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?
I consider this a huge coup for NBC. After traveling through time and space in the TARDIS the past several years, it looks like Doctor Who'sDavid Tennant is heading stateside to take the lead in Rex is Not Your Lawyer. Tennant will star as Rex, a top Chicago litigator who becomes so crippled by anxiety that he takes to coaching his clients into representing themselves.
The idea is completely madcap, but I think Tennant has just the right kind of wacky tenacity and cavalier bravado to pull off the role. In fact, it was apparently difficulty in casting the role that delayed the project until Tennant bounced in and nailed it.
It'll be interesting to see what they do about his accent. Tennant is Scottish, but adopted an "Estuary English" accent for his role as the Doctor. I think the Doctor's accent would work tremendously with the comedic role described here, but I can see the showrunners pushing him to make like Hugh Laurie (House) and so many others and go American with it.
The next Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars, will be broadcast on BBC America on Saturday December 19th at 9 P.M. For those like myself whose cable company doesn't carry BBC America, we're S.O.L.
Of course, the BBC British broadcast date is November 15th. In that gap, I'm sure even the less technically adept fan in the United States can snag a copy of the show, and fans of the show tend to be more capable when it comes to technology. Not that I'm encouraging such behavior. I'm simply saying that a gap of a month is a LONG time in the digital world. The companies involved would have been better off with a gap of 24 hours. At that point, it's less likely that piracy will occur.
However, for those who are sticklers about this whole "copyright law" thing, you have your opportunity to see the program on December 19th. Hopefully you can wait that long.
(P.S. For those who need more David Tennant as the Doctor before his departure, he's currently appearing on the spin-off show The Sarah Jane Adventures in the U.K.)
David Tennant and Simon Pegg will star in John Landis' next film Burke and Hare. Tennant will soon be stepping down as the lead character in Doctor Who and while Pegg has mostly been in movies as of late (such as the recent cinematic remake of Star Trek), he is known for co-creating the television cult fave Spaced.
It will be interesting to see them work together since Pegg is a big sci-fi fan. He appeared in the first season of Doctor Who as "The Editor," before Tennant came on board. Sadly, the movie probably has very little science fiction involved since it's about a pair of famous 19th century grave robbers. What do you expect from the man who brought us An American Werewolf in London?
It's also good to hear that director John Landis apparently isn't career-dead either and has just moved shop to England (hopefully only temporarily). Animal House and The Blues Brothers are two of my favorite movies of all time.
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?
Former Doctor Who lead actor (or current, depending on how you measure it) David Tennant did a quick television interview with PBS for the TV Critics Press Tour. He'll be taking over as host of their series Masterpiece Contemporary.
In the interview, he briefly glosses over his experience in Doctor Who (as well as the Harry Potter franchise) and discusses the relative importance of public television between England and America. He also discusses his Lou Reed t-shirt. I think Doctor Who has influenced David Tennant's fashion sense. In his personal television appearances, he always seems to sport a casual jacket similar to that of his former character (albeit over a t-shirt).
Any long-time Who fan is very familiar with the relationship between PBS and Doctor Who, as that was the channel that the program could be found on in the 1970's and 1980's. It's a nice interview. Tennant will be a terrific host for that program. The video follows.
Before Doctor Who fans say good bye to David Tennant in the BBC's final three specials of 2009, they'll get a little extra colorful bonus Tennant from the Beeb's Red Button service and the Who website.
Doctor Who: "Dreamland" is the show's first venture into "3D" CG animation, and that makes for a stylistic representation of the Tennant's tall, skinny Time Lord. Writer Phil Ford (a veteran of both live action Who and Torchwood) takes the The Doctor to a diner in Roswell, New Mexico where all manner of alien shenanigans are going on.
American fans won't get to see the six-part series in its first run, as they're blocked out of video feeds on the BBC's websites. If only there were other websites that showed online video (illegally) posted by fans. Oh, well.
Outgoing Doctor Who producer Russell T. Davies and outgoing Doctor Who star David Tennant gave a 20-minute exit interview on Boing Boing Video (via YouTube). The entire video appears after the jump if you're feeling too lazy to click the link.
The interview took place around the San Diego Comic Con and is being done as a promotion for the next Doctor Who special, The Waters of Mars. There are a few spoilers (they do reveal the Master's appearance in the final episodes later this year, but that's pretty common knowledge at this point), but there is a sense of the feelings from the dynamic duo as they leave the franchise.
With 2010 edging closer and the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who coming to an end, the BBC is in the midst of revamping the show's website.
With 2009 offering only a few Who specials and turning the series into a sporadic event until it returns full-time in 2010, the BBC has time to revamp the show's image and identity online.
The effectiveness of their efforts so far are debatable as they seem to be looking backward more than forward to the new Matt Smith/11th Doctor era.
For example, the re-engineered Doctor Who website added a blog by Davies in which he discusses the new David Tennant-voiced, 10th Doctor CGI cartoon, Dreamland.
I've been counting down the days with sadness this year, as we get closer and closer to David Tennant's final foray into space and beyond as The Doctor. And with only a few movies to tide me over, it's even more bittersweet. By the end of the year, he will be gone and replaced by Matt Smith.
