use was made of the location work in Dubai. My main gripe, other than the occasional CBBC flavour, was that now we’ve had a flying London bus in this special, we’re unlikely to ever see the Transtemporal Adventuress, Iris Wildthyme, appear in her TARDIS disguised as the number 22 to Putney Common. While she is both a deliberate parody of the Doctor on the part of her creator and on the part of the character herself, there’s something a bit fantastic about flying buses and I can’t blame NuWho for pilfering the idea.

So pity poor Planet of the Dead. It’s got a lot that misses the mark but a lot more to love. Just imagine it with the Third Doctor and Jo…

Alex Skerratt: Planet of the Dead

I feel a bit sorry for Planet of the Dead. It’s no masterpiece, but it has a lot going for it. The location work in Dubai is stunning, and Lee Evans gives a wonderfully comedic performance as Malcolm Taylor, UNIT’s science man! Moreover, there are some truly sinister elements, such as the sudden, almost throwaway death of the bus driver, and the gross Tritovores, and the eerie prophecies of the chops n’ gravy lady. Then there’s the cliffhanger… Well, if you can call it a cliffhanger. “He will knock four times…” Such an intriguing, and now iconic, line… Yes, this story is no stinker. 6 Malcolms from me!

Well, that was nearly unanimous! That’s what we think. Now it’s your turn! Vote below for the most underrated serial of these four storylines, and we’ll find out the overall winner later this year…

Take Our Poll

The post NuWho 10th Anniversary: What Is Your Most Underrated Specials Story? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

A New Story Begins In Titan’s Twelfth Doctor #09! [PREVIEW]

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 current creative team on Titan Comics’ Twelfth Doctor title continue their epic run with a brand new storyline.

Robbie Morrison (who’s been moonlighting on The Tenth Doctor series) and Brian Williamson (Torchwood) take Peter Capaldi’s Time Lord and Jenna Coleman’s Clara Oswald to Las Vegas…

The Doctor and Clara are forced to ally with gangsters on the Vegas strip to combat an even more terrifying foe! 

Will the Doctor’s morals prove as alien as the unearthly invaders – or can he triumph without compromise… in ‘GANGLAND’?

And you might just recognise a few faces too… Here’s a glimpse inside:

With two great covers available, The Twelfth Doctor #9 is out now, priced $3.99, at all good comic book stores.

The post A New Story Begins In Titan’s Twelfth Doctor #09! [PREVIEW] appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Peter Capaldi Teases Doctor Who Series 9!

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.

A particularly teasing interview with Peter Capaldi has just hit the ‘net, with slight hints at what’s to come in Series 9.

Capaldi initially spoke about the nerves of addressing 7,000 people at the San Diego Comic Con – revealing that he’d cosplay as a Menoptera from The Web Planet! – but went on to say that spirit of adventure seen when riding the sleigh in Last Christmas continues:

“He’s throwing himself into life with a newfound hunger for adventure. He’s in pursuit of joy and grabbing every thrill that he can along the way. But I sense him running from something, that even he does not yet understand.”

And what can he tell us about the opening two-parter, The Magician’s Apprentice/ The Witch’s Familiar?

“It places the Doctor in a conflict that is central to his being, as well as containing some subtle tributes to the ’60s, and truly wonderful guest performances.”

He adds that, “in the hands of Michelle Gomez, Missy is more magnificently bad than ever before,” and hints at some scary monsters throughout the 12-episode run:

“There is an epic sweep to this season and I think the villains and monsters reflect that. Great new ones, brilliant old ones, and some very scary creatures looming in stories with real emotional ambition.”

All this and our first proper photo of Series 9, which you can see right at the top! Capaldi describes this image:

“The photo shows the Doctor about to make a mistake that has cataclysmic repercussions.”

But of course, it’s not all about the opener. The Twelfth Doctor talks about guest actress, Maisie Williams, who many will know from Game of Thrones:

“As an 18-year-old, she has taught me many new words and expressions. All I’ll say about her character is she shifts in cosmic ways.”

And he’s as enthusiastic as ever about his companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna Coleman:

“[The Doctor and Clara have] suddenly realized that they are the most fortunate people in all of time and space and are hellbent on adventure. Jenna continutes to deliver a beautifully nuanced, complex, and funny performance that marks her out as one of the best companions ever.”

Jenna has been a part of Doctor Who since May 2012 when she filmed Hide (2013), but first appeared on-screen later that year as Oswin in Asylum of the Daleks. So does Peter think this series will be her last?

“I hope not.”

Check out the full interview over at Entertainment Weekly.

