Watching Doctor Who

Yes. That’s right. I’m the spokesmodel in this scenario. I thought that you all might be amused by this image. It’s hard to see, but right under the monitor is the Dalek that went to Gallifrey One with me. I’m directing your attention to the TARDIS hub on top of the computer…which is named TARDIS, for the record. On the desk, in front of the computer tower, are two sonic screwdrivers. One is never enough, you know. And is this my desk? Nope. It’s my husband’s. As you can see, he is also a fan.

And now, news:

According to The Sun, a Dalek was recently dredged from a pond. Or, at least, its head was. Either it was a discarded prop from the 1970s, it’s a clever invasion ploy from those wily pepper pots, or someone over at ITV was heard to utter the phrase “bring me the head of a Dalek.” You choose. I’ll bet it gave the fellow clearing the pond a start.

Apparently, the TARDIS interior is due for a makeover. The Telegraph is reporting that we can expect to see the most intricate and high-tech TARDIS interior yet when the Eleventh Doctor takes over. I wonder what Mr. Moffat has in store for us. Time to change the desktop theme?

If you are in a position to go to the Celtic Media Festival this year, you may want to clear your schedule. On Wednesday, 25 March 2009, starting at about 8pm, there will be a special panel presentation that offers a look behind the scenes of Doctor Who. Called “The Story of Doctor Who,” this special event will feature Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Edward Thomas, Euros Lyn, and Ian Grutchfield talking about the process of taking a story from a script to the screen. Sigh. Too bad I have to be at work that day. Anyone out there planning on going?

Dalek, Dalek, TARDIS, Celtic Media Festival, Doctor Who

(Photo: WireImage/Samir Hussein - Catherine Tate arrives at the Woman’s Own Children of Courage Awards 2008)

Attention all David Tennant fans! (especially The Vig) The Telegraph is reporting that David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, and the rest of the Hamlet crew will be returning to film their Hamlet in June. Yes, you read that right. They’re going to be filming David’s Hamlet! Apparently it will be more than just filming the stage, but not quite the feature film level. Hamlet will be filmed over the course of two to three weeks. Let the squeeing begin! I can’t wait to see what they come up with, and it darn well better come out on DVD.

Remember how there was supposed to be a K9 series at some point? Well, now we have more information. Park Entertainment’s site has more information for us now. There is no trailer of promo up yet, but it looks like the show will take place in London of the future. There will be adventurous teens, a reclusive scientist, and, of course, K9. What will they be doing? Defending the Earth, of course. I’m not sure when we’ll be seeing the finished product, but I’m very curious to see what it looks like. It will be live action, by the way.

According to People.co.uk, Freema Agyeman may be currently working hard on Law and Order UK, but she isn’t ruling out appearing in Doctor Who again in the future. In the article, she even mentions that she’d like to be on Strictly Come Dancing. Well, it looks like her new show is already doing well. Congrats, Freema!

David Tennant, K9, Freema Agyeman

Before my laptop freezes up again, like it did a few minutes ago, here are a few more bits and pieces I’ve got lurking in my tabs. Let’s get to it!

First up, here’s a bit from “torchwoodbbcamerica,” who brings us a moment with Euros Lyn, director extraordinaire of Torchwood series 3 among other things, and Eve Myles (Gwen) from behind the scenes at New York Comic Con 2009.

Eve Myles and Euros Lyn backstage @ New York Comic Con ‘09:

Lindsay Duncan, who is soon to play Margaret Thatcher on the BBC, will appear in the second Doctor Who special. Lindsay has done everything from classics like Mansfield Park to a droid’s voice in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. I’ll be interested to see what sort of character she ends up playing.

According to SciFi Wire, a Doctor Who one-shot comic book came out today. It’s called “The Whispering Gallery” and features The Doctor and Martha. Has anyone seen it yet? It sounds like it’s quite the story.