But while Doctor Who has to move on without Tennant, another classic will be coming stateside with Tennant in the lead. PBS will be airing the television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet with David Tennant as part of its Great Performances series in 2010. Tennant performed as Hamlet live with the Company to great success in 2008.
If that's not enough to get you excited, how about the fact that the cast includes yet another pop culture icon. None other than one of the greatest Starfleet captains in the history of Star Trek: Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself, Patrick Stewart, as King Claudius.
When you're bombarded with one panel after the other, it's sometimes hard to figure out how to group them together. One writer I was sitting with at the BBC America panel, for instance, was blogging each individual panel, and was such a frantic blur of writing and Photoshopping that she developed what can best be described as SCTS (Sudden Carpal Tunnel Syndrome).
You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. Me, I figured that there were three panels that could be put in what I call the "Comic-Con group": Spartacus on Starz, and Doctor Who and Being Human on BBC America. These shows got extensive showcases in San Diego over the weekend, and there wasn't many details revealed in any of these panels that you wouldn't have heard over the din at SDCC. So I'm going to go over the three of them in brief after the jump.
Let me give you a good teaser: If you were on the fence about seeing Spartacus, the prospect of a naked Lucy Lawless may convince you.
It's safe to say David Tennant wasn't prepared for what he was running into at Comic-Con International.
"I've never been to San Diego before, lets alone Comic-Con," Tennant told me in the Scottish accent he hid while playing The Doctor for five years on the BBC's crown jewel, Doctor Who. "The fan response here has been incredible -- just walking to the elevator. I can't imagine what'll be like during the panel (Sunday)."
Tennant is attending Comic-Con with former Who show-runner and Torchwood creator Russell T. Davies to promote the final specials featuring Tennant in the lead role. And, with mere hours to go before Sunday morning's Doctor Who panel (one of the major events of Comic-Con's closing day), he insists that's the only reason he's there -- besides meeting the fans.
"I've heard we're supposed to announce a Doctor Who movie," Tennant explained. "Or, I'm supposed to be playing The Hobbit. But we're just here to promote the specials."
Okay, this is strictly in the "rumor" department. In fact, this piece is so unlikely that I hesitate to write it. But, I'm going to anyway. Sci Fi Wire hinted that Doctor Who's David Tennant might be up for the role of Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming two-movie version of The Hobbit, which will be produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo del Toro.
The logic behind this is that David Tennant will be at Comic Con and the production team of The Hobbit will be at Comic Con. I'll leave it to you to find the gap in that logic.
Now, I love David Tennant as the Doctor, but he's completely inappropriate for Bilbo Baggins. He's too tall. He's too skinny. I'd even say he's too good-looking.
I wouldn't say I'm completely against the concept, but if you're going to cast an actor who played the Doctor as Bilbo Baggins, I recommend Sylvester McCoy.
The Doctor Who franchise is jumping to a U.S. publisher for a new regularly scheduled comic book due to arrive in stores this week.
IDW Publishing, also the home for Star Trek, G.I. Joe, The Transformers and Angel comics, isn't the first American company to publish Who . Marvel was the home of Fourth Doctor Tom Baker's two-dimenstional adventures in the 1970s.
But those Marvel titles were written by Brits (including Alan Moore) for Brits. In a testament to Who's rebirth and international popularity, IDW's titles will be printed in the U.S. for an eager American audience -- while additional Who comics run in the U.K.
Doctor Who's David Tennant (right) and Who/Torchwood executive producer Russell T. Davies are headed to Comic-Con for the first time this year -- just in time for both of them to walk away from sci-fi's longest running TV series.
It should be a huge event, as fans of both Doctor Who and Torchwood will get their first chance to grill the people most directly responsible for the shows' development over the last few years.
Tennant, will appear alongside Davies, former Who executive producer Julie Gardner and Who/Torchwood director Euros Lyn at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego on Sunday, July 26, 10-11:00 am PT.
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.
I consider this a huge coup for NBC. After traveling through time and space in the TARDIS the past several years, it looks like Doctor Who's 
The next 
David Tennant and Simon Pegg will star in John Landis' next film 
Before 
With 2010 edging closer and the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who coming to an end, the BBC is in the midst of revamping the show's website.
I've been counting down the days with sadness this year, as we get closer and closer to David Tennant's final foray into space and beyond as The Doctor. And with only a few movies to tide me over, it's even more bittersweet. By the end of the year, he will be gone and replaced by Matt Smith.
When you're bombarded with one panel after the other, it's sometimes hard to figure out how to group them together. One writer I was sitting with at the BBC America panel, for instance, was blogging each individual panel, and was such a frantic blur of writing and Photoshopping that she developed what can best be described as SCTS (Sudden Carpal Tunnel Syndrome).
It's safe to say David Tennant wasn't prepared for what he was running into at Comic-Con International.
The Doctor Who franchise is jumping to a U.S. publisher for a new regularly scheduled comic book due to arrive in stores this week.
Doctor Who's David Tennant (right) and Who/Torchwood executive producer Russell T. Davies are headed to Comic-Con for the first time this year -- just in time for both of them to walk away from sci-fi's longest running TV series.
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