Not long now, folks. Not. Long. Now.

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The Whoodie: Novelty or Nuisance?

Richard Forbes 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.

Last Christmas certainly raised more than its fair share of eyebrows… No, not because of the story’s topsy-turvy twists and turns, and it most certainly wasn’t Nick Frost’s sarcastic, ‘cool’ Santa Claus that had the laundry mats buzzing with gossip – it’s time to starting living in the real world, sweetheart: the real shocker of last year’s annual Slade Fundraiser was the Doctor’s, dare I say it, rather unusual choice of clothing. The ‘Whoodie’, as it’s come to be known as in some hip circles, is not much more than a simple dark hoodie but it’s who is wearing it that is causing the controversy. For a man such as the Doctor, whose eminent sense of fashion once led him to embrace nothing short of a rainbow frock, this new development has some Whovians wondering if the last of the Time Lords has finally gone barmy.

A hoodie? And not even a single question mark on it!? Oh the humanity.

In all serious, there have been many who have felt the Whoodie is a betrayal of the initial vision for the Twelfth Doctor’s costume that was presented to fans – the ‘no frills, no scarfs, no messing, just 100% rebel Time Lord,’ tagline captured the ‘minimalism’ of the Twelfth Doctor’s design – its straight lines, buttoned shirt, black and white (with the slight indulgence of red inside). Call it the Magician look, the David Bowie look, the Mod look, the Punk look, the no nonsense look: it seems as though everyone saw something different in the stark, plain concept that Deep Breath introduced. For those attached to the initial minimalism though, the various additions that have been added to the Twelfth Doctor’s outfit in Series 8, and Series 9 especially, appear to have muddled that vision – holey jumpers, plaid trousers, t-shirts and, the last straw: a hoodie.

If given their way, the minimalist would see the Time Lord’s costume stripped of its idiosyncrasies, kept simple and deconstructed with only those costume elements that are necessary – no sweater vests or floppy hats.

(Left: The Doctor’s earlier minimalist look as last seen in Death in Heaven. Right: the Doctor’s controversial new digs from Series 9 filming, including the infamous Whoodie.)

One could question just how ‘rebel’ and ‘tough’ minimalism really is. I mean, frills don’t seem to be the sole article of clothing that might disqualify a Crombie frock with a buttoned collar from the ‘tough guy fashion awards’ (presumably held in Glasgow), nor do I think the Doctor, Time Lord Rebel or not, has ever attempted to look the part of a cold, hard-nosed cutthroat – some lies are too big, even for the Doctor, after all. Overall, while I understand the criticism that the new look planned for Series 9 has received, I don’t share the same opposition – in fact, I’m looking forward to the new vision that Ray Holman, returning costume designer, will bring to the Doctor’s look for Series 9. We last saw Holman’s work in Doctor Who with Series 5 when he designed the Eleventh Doctor’s original tweed ‘boffin’ look – a personal favourite of mine – and I’m sure he’ll wow us once more with eye-catching new designs.

But I’ll admit, just as I look forward to Ray Holman’s return, I’m also looking forward to seeing the Whoodie return – and here’s my case for why you too should welcome a little Whoodie in your life:

1) Subverting Your Expectations

Part of why I love that the Doctor wears a hoodie now is because the hoodie in our society is normally a stigmatised article of clothing – an association with poverty, gang crime, race and urban violence – which has led the hoodie to be seen in a way that has ‘justified’ distrust of its wearers, as far as some are concerned. I think society has come to expect, when it sits down to watch television, for the characters wearing hoodies to fit the profiles they assume of them; the hoodies are to be worn by the ‘bad guys’, the junkies – low brow and untrustworthy – not characters ‘like the Doctor’.

The Whoodie is thus a serious subversion of what some might expect from a hoodie – its wearer is heroic, intelligent and compassionate. For a show that is about identity (Doctor ‘Who’) if there ever was an overarching theme, it’s important, I think, that the Doctor keep us on our toes and challenge us to not judge him pre-emptively. The Doctor really shouldn’t ever be ‘just’ as we expect him to be, there’s something just a bit too cozy about a constant return to Edwardian fashion. We expect eccentricity from frocks and scarves, civility from knitted jumpers, and intelligence from glasses, but the Doctor rarely fits our expectations – he wasn’t raised with the same social understanding – he picks and chooses from human fashion from the full span of time and space like a neophyte would… A child, even – ‘ooh, a Fez!’; ‘ooh, a big scarf!'; ‘ooh, a hoodie!’ – without much of a conscious understanding of what each article of clothing might say about him, but when he does there is much more there than what meets the eye…

