Many sci-fi fans wonder what classic Doctor Who might look like if the BBC bosses of the '70s and '80s could have budgeted more than £6 per episode for visual effects.
A new Who DVD set from BBC Video features a specially remastered episode that offers you just that experience.
Doctor Who: "The Black Guardian Trilogy" serves up a trio of 1983 Who episodes featuring Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor in a life and death struggle against a supernatural evil force.
A team of restoration and digital effects artists took the final episode of that trilogy ("Enlightenment" -- a well-written, high-concept adventure featuring a simulated sailing race in deep space) and laid in 21st Century CG visuals.
Fantasy novelist Michael Moorcook will be writing a Doctor Who story. No, it won't be a script for the actual television show bur rather an original novel. He revealed this on his forum.
The mind boggles with regards to what a fantasy novelist like Moorcock could do with Doctor Who. He's used to antihero creations like Elric. Any spin he could put on the character would be interesting. As of yet, it's not even known which incarnation of The Doctor he'll be writing about.
The most appropriate Doctor for Moorcock to write about could be the first (played by William Hartnell), who had a subtle arrogance and sinister nature (arguably the least human of the bunch). I'd personally like to read a sixth Doctor story by Moorcock.
Moorcock has influenced legendary writers like Alan Moore. Whatever take he has on the Doctor Who universe will at least be interesting. What do you think?
The miniseries Torchwood: Children of Earth was a huge ratings and critical success. It was only a matter of time before show creator Russell T. Davies started talking, officially, about moving ahead with another season of Torchwood.
"The recession has hit British television, but fingers crossed, it will be a go. We expect things to start to move in January. We've got great ideas for the show. I think there's a further lease on life for many years to come, but certainly for a [fourth season]," Davies said.
Oprah Winfrey is all over the news these days as she fires up her new network and considers moving her talk show from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Now, we get to listen to her narrate the epic BBC nature series, Life. Subtitled by the BBC with, "The Definitive Exploration of the Adaptability and Diversity of Life on Earth," the eleven-part series examines evolution and the behaviors that animals devised to live, thrive and survive. Discovery Channel is bringing it your way in March after Oprah vocalizes a bit.
I know the BBC has done this sort of thing before. In fact, no one does it better. But this time around, they're using state-of-the-art high-definition filming techniques.
But why is Oprah necessary? I have nothing particularly against the woman. Despite her massive media pull, I manage to more or less steer clear of her estrogen fest. But, the BBC production comes pre-narrated with world-famous naturalist, Sir David Attenborough. Is over-dubbing necessary?
Think of the most popular American daytime soap. Then, multiply that by a factor of 10. That's the ongoing craze known as the BBC's immortal EastEnders. Premiering in 1985, the working-class melodrama remains one of the U.K.'s highest-rated series.
Now, EastEnders is set to kick off its own web spinoff series next year. According to a Beeb press release, the online BBC Vision Multiplatform commissioned EastEnders: E20 to go live in January, 2010.
In addition to taking advantage of TV's online evolution, the web series will help to celebrated the EastEnders 25th anniversary.
Now, the question is if anyone in Hollywood can catch on to moves like these and adapt more successful U.S. shows into big name web series. Shows like 24 tried brief web dalliances, but nothing this ambitious has yet to take flight from American networks.
Someone on YouTube has smuggled a clip of the new Doctor Who CGI adventure that the BBC will be airing later this year titled "Dreamland". It's still the David Tennant version of the Doctor, so he gets one more go as the character before he becomes Rex.
And it looks... well, frankly, not that good. Oh, the story is great, I'm sure, and Tennant is as spot on as the Doctor as he ever was. It's the CGI. It looks primitive by today's standards. Topless Robot wrote the the style of the clip reminds them of the Reboot CGI cartoon from the 90's, and I have to agree. I recognize the BBC isn't Pixar, and I'm all for Doctor Who in other non-filmed forms, whether it's CGI, primitive animation or just plain old audio adventures. But if it's done, I'd rather it be done better than this.
However, I leave it to you to judge for yourself. What do you think of the clip?
When watching any nature special from PBS or the BBC featuring dangerous wild animals photographed at reasonably close range, how often do you stop and consider the very real danger men and women are in while getting that footage?
The kids were in Africa serving as TV hosts for the CBBC (BBC's children's channel) show, Serious Explorers. Seven children were planning to follow the steps of Victorian explorer Dr. David Livingston.
Reports say, when the elephant charged a group of the CBBC kids, Turner challenged the elephant and attempted to shoot his rifle at the animal. But, he was unable to open fire in time and was trampled. Turner leaves behind a pregnant wife.
SyFy has picked up the rights to broadcast an American version of the BBC show Being Human. For those who are unaware, Being Human is about a twenty-something ghost, a werewolf and a vampire that live together, each with their own set of melodramatic problems. It's a bit like a supernatural Melrose Place.
Actually, given the context of the program, it would go much better on The CW. But that's not likely at this point. They already have The Vampire Diaries anyway.
While relaunching Americanized versions of Brit shows has been successfully done on television before (such as The Office), it's the first time that I'm aware that SyFy has tried it. Usually they have new versions of old television shows with hit-or-miss results (there was Battlestar Galactica, and then there was Flash Gordon).
The BBC series was okay but not great. If the British makers of the show are lucky, SyFy won't butcher it beyond recognition.
