Watching Doctor Who

Freema at the F1 Party in London

The Mirror is reporting that Russell T Davies is writing a book, due out in September, about making series four of Doctor Who. Word is that it won’t be full of scandals, but instead more of interest to writers. Personally, I’m keen to see how his mind works.

Rumour has it (and according to Sarah-Jane.tv) that a certain Brigadier is set to appear in series two of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The rumour goes on to add that Sontarans might be involved in the story. Please pardon me while I squee. I’d love to see The Brig again.

If we ever needed any more proof that Russell T Davies likes to mess with the press, there’s this story: Amy Winehouse to be the next Doctor? All together now. *snicker* Riiiiiiiiiight. That’ll happen. I can hear RTD giggling all the way over here.

John Barrowman will be in L.A. autographing his book on 23 July. So, if any of you happy to be in the vicinity of “Book Soup” in West Hollywood at say…7pm on that day you may wish to stop by.

And finally, a video of David Tennant’s audition for Takin’ Over the Asylum back in 1993 surfaced recently. When he saw the video, David reportedly said “My God, what was I wearing?” Don’t worry. He got the part. Enjoy the audition!

Russell T Davies, Doctor Who, John Barrowman, David Tennant

Well, while I’m waiting impatiently for the final episode and trying to avoid spoilers. Here are a few newsbites to keep you entertained in the meantime. (Yes. You read that correctly. I am trying to avoid spoilers. I mean…spoilers are so sketchy and if you watch an episode like this one after having read an incorrect spoiler… Well, it could ruin the experience. It does for me, anyway. Enough of my rambling. Read on!)

Could David Morrissey be the next Doctor? Yes, it’s another “next Doctor” rumour. Mr. Morrissey is supposed to be in the next Christmas Special and pictures of him in period garb have already been taken. The question folks are asking is: Who is he playing? Or rather, is he playing Who? He is refusing to say one way or another.

Afterelton.com has a deleted scene from the Torchwood episode “Meat” up on its site. Apparently the scene was termed “too racy to air.” Think about that for a minute. Too racy to air on Torchwood? Watch it for yourself and decide. Personally, I thought it was hilarious.

According to the official Doctor Who site, the Doctor Who folks have arranged for a screening of Journey’s End (7pm, Trafalgar Square) as part of Pride London ‘08. It seems to me that this didn’t quite work out last year. Here’s hoping that they manage it this year.

And especially for Erik, I bring you links to two YouTube video extras from Secret Diary of a Call Girl featuring none other than Billie Piper.
1) Why I Became a Call Girl and 2) Would You Visit a Call Girl (A big Hat Tip to Jen, Joe, and Duncan for sending me the links.)

David Morrissey, Torchwood

Picture from the filming of the 2008 Christmas Special

I’m slowly making my way through a bunch of news feeds that I neglected while this blog was down. So, you’ll be seeing a few of these news posts this week. Please bear with me as I try to get us all back up to speed.

And now the news…
Did you know that there was a UFO recently seen in Cardiff? I’m not really all that surprised. I wonder if they have a department to deal with such things. Does anyone know what is really under that water tower?

Current “next Doctor” rumours would have you believe that Robert Carlyle is next in line for the role. Bookmakers are even offering really good odds on this. Sigh. I wish that they’d leave off for a bit. I’m getting pretty tired of all of these rumours.

Speaking of rumours, it is also rumoured that Supermodel Agyness Deyn is being courted to be in a future Doctor Who Christmas Special. Apparently, this would be her first acting job. I’m thinking that this one will turn out to be false. What about you all?

Noel Clarke, better known to Whovians as Mickey Smith, has recently released a film that he wrote, directed, and stars in. Adulthood is the sequel to his film Kidulthood and contains a similar gritty, modern feel. Best of luck with the new film, Noel.

According to Digital Spy, Billie Piper’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl set a ratings record for its USA Showtime premiere. It received the best numbers yet for a new series opener. This might explain all of the ads on Buses and such that Erik has been seeing down in Los Angeles.

Robert Carlyle, Doctor Who, Noel Clarke, Adulthood, Billie Piper

Okay. At this point this is where we all stand in the series:

Australia: The folks in Oz have finally seen Voyage of the Damned. Partners in Crime will appear on Sunday 6 July.