So there I was, minding my own business, watching the Super Bowl with my husband and this advertisement came on. I must admit that I was paying attention to something else, and then I heard Christopher Eccleston’s voice and I fell over. (I then commandeered the Tivo remote and watched it again.) Here it is, the official trailer for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Yes, I will be seeing this movie.

GI Joe The Rise Of Cobra Official Teaser Trailer in HD Superbowl Spot Ad:

Euros Lyn, Eve Myles, Lindsay Duncan, Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston

(It turns out that I’ve been collecting odds and ends of news and coolness in my Firefox tags since before I left for Gallifrey One. So, here they are all gathered together for you.)

I’ve got two word for you all: TARDIS quilt! My Mum has gotten very into quilting since she’s retired, and in surfing around quilting sites she discovered this quilt. She has now added my request for a TARDIS quilt of my own to her growing queue. I rather think I will remain at the end for a while, but I don’t mind. I can wait, albeit impatiently.

There’s a rumour going around that Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, might have some of the lost episodes of Doctor Who in his possession. Any Doctor Who fans out there in Zimbabwe who are willing to infiltrate the Presidential tape vault? Anyone?

In an interview on the official BBC Doctor Who site, Matt Smith admits to liking long coats and “rather dashing scarves.” Perhaps this will influence his outfit as the Doctor? He’s apparently deep in the thick of things now. I, for one, am dead curious to see what they come up with for both the costume and the character.

The first of the Doctor Who tenth Doctor special episodes, Planet of the Dead, is using Dubai, of all places, as one of its filming locations. I heard that they had trouble with one of their doubledecker buses in the process. In any case, for a tiny bit of information and five interesting photographs of filming (one of which is now my desktop background) go here.

And finally, I offer you a most amazing video as sent to me by Paul of Toybender.com (which I subsequently watched on Topless Robot.) Have you ever asked yourself what a Doctor Who Anime might look like? OtaKing77077 is working on the answer to that question. In the meantime, he offers the world a bit of the work in progress. Fans of the third Doctor may now rejoice.

Making a proper Doctor Who anime by OtaKing77077:

Doctor Who, Matt Smith, Planet of the Dead

(Kai and Gareth model a Doctor Who scarf)

Gallifrey One is over for another year, and this has left me feeling a bit melancholy. Sniffle. I’m really feeling like I need to stay at the hotel next year or I may never end up going to all of the cool evening events. Just once I’d love to merely hang out in the lobby, you know? I love people watching. This year I did run across someone that I’ve seen at work, but I never did ask her name. Sigh. Oh, well. There’s always next year. As I have a long, and potentially rainy, drive ahead of me tomorrow I’d better get to the highlights of today.

And she lurked:

- Rob Shearman’s name tent from the autograph hall wasn’t auctioned off, and I was all set to bid on it and everything. The Bob May memorial charity auction was quite the wacky place to be this year. Sadly, Bob is no longer with us, but it feels like he was there in spirit. There were many pictures of cute kitties snuck onto the screen behind the auctioneer during the course of the event. These were not up for auction, but were very fun to look at. Once again, I went home empty handed this year. Perhaps I will have more money next year.

- Did you know that Wendy Padbury almost discovered David Tennant? I’m not sure what ultimately happened, but when she called him up he recognized her name and came over all fanboy. (All together now…one of us! One of us!)

- Watching Journey’s End in a room full of people who were cheering at points and crying at the end doesn’t make one any less emotional. Just ask Phil Collinson who was doing a live commentary at the time. As for myself…well, I was crying my eyes out.

- The year in review was fabulous as always. Nicholas Briggs using his Dalek voice to say “brush your teeth” on an interview show was priceless.

- Gallifrey One number twenty ultimately had over 1300 attendees. Wow.

- Manah Manah.

Rob Shearman, Wendy Padbury, Journey’s End, Phil Collinson

Gary Russell and Wendy Padbury

Hello again. I survived the second day of Gallifrey One, and let me tell you, it is so very packed this year. Wow. Last year seemed busy compared to the year before, and indeed last year showed record attendance. That record was broken by Friday at 6pm this year. The photograph line this morning went down the hall on one side then wrapped down to the end of the hall on the other side. That made the hall a bit too crowded for me, actually. Luckily, I was bound for the podcasting panel instead.

Once again, I’m posting this after a long day, so here are some quick notes on what I encountered during today’s con visit.

The Lurk Report:

- I started out the day with a cup of chai and a pastry keeping Erik company in the muckle huge scary line mentioned above. The podcasting panel I went to instead of doing pictures was very interesting. The Vig? I think I’ve got some ideas for how we might start out.

- Rob Shearman (Hello! Oh, and squee!), who has now commented a couple of times on this blog, was at the con signing autographs. I didn’t manage to get a photograph with him, but I did get him to sign my copy of the series one script book. I told him who I was, and he remembered that I’d said something about squeeing for him…so, I did. I wish we’d had more time to talk. Oh, well. There will be other Gallifrey One cons.

- Gareth David-Lloyd would love to dress up as the Predator, if given a chance. He told us in the Q&A today that series four hasn’t officially been commissioned at this time, and he expects that the decision to continue will be influenced by how well the short series three does. Mind you, they’re all ready to go when the word comes to start.

- The “Something Borrowed” commentary was hilarious. Kai Owen seems to have a fascination with the words “Gay” and “Fit,” but he also has a great deal of insight into the episode, as did writer Phil Ford.

Rob Shearman

Right. So this is just going to be a quick recap of things I remember from today at Gallifrey One, as it’s currently 2:14am and I need to go to sleep if I’m going to wake up and go back tomorrow. It has been a really long, if entertaining, day.

- Did you know that Wendy Padbury discovered Matt Smith? That’s right. One of the second Doctor’s companions discovered the future Doctor. She saw him in a play, apparently and at that point she was an agent. She met with him afterwards and signed him right away. She even got him a job the very next day! Of course these days they’ve parted ways and she’s no longer an agent and lives in France, but…Wendy Padbury discovered Matt Smith.

- Colin Baker once bit Nicola Bryant on the behind. In fact, it was just right after they met. Apparently, they were acting out a scene and was knelt down behind her…and her bum was right there. He told her later that he just couldn’t resist. He wasn’t sure why.

- You can buy a stuffed Adipose in the Dealer’s Room here. I didn’t, though, as they are $35. I did purchase a Journal of Impossible Things for my Husband, however. I’m still not sure what the most unusual item in the Dealer’s Room is yet, but I’ll let you know what I find out.

- During the Opening Ceremonies Gareth David-Lloyd challenged everyone to take a different route to the stage. This led to Frazer Hines actually making his way through a row of people (and hugging a lady on the way), Kai Owen running past me down the aisle and leaping up on to the stage, and a group of folks skirting the front of the stage. Paul Cornell read us a note from a certain Mr. Moffat to the effect that he misses being at the con, but he’s been tied to a chair and made to write, so he couldn’t make it this year.

- And finally, I have Phil Collinson’s autograph!

Gallifrey One

Littleradge over at YouTube posted this video today to remind folks that David Tennant does not use social networking sites. Apparently, now amongst the random folks that create accounts pretending to be Mr. Tennant there is someone who has been striking up conversations with people and then asking them to meet him somewhere. Pretty scary, eh? Be careful out there.

David Tennant On The Internet:

In Other News:

This Thursday, the trailer for Torchwood’s third series Children of Earth will premiere in both the US and the UK, according to several places including BBCAmerica. And…I suppose they’d know. I’ve heard that the BBC Torchwood site says something similar, but I can’t verify that as I can’t see the news on their site. If you are in the U.S., go to the BBCAmerica Torchwood site on Thursday, February 5th at 4:00 pm to view the trailer.

The Daily Mail’s website is running an article about Peter Davison including what he’s been up to lately. It also touches on the relationship between Peter’s daughter Georgia and a certain David Tennant.

From the rumour desk we have the story that the baddies that the Doctor will be encountering in the first of the Doctor Who specials will be half-man, half-fly creatures called the Tritovores. Nothing official has been announced at this time, so decide for yourself if you are going to believe the current rumour.

And finally, as if David Tennant weren’t busy enough, what with filming the Doctor Who specials, etc. it looks like he’ll be hosting Red Nose Day this time around. I wonder if he’ll be participating in any skits. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Littleradge, David Tennant, Torchwood, Peter Davison, Doctor Who

(I’m the short one on the left.)

It’s that time of the year again! The Gallifrey One 20 to Life convention runs from February 13-15 at the Los Angeles airport Mariott hotel. Are you going to Gallifrey One this year?

Haven’t decided yet?

Have you heard who’s going to be there? I mean, seriously, check out the list.

Scheduled to appear (at this point):
Phil Collinson (Producer of the first four series of Doctor Who)
Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor)
Nicola Bryant (Perpugilliam Brown)
Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot)
Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones)
Kai Owen (Rhys Williams)
John Levene (Sgt. Benton)
And that’s just the beginning.

There will be writers such as Paul Cornell, James Moran, and Robert Shearman. (Mr. Shearman, I’ll see you in the autograph line. You’ve been warned.) Folks from the Big Finish Doctor Who audios will be rubbing shoulders with people from NASA JPL. Some of the guests will be from other fandoms, such as Babylon 5 and Elfquest. Oh, and I’ll be there, as you had no doubt gathered by now.

So, who’s with me?

Gallifrey One

(Photo: BBC. Michelle Ryan and David Tennant)

We now have a bit more information about the upcoming Doctor Who special due on Easter 2009 - Planet of the Dead. The official BBC Doctor Who site is reporting that Michelle Ryan (recently of the Bionic Woman) will join the Tenth Doctor as “the mysterious Lady Christina de Souza.” As you can see in the photo above, a bus-trip is involved. One would think that The Doctor had had enough of bus trips by this point. Also appearing in this episode are: Lee Evans (The Fifth Element, There’s Something About Mary) as Malcolm and Noma Dumezweni in a repeat appearance as Captain Erisa Magambo (from the episode Turn Left.) Sounds to me like they’re brewing up quite an episode. I can’t wait!

Note: If you still haven’t popped over to Food History to see my guest post, here is the link.

Has anyone out there seen the American show Leverage? A friend of mine (Hi, Eideann!) kindly informed me that there had been Doctor Who references in the show. Like…enough that she thinks that at least one of the writers must be a fan. So, what did I do? I went over to YouTube, and this is what I found:

Leverage - Extreme Doctor Who Reference:

I laughed so hard. I love it when people sneak references like that into shows. Apparently, this is not the only reference in Leverage. One of the characters turns out to be a fan…which might explain the names on the IDs in the clip above, come to think of it.

Speaking of the Whoniverse leaking into other shows, there’s also the Halloween episode of the new Knight Rider to consider. Captain Jack Harkness is a good Halloween costume choice, yes?

Captain Jack for Halloween on Knight Rider:

I can’t believe that they managed to work a severed hand into this. That was just made of win.

Doctor Who, Planet of the Dead, Michelle Ryan

Catherine Tate at the Woman’s Own Children of Courage Awards
Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage

I have the worst cold! I just wanted to complain to folks I couldn’t cough on, sorry. Now, on to the news.

The BBC is reporting that David Tennant is having surgery on Thursday for a slipped disc. He will not be back on stage as Hamlet until after Christmas, apparently. Get well soon, David!

For those of you in the U.S. who missed series one of The Sarah Jane Adventures the last time around, you can catch a marathon of the show on 16 December on the SciFi Channel. If you don’t get the SciFi Channel, don’t despair. Series one of The Sarah Jane Adventures is out on DVD.

Speaking of DVDs, have you finished your Chrismahanukwanzikah shopping yet? Currently you can purchase Torchwood series two, Doctor Who series four, and The Infinite Quest. I need to invest in some new bookcases for my DVDs.

Have you been keeping an eye on the Official Doctor Who Website? They’re up to their usual Advent Calendar shenanigans again this year. So far there have been videos, desktop backgrounds, a game, and a story. They’ve also been in the process of adding the information from series 1-3 and the specials to the site. If you haven’t been by in a while, it’s worth a look.

And at least we’ll have a full series of The Sarah Jane Adventures to look forward to next year to go along with the truncated series three of Torchwood and the Doctor Who specials. That’s right, series three will appear in the UK in Autumn of 2009. I still have no official start date for series two in the U.S., but now that it is over in the UK it shouldn’t bee too long hence.

David Tennant, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, 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 Birmingham Christmas Lights 2008
(From WireImage.com, Photo by Jules Annan)

Have I told you folks about Torchwood Babiez? It’s like a combination of Muppet Babies and the Whoniverse in comic format. You can find it over at tw_babiez on Livejournal. The reason I mention it now in particular is that part 3 (of 4) has just been posted. I’m loving it, and I hope that part four isn’t that many months away.

Speaking of comics, it looks like Sheldon is a Doctor Who fan, or perhaps it’s artist Dave Kellett who’s the fan. Either way, this is the second time I’ve seen the show mentioned in his comic strip.

The Children in Need TV event is on tonight, 14 November 2008, at 7pm. And what can we expect to see with relation to the Whoniverse? Well, apparently we will be treated to a clip from the Doctor Who Christmas special. In addition, there are rumours floating around that the next Doctor will be named during the show. I wonder if they’re actually talking about the name of the Christmas special, which is “The Next Doctor.” Who knows? I guess we’ll find out tonight.

Doctor Who series four is currently playing on BBCAmerica if you want to catch it again. It’s playing on Saturdays at 9(8c).

How did you first encounter Doctor Who? One of the things I haven’t done on this blog for a while is My First Doctor. Who was your first Doctor? Where did you see your first episode? Tell me your story and I’ll post it here. (You can see the previous ones here.) You can either comment with your story, or send me an e-mail using the Contact Me link near the top right of the blog.

Torchwood Babiez, Sheldon, Doctor Who

So…Doctor Who won in the Most Popular Drama category and David Tennant won the National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Performance (yay!) and then…

He said this:

That’s right. For those of you who haven’t yet heard, David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who after the 2009 specials.

(These two videos don’t quite sync up, sorry. But they’re the only version I found that was the whole thing.)
David talks about why he’s leaving (1):

David talks about why he’s leaving (2):

I’m quite sad about this, and I’m sure that you folks are, too. I’d so hoped that the Tenth Doctor would stick around for the first year of Moffat’s reign. I can see how the new team might like to start off fresh with a clean slate, and I understand David’s desire to move on before Doctor Who became just another job. But…losing the Doctor to another regeneration is going to be quite traumatic for me. I’m sure they’ll get some new bloke in who will do a great job, but I will always remember the fellow with the brainy specs and the manic disposition. Oh, and really great hair.

Luckily we still have those specials to look forward to, yeah? Russell T Davies had better come up with some fabulous storylines. And congratulations to the show, and David, for winning the National Television Awards this year.

Doctor Who, David Tennant

Noel Clark at MOBO Awards (photo by Ferdaus Shamim from WireImage)

I’m at a conference this week (Internet Librarian in Monterey, for those of you interested.) And so far (*fingers crossed*) my laptop is behaving itself. Mind you, this means that the Sarah Jane Adventures reaction post might be a bit late this week. Just so you know…

And now, the news….
Den of Geek is reporting that the first Doctor Who special of 2009 will be broadcast at Easter. It was co-written by RTD and Gareth Roberts and will be directed by James Strong. Finally some news! Yay!

Billie Piper is now about seven months along, for those of you keeping track, and it looks like she’s doing well.

Speaking of Billie, her Secret Diary of a Call Girl is set to have its first series come out on DVD in the US on 6 January 2009. It looks like the price will be around $29.98.

Noel Clark, Doctor Who, Billie Piper