2) Expressing Yourself

Perhaps the starkest of costume designs for the Doctor was the Ninth Doctor’s leather jacket with a simple, plain jumper – it played a role in the larger deconstruction of the Doctor as a character which the revival carried out with Christopher Eccleston as the face of this unraveling. Just as Russell T Davies instructed the show’s other writers to scrap the ‘indubitably’ and write the Doctor’s voice as just a bloke in the pub who is smarter than he looks, the Doctor’s fashion also was plainer and allowed Eccelston’s performance and the genius of the Doctor to shine through the costume, instead of being screamed at audiences with fashion that was already associated with eccentricity or intelligence.

The hoodie is to Doctor Who now, what the leather jacket was to us in the Nineties and onward. It’s the contemporary urban apparel for a Doctor who strikes me as quintessentially urban – hard-nosed, thick-skinned and markedly Glaswegian – Capaldi’s Doctor expresses himself with his outfits to communicate that (like, say, Jon Pertwee did) he is concerned about his appearance and puts a great deal of effort in making sure that what he wears is well put together (nothing the Twelfth Doctor wears is short of £85), but that there is a hardness there, a steeliness – the casual genius who has lived through hardship and rejected the principles and privileges that his home had afforded him.

While the Twelfth Doctor’s frock reminds us the Doctor is most certainly the Edwardian ideal, eccentric and far removed from his homeland’s social values, his Whoodie reminds us the Doctor is most certainly not the Edwardian ideal. Deep Breath shows us just how much he secretly cares what others think of him and how much it hurts him to not be accepted, and In the Forest of the Night reveals just how much his departure from Gallifrey has left him yearning for a home of his own. Every great character is the sum of its contradictions and the Doctor is no exception. His outfit, a seemingly contradictory patchwork of anachronistic fashion, helps sum up the man himself.

3) Adding Some Personality

John Nathan-Turner famously suggested the addition of a stick of celery to the Fifth Doctor’s costume to add a bit of idiosyncrasy to what was otherwise a rather ‘designed’ affair. In some senses, I think the Whoodie works for the Twelfth Doctor’s outfit as the celery did for the Fifth Doctor. Admittedly, I was never totally convinced by the initial minimalist vision we saw in Deep Breath, its straight lines and navy and white look seemed just a tad dull for the Doctor of all people. Real people rarely dress as shop dummies do because, not only are our outfits not designed each morning by professionals, but we cling to little articles of clothing which clash with what we’re wearing that day, but have some personal significance to us – for example, I won’t be caught dead without a pair of sneakers on, just as a friend of mine rarely departs from his favorite baseball cap.

The Whoodie, in that sense, feels more personable than designed. Something we wear, not to look good per se, but because we don’t feel quite like ourselves without it. Clothing with a story behind it.

If this has left you itching to get your hands on your own Whoodie, Steve Ricks, bespoke tailor and devoted Whovian, suggested on his blog that a good place to start (and finish) your search for an accurate Whoodie would be All Saint’s Mode Merino Zip Hoody, priced at £88.00, although the Fashion Neanderthal in me says any black hoodie might do (blasphemous, I know). Regardless, the Whoodie will make its triumphant return to our screens with the premiere, The Magician’s Apprentice – but it also, interestingly enough, looks set to be a constant for Series 9 (barring Episode 10) – with the Whoodie reappearing in some shape or form in shooting pics from The Girl Who Died, The Woman Who Lived and the two other two-parter episodes so far. Could this be the Year of the Whoodie? I know one thing for sure: you wouldn’t hear any complaints from me.

The post The Whoodie: Novelty or Nuisance? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

This September: A Day In The Life of Sophie Aldred

David Power 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 Penarth Pier Pavilion in South Wales (recognisable to eagle-eyed viewers as the pier in which Andrea Yates fell to her untimely death in the 2007 Sarah Jane Adventures episode Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, and the pier in which Tommy Brockless and Toshiko Sato discussed old times in the Torchwood episode, 2008’s The Last Man) will be hosting it’s tenth Doctor Who charity event, A Day in the Life of Sophie Aldred on the 13th September.

Previously attracting Doctor Who favourites such as Louise Jameson (Leela) and Simon Fisher-Becker (Dorium), this year’s special guest Sophie is known for her role as Seventh Doctor companion Dorothy McShane, more commonly known as Ace. Beginning at 11:30am and finishing at 4pm, fans are promised a jam packed, yet still relaxed, day including interviews, a Q&A session with the attendees, autographs, and a charity raffle and dealer’s table, and perhaps even a surprise or two.