USA: series four, episode 10: Midnight will not make it to US screens until 11 July for some reason. I mean, another TV channel is celebrating independence day with Harry Potter. I don’t see why the Sci Fi Channel couldn’t celebrate with Doctor Who instead of the Twilight Zone. I’m just sayin’…

UK: The final episode of series four (Journey’s End) taunts us all from Saturday. Remember that it will have a special running length of sixty-five minutes. There was no next week preview at the end of The Stolen Earth, but a preview was posted on the official site. As per usual, that preview has now made its way to Youtube, so I am including it here. By its very nature it is extremely spoilery. Watch at your own risk. Oh. But before you ask, no. It doesn’t answer that question. We’ll all just have to wait together to find out how that particular event turns out.

The Trailer for Journey’s End (Doctor Who 4.13):

Journey’s End, Doctor Who

After a week and a half of downtime, after a bit of up and down, Watchingdrwho.com is finally back online. Apparently the hard drive died over at HQ. I know that they were ordering a bunch of new equipment, so here’s hoping that it’s smooth sailing from here on out. In the event of future downtime (God forbid. Knock wood.) you can keep track of my complaining about it on my Twitter account. Thanks for sticking with me through all of this.

I’m celebrating our return by showing you the picture of the Secret Diary of a Call Girl that Erik saw on the Sunset Strip down in Los Angeles. Like the nice guy he is, he snapped a picture and sent it to me. Thanks, Erik!! (Apparently the pictures of Billie have been on buses, too.)

Also, have you heard that Doctor Who is finally showing series three in Australia? They’ve finally seen the last Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned. Yay!

Well, I’m off to try and catch up on my posting. Stand by for a Postalanche.

Christopher Eccleston, who has already finished filming his part in the G. I. Joe movie, is now reported to be filming a part in Amelia. Eccleston will be playing Earhart’s navigator Fred Noonan. He’s quite the busy fellow, isn’t he? Sigh. It just means that I have more films to go see. I wonder when the G. I. Joe trailer comes out.

On a show called 50 Ways to Leave Your TV Lover, which contained a countdown of the the small screen’s most memorable splits. It turns out that Rose and The Doctor’s separation at the end of Doomsday came in at Number One! Yay for our show. You can see just that part of the show here.

Russell T Davies has been honored with an OBE for services to Drama! (The Late Verity Lambert received an OBE in 2002.)

Did you know that William Hartnell has recently appeared on a stamp? I wonder if the TARDIS has ever been on a stamp. They should do a whole Doctor Who series of stamps! They’d sell like hotcakes. Are you listening Auntie Beeb?

It looks like Gareth David-Lloyd is going to give Hollywood a try. Don’t worry, though. He maintains that it won’t affect his work on Torchwood. Let’s hope that turns out to be the case.

And finally, for a very spoilery look at a baddie from the end of this series you might go here (information) or here (pictures). …But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Christopher Eccleston, G. I. Joe, Amelia, Russell T Davies, William Hartnell, Gareth David-Lloyd

The RSC website says that David Tennant’s Hamlet will be in London’s Novello Theatre from 3 December 2008 to 10 January 2009. So…if you are going to be in the area at that point, you may wish to get a ticket.

The Gallifrey One News Page is reporting that the 2007 Doctor Who Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned will finally be airing in Australia on my anniversary, 29 June. Partners in Crime will follow on 6 July and be accompanied by the cut down version of Doctor Who Confidential. There you are folks! Your happy dance may begin now.

The Tenth Doctor has made a cameo appearance in Tom Tomorrow’s political cartoon This Modern World over at Salon.com. (Normally I wouldn’t link to anything political, but the panel with the Doctor in it is humorous. The cartoon is pro-liberal, if you care.)

…And Finally, the word raging about the ‘net is that episode 12 of Doctor Who series four finally has a name. It is…

(more…)

David Tennant, Hamlet, Doctor Who, Voyage of the Damned, Partners in Crime

Billie and her husband Laurence

Paul over at ToyBender has found some Daleks made out of legos online. Definitely worth stopping by to see.

Today I was reading an article from the Canadian Press about the Secret Diary of a Call Girl coming to the US soon, and a couple of important things were mentioned during the last paragraph of the interview with Billie Piper. “Undaunted by the media criticism, Piper has begun filming a second series as Belle, and a third series has been ordered. But she may soon need a body double, she says, because she’s pregnant.” So, from this it looks like 1) there will be second and third series of Secret Diary and 2) it seems that Billie really is pregnant. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Fox!

It turns out that Steven Moffat was offered the job as the new Head Writer for Doctor Who via e-mail! He got this e-mail sometime last Summer, which means that he knew about this when he was at Gallifrey One this last February. That would explain his reaction when he was asked if he might take over some day. Interesting.

Remember that Freema Agyeman is going to be in a production of Little Dorrit? Well, it looks like Torchwood’s Eve Myles will be in the production as well. Oh yeah. And Andy Serkis. I’m thinking that I really need to see this one.

I’ve just received notification that the FAQ at the Official Doctor Who Site has been updated. I went over to have a look, and I discovered this possible good news for non-UK residents - “For Series Four, we have moved to using Flash Video. We are currently not allowed to stream Flash Video overseas without the involvement of BBC Worldwide, however. We are working on a solution to resolve this.” Let’s hope that the solution comes soon.

I have been looking for David Tennant’s interview with Andrew Marr for a couple of days now, and here it is. David talks about playing the Doctor, playing Hamlet, and even playing in one of his earlier projects. Enjoy!

Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Billie Piper, Steven Moffat, Doctor Who, Freema Agyeman, Eve Myles, David Tennant

Paul Kasey, Creature actor extraordinaire, recently did an interview with The SciFi World. It turns out that he recently played “Foxy” in the Foxy Bingo commercial. (For the “making of” of the Foxy Bingo commercial, followed by the commercial itself, go here.) One of the things that they talk about in the article is how he originally got the job. I’m starting to recognize him under those costumes occasionally by his body language. Is that weird?

According to the BBC, Freema Agyeman has landed a new part on an updated version of the 1970s show “Survivors.” This show is based upon a book written by Terry “Father of the Daleks” Nation. I may have to check this show out.

If you missed David Tennant on Jonathan Ross last Saturday (I don’t see it on YouTube, sorry.) you can check out Mr. Ross’s podcast instead. Apparently David spent some time talking about Hamlet.

Eve Newton, better known as “The Girl” from Silence in the Library has been interviewed over on the CBBC website. Caution! There is at least one spoiler for the next episode in the interview.

Paul Kasey, Freema Agyeman, David Tennant, Eve Newton

As was suggested in a recent interview with Eve Myles (that I can’t find the link to, sorry), it has now been revealed that series three of Torchwood will not be the usual 13 episodes long. During 2009, the same year containing the Doctor Who drought broken only the four special episodes, Torchwood will consist of one five episode long story arc. It looks like said episodes will take place during one week? (Well, at least that’s what TV Guide is saying.) So, that only leaves The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2009, unless its second series suddenly materializes later this year instead. (I still haven’t heard when to expect series two for The Sarah Jane Adventures.)

So, right now I guess that this is what we are looking at:
Torchwood: First, there will be the Radio play this Summer (which is rumoured to include Martha), then next year we will have one five episode story arc.

Doctor Who: We still have the rest of series four to get through. Then, Christmas episode 2008. 2009 will bring us three specials, and, we assume, Christmas episode 2009. Come 2010 we will have all thirteen episodes of series five, as helmed by new Head Writer Steven Moffat.

The Sarah Jane Adventures: Last I heard, series two was being filmed and there is a rumour going around that The Doctor will make an appearance. (There is also a rumour about a new “companion.”) No word yet as to when the second series might air.

I have no idea how all this will translate as far as the U.S. is concerned. But, there you are. The news as I currently understand it.

Torchwood, Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures

Don’t forget that Billie Piper’s show Secret Diary of a Call Girl is starting in the USA on Showtime on 16 June 2008. You can check out the Showtime site for the show for videos, wallpapers, etc.

Speaking of Billie Piper, the rumours of her pregnancy persist. Still no official word, though.

Rumour has it that Neil Gaiman may be writing an episode of Doctor Who. Currently, the speculation is centering on series 5. That could be quite interesting! I can only imagine what we’d end up with. (Thanks for the head’s up, Erik.)

In an interview on EclipseMagazine.com, Eve Myles talks about the difficulty of filming “Exit Wounds” and some of her upcoming projects. Still no new information about series three of Torchwood, sadly.

TVShowsOnDVD.com is announcing that there are some classic Doctor Who adventures and K-9 and Company headed for DVD in September. The Invasion of Time, the Invisible Enemy, and K-9 And Company will appear on shelves in North America on 2 September.

Billie Piper, Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Steven Moffat at Gallifrey One #19

You read that right. Today the BBC is announcing that Steven Moffat will be succeeding Russell T Davies as Head Writer and Executive Producer for Doctor Who starting with the Fifth Series which will be broadcast in 2010.

This is simply spectacular news. Like Russell T Davies, and David Tennant, Steven Moffat is a long time fan of Doctor Who. Also in the plus column, are his two Hugos (so far, as he’s up for another one this year) and the occasional BAFTA. He’s brought us Captain Jack, Gas-Mask Zombies, Clockwork Robots, Sally Sparrow, and Weeping Angels. Plus, of course, whatever we encounter in the next two-parter. Just think what he could do from the helm. Please pardon my happy dance. Really, I could go on for days.

Congrats, Mr. Moffat! I know that you have always wanted this job.

Hmm…I wonder if this means he won’t be able to come to the next Gallifrey One. He’s not on the list yet, anyway. Good thing I got his autograph this year.

The Official BBC Doctor Who Site has posted a quick update containing almost all of the remaining episode titles for series four. You will note that episode twelve’s name remains Top Secret. So, here’s what we have to look forward to.

Episode 8: Silence in the Library - by Steven Moffat

Episode 9: Forest of the Dead - by Steven Moffat

Episode 10: Midnight - by Russell T Davies

Episode 11: Turn Left - by Russell T Davies

Episode 12: TOP SECRET!

Episode 13: Journey’s End - by Russell T Davies

(I wonder if Episode 11 has anything to do with Looney Tunes…)

Doctor Who, Steven Moffat, Russell T Davies

The BBC is reporting that, just like last year, there will be a one week pause in the flow of Doctor Who to make way for the Eurovison Song Contest. So, this seemed to me like a good point to take stock and see where we all are in the Whoniverse.

The Sarah Jane Adventures:

(For series two rumors and very exact listings of the cuts in the US version of SJA, you may wish to keep an eye on Sarah Jane.tv.)

UK: Series 2 hasn’t begun yet, but there is a rumour that the Doctor will make an appearance in the show this series.
US: Series 1 is almost done. On 16 May, SciFi showed The first half of the last story “The Lost Boy.” The final episode of the series will be shown on 30 May 2008. Yes. You have to wait a whole extra week to find out what happens.

Doctor Who:

UK: The Unicorn and The Wasp (episode 7) will appear as per usual on 17 May 2008. The following week will see The Eurovison Song Contest on on 24 May. Then we can finally see the first half of Steven Moffat’s two-parter (Silence In The Library) on 31 May.
US: Guess what? The US has a gap week, too! On 16 May the Sci Fi Channel showed The Sontaran Stratagem (episode 4), but the second half of the two-parter (The Poison Sky) won’t appear until 30 May.

Torchwood:

US & UK: Series 2 is done, and we’ve heard no official word about when Series 3 might begin. There is, however, a special audio adventure coming up on Radio 4 (sometime in June or July last I heard.)

You are officially up to date.

Even sexy dressed down

David Tennant has been voted TV’s Sexiest Leading Man in a poll run by digital channel Hallmark, The Daily Record (and many other places) is reporting. It seems that he got nearly a quarter of all the votes. The poll also found that thirty-eight percent of responders “said charisma was the key component for a leading man.” Thirty-six percent maintained that “looking good” was the key ingredient, and twelve percent said “not playing by the rules” got their vote. Who else could they have chosen for the number one spot?

Way to go David!

David Tennant