As I scoured Google Images for a picture to accompany my Lego reality show post, pictures of James May's mop-topped mug kept popping up in my browser. What possibly could the Top Gear presenter have in common with the classic kids' toy that has caused a million foot fatalities? If you've ever stepped on one barefoot, especially the one peg bricks, you know how close to death it actually feels.
It turns out he lived in a whole house made out of them for our amusement. The Lego house was one of many projects for James May's Toy Stories, a series of projects designed to show kids that the classic toys of yesteryear can be just as cool as their newfangled video games and iPods.
This particular story does have an unhappy ending. The producers tried to sell the house to the Lego company for one of their theme parks, but the cost of transporting the house was too much. So they had to tear it down.
Prepare for some spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you. By the way, Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor (or the 12th, depending on how they spin David Tennant's extraneous regeneration) in case you didn't know.
Actually, it's not that bad. From an article posted on The Doctor Who News Page, it is learned that his new companion, Amy, is a police officer. In a few photos, he also seems to be wearing the remnants of Tennant's outfit. From the description, the Doctor is probably going through some post-regenerative trauma. When has the Doctor ever regenerated without trauma? Never, I think.
I know they film out of order, but it feels odd to know already what his outfit is going to look like. Here is one other possible minor spoiler: in the scenes filmed, the Sonic Screwdriver gets destroyed (and Matt Smith was slightly injured in the process). Between Matt Smith's age and that plot device, it's like Steven Moffat is trying to copy the Peter Davison era.
You wouldn't think a guy nicknamed Captain Slow by his co-hosts on Top Gear would have a deep-seeded fascination with journeying to the Moon.
But super car presenter James May (right) has held a childhood dream to experience how it feels to fly to the edge of space in the upcoming BBC America special, James May on the Moon.
According to a Beeb press release, the special follows May as he connects with the astronauts who ventured into space, as well as the engineers and mechanics who built the vehicles that took them there.
And, in keeping with that Top Gear spirit, May takes a virtual test drive in those vintage space vehicles -- recreating the tests and journeys of the original space pioneers.
One of the Earth's most beloved books and mini-series celebrated a big birthday today.
Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first published 30 years ago today. The wildly imaginative and funny science-fiction novel spawned four more books, a radio series, a text based video game and a cult classic British mini-series. It also spawned a big budget Hollywood remake that shall not been mentioned again in this post, so there.
In honor of this momentous day for sci-fi humor geekdom, here is the iconic opening of the original BBC mini-series originally aired in 1981. Pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster and enjoy.
Every once in a while, the British television show Doctor Who is revamped. This is usually done by replacing the lead actor and his supporting crew. However, it is also done by changing the logo of the series. As a result, certain logos are associated with certain eras. Yesterday, the BBC has revealed on their website the logo to be associated with the Matt Smith era of the show. They also have a video of the historical logos of the show.
I don't have a particular favorite logo, although I liked both the "diamond" logo of the 70's, most closely associated with Tom Baker's era, and the "neon" logo of the 80's, which spanned three Doctors (Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker). The current one isn't bad either with the cylinder thing with pointy ends (what is that shape called?).
A video preview of thenew logo is available on certain sites such as Topless Robot. What do you think of it? Which logo has been your favorite?
Exciting news for both fans of Summer Heights High and men dressing as multiple characters in general! HBO is helping to launch a new Chris Lilley project called Angry Boys, set to begin production this month.
I've seen some of Lilley's other work and, while it's intriguing, none of it has been quite as amazing as the sheer ridiculousness that was Summer Heights High. It became a phenomenon on the Internet and found a good deal of success when it finally came to the States via HBO.
This may sound like an odd headline, since Norton is gay himself, so let's be specific: Graham Norton made a joke about lesbians and got in trouble for it.
He made the joke on his show recently (clip below, with guests Greg Kinnear and Ruth Jones), showing a picture from a web site that he said depicted "strange lesbians" with "bad haircuts." The BBC has told him and the show to stop endorsing stereotypes. You be the judge.
[via TV Tattle]
Many sci-fi fans wonder what classic Doctor Who might look like if the BBC bosses of the '70s and '80s could have budgeted more than £6 per episode for visual effects.
Fantasy novelist 
The miniseries 
Oprah Winfrey is all over the news these days as she fires up her new network and considers moving her talk show from Chicago to Los Angeles.
Think of the most popular American daytime soap. Then, multiply that by a factor of 10. That's the ongoing craze known as the BBC's immortal EastEnders. Premiering in 1985, the working-class melodrama remains one of the U.K.'s highest-rated series.
Someone on YouTube has smuggled a clip of the new Doctor Who CGI adventure that the BBC will be airing later this year titled "Dreamland". It's still the David Tennant version of the Doctor, so he gets one more go as the character before he 
When watching any nature special from PBS or the BBC featuring dangerous wild animals photographed at reasonably close range, how often do you stop and consider the very real danger men and women are in while getting that footage?
SyFy has 
Prepare for some spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you. By the way, Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor (or the 12th, depending on how they spin David Tennant's extraneous regeneration) in case you didn't know.
You wouldn't think a guy nicknamed Captain Slow by his co-hosts on Top Gear would have a deep-seeded fascination with journeying to the Moon.
Exciting news for both fans of Summer Heights High and men dressing as multiple characters in general! HBO is helping to launch a new 
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