And hey, as a nice bonus there are no charges for autographs, selfies or photos (although understandably there is a limit of autographs to 3 items per person).

Normally tickets cost £12 for adults and £8 for children/concessions, but since attendance is limited to 70 people, they’re kindly offering an early bird discount if you book now: £8 for adults and £5 for children/concessions. Since autographs normally cost at least £10, this is a major saving – plus, of course, you get to spend a few hours listening to Sophie recall her days in the TARDIS. All proceeds will be given to the charity Penarth Arts and Crafts Limited.

The post This September: A Day In The Life of Sophie Aldred appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.

Matt Smith the Only Reason to Catch Terminator Genisys?

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.

Dundun, dun, dundun…dundun, dun, dundun… The Terminator – that old VHS film you sneakily watched behind your parents back turned actual movie franchise you can take the kids to – is back in cinemas, and this time, *squints to the horizon… it’s paradoxical.

Literally bending time to stop you making incredulous noises about how old Arnold Schwartznegger now looks, Terminator Genisys posits a world where Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) – the human protected for Sarah Connor (Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke) – time travels to an alternate time line where, rather than going toe to toe with the original T-800 in a far better movie, he comes face to face with a battle-hardened Sarah Connor and her own T-800 whom she calls ‘papa’.

Sensing things have gone a bit Pete Tong through ‘time memories’ (yep, Kyle Reese is now a Time Lord) our intrepid trio soon learn that the pesky nuclear holocaust has simple been delayed (again) until 2017 – and that someone has done a little bit of tinkering to humanity’s saviour, John Connor (Jason Clarke) – which would have been shocking if it hadn’t been revealed in the trailer…cough…

Now, if that all sounds convoluted, unnecessary and a tad bit rubbish – then you’ll find plenty of critic who agree with that sentiment (except the Daily Mail, who loved it and hilariously praised its ‘Spy-movie treachery’. Tinker, Terminator, Solider, Spy anyone?)

But there is one shining light in all of this, one beacon of hope, one saviour for humanity that isn’t Edward Furlong or Jason Clarke or even passionate lighting enthusiast Christian Bale and that man is… Matt Smith or ‘Matthew Smith’ as the credits to the film call him.

USA Today, who awarded the film one and a half stars out of four, while discussing the performances in the film, had this to say about the former Doctor: “[Emilia]Clarke is caught between Linda Hamilton’s waitress-in-distress Sarah from the first film and the hardcore warrior woman in the second, never really owning the role outright. J.K. Simmons is wasted in a cop role that begs to be larger, and a mysterious character played by Matt Smith (Doctor Who) is arguably the most interesting player in the entire movie but is barely used as well.”

Series T-800 Robot in Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions

That’s right, Matt Smith is the best part of Terminator Genisys and he’s barely in it!

Digital Spy, which weren’t feeling as generous as USA Today and awarded the film one star out of five, didn’t see much from Smith to rise him above the substandard material and instead, well, just felt sorry for him: “…while Matt Smith (now “Matthew Smith” according to the opening credits) must have felt like a raggedy man after yet another timey whimey adventure, albeit in a small part.”

IGN praised Smith for bringing ‘menace to a small but important role’ and Hitflix were equally as kind to Smith albeit with the caveat that the significance of the role is perhaps overplayed: “Wait, did I say significant? I meant he plays a role that is designed to be shocking and amazing and instead just feels like a very silly attempt to keep dragging this damn thing out.”

Ever since he made an appearance as part of the frankly shoddy Entertainment Weekly cover shoot – which made it look as though the cast had won a day pretending to be generic soldiers in a Terminator photoshoot at a mall – Smith has disappeared from all promotions for the film, which has got Radio Times (and us, let’s face it) asking: “Where the hell is Matt Smith?”

Elaborating further, the RT teased: “Smith does indeed play one of most important roles in the film. But at the same time, don’t go in expecting him to be sticking around. His scenes are vital, but few. (Also, fun fact: his American accent has flashes of the Eleventh Doctor. It’s weird.)”

So how significant is this role? Well, many of the reviews have already spoiled it and, if you consider the possibilities, it could really only be one of two options – and no it isn’t that one.  Perhaps, sadly, it may turned out to be more significant for the film than it is for his burgeoning career.

Are you planning on seeing Terminator Genisys? Would you watch the film solely on his appearance? And would you call a remorseless killing machine ‘papa’?

The post Matt Smith the Only Reason to Catch Terminator Genisys? appeared first on Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews.