Bryan Hitch, Series 8 Casting, Retro TV & Weeping Barbies

Drew Boynton 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.

Slip on your anti-grav boots and buckle the chinstrap on your cyber helmet, because this News Blast is gonna be a wild ride!

For this special weekend edition of the Blast, set your Dalek plunger to “stun” and watch for stunning news involving: a spoiler-free look at leaked scripts, an appearance by a popular comedic actor in series 8, classic Doctors in the USA, and scary Barbies that will send you back in time!

TIME TO GET HITCHED

Cumbria Live has a great interview with comics artist Bryan Hitch, who did tons of design work and concept art (“coral” TARDIS interior, anyone?) for Doctor Who when the show returned in 2005. He also drew one of my favorite comic book series of all time, Marvel UK’s Death’s Head, which included an appearance by the Seventh Doctor in issue #8! Mr. Hitch will be making a rare convention appearance at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival on October, 17-19, in Kendal: “It’s the only show I’m going to do. I have stopped doing conventions but I was persuaded, partly because I heard about this festival’s more European vibe.” A great chance to meet a great artist!

EXCUSE ME, YOU SEEM TO BE LEAKING

The Bad Books, Good Times webpage has a quite (!) opinionated piece on recent Doctor Who. The reviewer, matthewjulius, has some colorful ideas to match their colorful language. Suffice it to say, they think that the show has become “more and more sexist” and “a sad male power fantasy”. The reviewer has read the script for the first episode of series 8, Deep Breath, and they seem to like it more than Series 7 (which they were not fond of, especially Clara’s characterization). The first part of matthewjulius’s article can be read without spoilers, but further down their page, there are many spoilers for Deep Breath, so proceed with caution (I sure did)!

 

THOSE WEEPING ANGELS ARE SO DARN CRAFTY!

Put down your Barbie dolls and keep reading! No wait, pick them back up and study them carefully!  So, do they remind you of anything? Weeping Angels, perhaps? The Offbeat Home webpage has some very cool instructions–and quite frankly, some pretty disturbing Barbie photos–on how to turn the famous dolls into those Steven Moffat-created statues of doom. If you are playing with your Barbies and suddenly wake up in the 15th century, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

BUT… DOCTOR WHO‘S NOT FUNNY?

Comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar (The Kumars at No. 42, Notting Hill) will be making an appearance in the series 8 finale, according to the Radio Times. Beware, if you regard casting news as spoiler territory, their article mentions several other names who may also be appearing, in addition to the previously announced Michelle Gomez and Foxes. Mr. Bhaskar, who’s wife Meera Syal coincidentally acted in the series 5 Silurian two-parter, said: “I’m thrilled to have made a small contribution to and now be part of the Doctor Who universe… another dream box ticked!”

CLASSIC WHO IN AMERICA!

It has been announced that Retro TV, a syndicator and broadcaster of “golden age” television programs in the US, will start broadcasting classic Doctor Who on 4 August. The show will run in two-episode blocks every night of the week, starting with An Unearthly Child. As a bonus, there will be two hours of Who on Saturday nights as part of a “Supernatural Saturday”-type block with One Step Beyond and Mystery Science Theater 3000. Since only a relatively few classic episodes (leaning heavily on Tom Baker) are available on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the US, this will be a terrific way for American fans to catch up on all of the classic series!

ZOHRA SEHGAL 1912-2014

Bringing the News Blast to a conclusion on a sad note, the actress Zohra Sehgal has passed away at the age of 102. She appeared in episodes of both 1964′s Marco Polo and 1965′s The Crusade, alongside First Doctor William Hartnell. She acted all of her life, and has many film and television credits to her name, including several Merchant-Ivory productions and even Bend It Like Beckham. Zohra Sehgal died in Delhi on Thursday 10 July. She will be missed.

That’s it for the News Blast–have a great weekend Kasterborites!

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