Watching Doctor Who

So…have you ever wondered about the origins of our beloved show? Well, now you can read all about it. The BBC Archives have released documents from the conceptual beginning of the show. Did you know that The Doctor’s granddaughter Susan was originally a human girl named Biddy? The BBC Science Fiction Report at the time noted that “Inherently, SF ideas are short-winded. The interest invariably lies in the activating idea and not in character drama.” …I expect that they’ve learned differently by now. The Follow Up Report was adamant that they not end up with “Bug-Eyed Monsters” and that the central characters should never be tin-robots.

Check it out for yourself. You’re sure to find something that amuses you. They even offer some photographs to browse through.

John Barrowman at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Birthday

Rumours of a big screen version of Doctor Who continue. Currently, said rumours have David Tennant playing The Doctor and perhaps…Catherine Zeta-Jones as a companion. Anyone get the feeling that a certain Russell T. Davies is messing with the press again?

Speaking of the rumour mill, have you hear the latest “next Doctor” rumour? Do you remember Midshipman Frame? That’s right. The current rumour has Russell Tovey lined up as the 11th Doctor. Hmmm…I don’t know about this one. (The BBC notes that this is RTD’s idea… and it doesn’t seem to be official at this point.)

Have you ever wondered what your Time Lord name might be? Apparently mine would be - Acknalingundewaryerustlerechsamsayqueyer. Don’t worry, you can call me Fred. Get your name here.

Don’t forget! The Torchwood soundtrack CD is coming to the US on 14 October. You can pre-order it now, if you’re of a mind to do so.

Freema Agyeman is commencing work on her part in Law & Order: UK this month. Series one looks to be thirteen episodes long. Looks like Freema’s career is going strong, doesn’t it?

Doctor Who, Russell Tovey, Time Lord, Torchwood, Freema Agyeman

You find a warning label maker online, and this is the label you make.

warning label

The new BBC Doctor Who site for series 4 has launched. It has a whole new look and layout, plus the videos are bigger. Yes indeed. You can actually see them. And speaking of videos, they have an exclusive clip of the upcoming episode, Partners in Crime, up on the site and a whole bunch of trailers.

The new web address for the official site adds /s4/ to the end of the address that we’re used to, by the way, so it’s now http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/. You can still access it from the old address, but this way is a bit more direct. Another fact of note is that folks outside of the UK still can’t access the Comic Maker. At least they have some nice new widescreen wallpapers up. So, what are you waiting for? Go and have a look around. Change your wallpaper. Watch a video. Saturday is the big day.

Anyway, as you no doubt have gathered, the Press launch for Doctor Who series four has already taken place. (That’s where the photo up top came from.) I’ve dug up a video of the press coverage of the launch from BBC News for you all, but let me warn you, it is very spoilery. It has more footage of the first episode than the sneak preview over on the official site does. Watch at your own risk…and enjoy.

Doctor Who

Thank you so much for sticking with me while I’ve been ill, and a big welcome to all of the new folks stopping by. There’s lots to talk about, so let’s get started.

The BBC Doctor Who Site is planning a huge redesign, starting with the stuff for the new series and then working backwards. The new site is planned to launch on Wednesday, 2 April 2008, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Personally, I curious about the “new features” that they are adding.

Paul Whitelaw, who is obviously a fan of Doctor Who, from The Scotsman recently interviewed Russell T. Davies. They discussed Davies’ career, his firm commitment to entertaining the kids who watch Doctor Who, and how to stop smoking. Whitelaw did try to weasel some information about the upcoming series out of Davies, but to no avail. Thanks for trying, Paul.

Digital Spy is reporting that BBC Radio 4 is planning to air a Torchwood one-off story to coincide with the opening of the world’s biggest particle accelerator, located in Switzerland. This is scheduled to occur sometime this summer, and I’m quite curious to see what they’ll come up with. I’ll let you know when I hear more.

Louise Jameson, known to Doctor Who fans as the Fourth Doctor’s companion Leela, has picked up a new job on the BBC’s Scottish soap opera, River City. She will be playing a hairdresser by the name of Viv. Here’s hoping that it’s a long-term engagement, as apparently she’s quite enjoying Glasgow. She’s already enjoying herself more than during her stint on EastEnders.

Gareth David-Lloyd, Torchwood’s Ianto Jones, has his own website! So, if you’re curious about his band, or what he’s been up to, you might pop by and have a look.

Don’t forget! Doctor Who series 4 premieres in the UK at 6:20pm on Saturday, 5 April.

Image Source: The BBC Doctor Who Site

Doctor Who, The Scotsman, Louise Jameson, Gareth David-Lloyd

Today I offer you some shiny things. That’s right, a few fun things to keep you entertained while I’m away. So, without further ado, here you go!

Five Fun Things I Found While Surfing the ‘Net:

* Torchsticks - Torchsticks is an online comic (and the community that goes with it) that lives over at Livejournal. It features fannish silliness and recreations of Torchwood episodes, all done with stick figures.

* The Fob Watch - So did you want your own version of The Doctor’s (and The Master’s) Fob Watch from Series 3? Well, now you can have something similar. It even has lights and sounds.

* Torchwood Babiez - Are you familiar with The Muppet Babies? Well, imagine a Torchwood version of that, and you pretty much have the right idea. It’s a fabulously funny online comic over at Livejournal that will certainly give you a giggle. Keep your eye out for the Bunny Shoe.

* 2 on Who - Listen to a documentary on the Doctor Who theme, both the past and the current versions.

* Doctor Who Games - If you still need entertaining, how about trying out some of the games on the official Doctor Who website? Sadly, SuDocWho is no more, but there are a bunch of other games you might enjoy.

Torchsticks, The Fob Watch, Torchwood Babiez, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Games

Time is ticking away, and the Christmas episode is now only five days away (give or take a few hours). Over on the official BBC site, the Advent Gift of the day is the page for Voyage of the Damned. It includes a video of The Doctor meeting Astrid, if you are interested, as well as several other interesting tidbits.

Torchwood Reminder: Series 2 will appear on US screens on 26 January 2008. UK Screens will be graced with the premiere episode Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang on 16 January 2008 (at least according to a bunch of folks over on Live Journal.)

Yesterday’s Advent Gift was a Q & A session with the insanely busy executive crew of Doctor Who. Where else would you discover that RTD has autographed a baby? It’s worth a read if you have a minute.

A Bit of Fun: Thirteen Things Celticangel Likes About Doctor Who, for your Thursday Thirteen reading pleasure.

On 22 December a new story by Paul Cornell will appear in the Daily Telegraph, according to the Official Doctor Who Site. “The Hopes and Fears of All the Years” will also appear on the Telegraph’s website on 24 December. As you know, I am a huge Paul Cornell fan, so I’ll be reading this story as soon as I can.

Georgia Moffett, Peter Davison’s daughter, will be appearing in Doctor Who Series Four. Apparently, she was originally up for a part in the Agatha Christie episode (which was written by Gareth Roberts), but they liked her so much that they wanted her for a more important part. Just what that part is they aren’t saying yet.

There will be kissing in the Christmas episode. Just thought that you might like to know. I’m curious to see what the circumstances are this time around.

The Voyage of the Damned has already had its celebrity premiere, which was where David took a moment to rubbish the rumours that he was leaving the show. CBBC Newsround has some pictures from the event over on their site.

And that’s your update. As you were.

Voyage of the Damned, Torchwood, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Doctor Who, Paul Cornell, Georgia Moffett, Peter Davison

Christmas (and Voyage of the Damned) is going to be here on Tuesday. Yes. This next Tuesday. So, I’ve decided to keep you entertained with a bit of Stuff and Nonsense. Think of it as a holiday gift. What better way to keep your mind off all of that last minute shopping you have left to do?

Stuff:

Are you on vacation right now? Not sure what to do will all of that spare time you suddenly have? Well, with thanks to my friend Matt for the link, why not make yourself a TARDIS! You will need a few supplies, but at least all of the craft shops are well stocked this time of year.

Gillian of Food History was kind enough to send me a link to a blog containing a great bit of Dalek artwork. If you act quickly, you can even make a donation to ASif and be entered in a raffle where you could win postcards with the same artwork on them.

While I was surfing the Internet recently, I encountered a Model Citizen who showed me the way to this video. I had no idea that the Daleks did commercials, much less ones for breakfast cereal. Enjoy this classic bit, and be sure to tell me if you run across any other commercials featuring Doctor Who baddies.

(more…)

TARDIS, Food History, Model Citizen, Daleks, Doctor Who

Yes indeed. I went to the conference today (For which I had to get up two hours early. Le Sigh.) and, just as I threatened, I wore my pinstriped suit and my red trainers. I even took a picture of my leg as proof. I got one complement on my shoes, and no one else seemed to notice/care. Ah the joys of comfortable feet. Okay, then. Enough about me and on to the newsbites.

In the hopeful casting department, Patrick Stewart wants to be on Doctor Who. It would seem that he’s a fan of the show. Well, considering how many people who have been in other things with David Tennant have shown up so far, I’d say that he has a good chance. I suppose that he’ll have to be in Hamlet first, though.

A while back there was a rumor that Christopher Eccleston would be in a remake of The Prisoner. This article maintains that this was only ever wishful thinking. (Mind you, it also say that Eccleston quit Doctor Who for fear of typecasting, when in fact he only ever signed up to do one year, so believe what you like on this one.)

Billie Piper’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl will begin on Thursday at 10pm on ITV2 in the UK. She is interviewed here about the show, and her life right now. (pssst! She wants to marry her fiance and start a family, apparently.) It looks to me like she’s been trying a bit of everything as far as roles go. Good on her.

The Official Doctor Who website has an interview with Mary Tamm (Romana I) posted in their news section. Pop by and peruse it if you would like to know how she got the part of Romana, and what she thinks of her time on the show. It was quite an interesting article.

If you would like to read some spoilery information about an episode from series four go here. These spoilers include: plot info, casting info (if you are trying to avoid knowing anything about the 4th series casting), and a picture.

That’s all I have for this week. Enjoy!

Patrick Stewart, Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Today I offer you a bit of this and that which I have encountered in my travels online. Now that there are two current Doctor Who Spin-offs, the Whoniverse is even a bigger place than before. Have you stopped by the official Sarah Jane Adventures site yet? How about Torchwood’s sites? (BBC, Torchwood Extranet, BBC America.)

To begin with, I have a little Which Doctor Are You quiz. (Apparently, I’m the 7th Doctor.) Which Doctor are you? By the way, the quiz only seems to include up through the 8th Doctor.

Has anyone else noticed that Cybus Corp. has a website? (And it says “systems reinitializing.” Eek!)

This toy could be considered a spoiler for the last two episodes of Doctor Who series 3. Click if you dare.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has officially announced that David Tennant will be playing Hamlet (and Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost.) Start your planning for your 2008 trip to see the plays now.

My birthday is coming up, so I was very amused to find this Dalek Sec Talking Birthday Card. Dalek on the outside, Human Hybrid Dalek on the inside.

And finally, just for fun I popped by Ebay again. While I was there, I found a cosplay version of the 6th Doctor’s Coat, A made to order replica of the 10th Doctor’s Coat, and the Viewmaster film from Full Circle/Castrovalva. Oh yeah. Remember the “Mrs. David Tennant” thong underwear? They have one for Christopher Eccleston, too. Sigh.

Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, Cybus Corp, David Tennant, Christopher Eccleston

BBCAmerica has finally launched their Torchwood web site. Yes! For those of you with the slower connections, I should warn you that the site is quite graphics intensive. They’re offering episode lists, show information, a forum, and more. Check it out! I figured that you all would like to know.

During the San Diego Comic-Con (that I didn’t get to go to *sniffle*) came the announcement of a Doctor Who Comic Book featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha. The stories will take place in the latter part of series three and word has it that they are canon. Gary Russell (Doctor Who script editor) is signed to write the stories, and Nick Roche will be doing the artwork. We can expect these comics to appear beginning in early 2008. For more info (and more sketches) check out the article over at Comic Book Resources. And now I have yet another thing to hunt for in comic shops.

In other news, I am going to be participating in a Convention. As an invited guest, if you can believe it. Yep. Catslyn from Watching Stargate and I are filling the 1am (Australia Time) timeslot (That’s 8am, Pacific Time) for the Conflux Virtual Mini-Con. We are the SciFi in Cyberspace group. Go us! The Mini-Con is free, so come on over and chat with us.

Torchwood is coming to HD in the US in September. It will appear on HDNet. (Now, if only I had an HD TV.)

If you would like to read some spoilery information about series 4 of Doctor Who, and series 2 of Torchwood, you might just check out this interview with Julie Gardner from iF Magazine. She has a bunch to say. (pssst! She doesn’t think that RTD will quit.)

Colin Baker (the 6th Doctor) is glad that the new show is doing well, because now his daughters think he is cool. (They’ve even gone back and enjoyed his episodes now. I’m glad to know that they’ve seen the light.)

The folks over at david-tennant.com are raising money for the ACCORD hospice in Paisley in memory of David’s mother Helen. Be sure to stop by and see if you can help out. Go here to check out the auction. You can read a BBC article about the effort here.

John Normington, who played the older Tom Flanagan in the Torchwood episode Ghost Machine, has passed away. He was 70.

First a comic book, and now a video game. That’s right, a video game. Not much is known about the Doctor Who video game at present, beyond its appearing during the holidays, and availability on more that one platform. In the UK, anyway. No word on theoretical availability in the US yet (sigh.)

*whew* Well, that’s it for this week. Don’t forget to join me for the mini-con.

Image Source: Comic Book Resources

San Diego Comic-Con, Gary Russell, Doctor Who, Nick Roche, Conflux Virtual Mini-Con, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Julie Gardner, Colin Baker, John Normington

So…do you like the Doctor Who Universe? Are you particularly interested in Torchwood? Would you happen to live in the UK, or be willing/able to move there? Do you have experience in producing TV shows? Yeah? Well then, this might be the job for you. Yep. Torchwood Declassified series two is looking for a producer. Go for it! You’d get all of the behind the scenes info… Darn. Now I wish that *I* had a background in producing. Oh, well. Good luck! (or break a leg. which ever works for the production end of things.)

Doctor Who, Torchwood, Torchwood Declassified

As I’m sure that most of you know, Tom Baker portrayed the 4th Doctor from 1974-1981. He is one of the most popular incarnations of The Doctor ever. So, imagine my delight when I was surfing around on the internet and I encountered Tom Baker’s Official Website! It has interviews that Mr. Baker has done, a shop stocked with everything from photographs to DVDs, and even a discussion forum. (Yes, the shop *does* ship outside of the UK.) Did I mention that many of the photographs are signed? Obviously I need to start saving my money for yet another cool thing. This would be so much easier if I could just win the lottery. Anyway, consider yourselves informed, and enjoy the site!

Tom Baker, 4th Doctor

I’m going to start this week’s round up with a couple of rumors. Remember the rumor about Kylie Minogue being in the next Christmas special? The one that RTD rubbished as untrue? Well, I’ve now seen several sources that claim that Kylie herself has said that she *will* be on the show. The original rumors claimed that she would be playing a cyberwoman, but other reports have her saying that she won’t be playing a baddie. Hmmm… Well, I guess that we’ll just have to wait and see.

In other rumors, have you heard the one about Woody Allen playing Einstein? Yes, you read that correctly. Rumor has it that Woody Allen will be in the next Doctor Who Christmas special (yes, that same one that Kylie Minogue is rumored to be in) playing Albert Einstein. Ow. I think that I just hurt my brain. All I’m saying here is that I am getting dead curious about this next Christmas Special.

In other news, The Chelsea Flower Show featured a Doctor Who themed garden this year. The Cardiff Council’s “A Garden in Time” received a Silver Gilt Award. Sigh. I wish that I could have seen that garden.

David Tennant was among those recently voted to be worthy of preserving in a museum as icons of our time. Umm…Hopefully they’ll wait a while on that. He can be an icon in a museum later when he’s got a bit more time on his hands. Judging by what we know of him, though, he’ll probably be 90 before he slows down.

To add to the confusion surrounding the beginning of Torchwood on BBCAmerica, BellaOnline is reporting that the show will begin in December. Ooookay. Anyone else out there have any information about this?

So…want to see a spoiler for series 3 episode, Utopia? No, this isn’t a little spoiler. It’s a clip that John Barrowman brought with him for his appearance on Tonight With Jonathan Ross. As these things do, the clip has made it over to YouTube. Watch it if you dare.

And finally, some news about me. Surprise! Anyway, BayCon is this weekend in San Mateo, California. I plan on stopping by for a spot of people watching. I’ll let you know if I run across anything cool. I might even remember to bring my camera. If you are there, beware. I may be lurking close by.

Kylie Minogue, Woody Allen, Doctor Who, Albert Einstein, The Chelsea Flower Show, Cardiff Council, A Garden in Time, David Tennant, Torchwood, BBCAmerica, BellaOnline, John Barrowman, Tonight With Jonathan Ross, BayCon