the doctor-related stories
Posted Nov 24th 2009 10:36AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Doctor Who, Reality-Free
The final episode of David Tennant's run on
Doctor Who "The End of Time" has been posted online. Well, not the entire two-parter, but just the first three minutes or so. It was broadcast in England on the BBC as part of their Children in Need special. The first episode is scheduled to be shown in the U.K. on Christmas Day with the final episode on New Year's Day.
Spoilers and video are after the jump.
Continue reading David Tennant in The End of Time (the first three minutes)
Posted Nov 18th 2009 3:02PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, TV on DVD, Reality-Free, British TV
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.
Continue reading New Doctor Who DVD features new CG-enhanced episode
Posted Nov 14th 2009 12:29PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Doctor Who, Celebrities, Reality-Free
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?
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 8:03AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Doctor Who, Reality-Free
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.
Posted Oct 7th 2009 11:41AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Doctor Who, Reality-Free
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?
Posted Aug 28th 2009 10:03AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Doctor Who, Celebrities, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading David Tennant and RTD give an exit interview
Posted Aug 12th 2009 9:03AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Doctor Who, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
In a victory for nerdy Brit-philes everywhere, BBC America
has announced the acquisition of U.S. broadcast rights for the fifth season of
Doctor Who starring the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith. This is on the tail of announcing record ratings for the American broadcast of the
Doctor Who episode Planet of the Dead and the mini-series
Torchwood: Children of Earth.
This is all the more reason to curse my cable company for not actually carrying BBC America and having to resort to other means to watch one of my favorite programs of all time. You know when a network tells you to call your cable company to carry your favorite stations? I will personally testify in a court of law that it accomplishes jack squat.
There are no other television stations that could correctly carry
Doctor Who in the states. SyFy? Oh please. Their first run with the series was lukewarm at best. The Doctor is home, and I look forward to catching his new adventures however I can.
Posted Aug 3rd 2009 3:12PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading David Tennant's Hamlet coming to Great Performances
Posted Jul 23rd 2009 9:02PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Doctor Who, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Get your scarves out. Tom Baker is returning to the lead in
Doctor Who after 30 years of pretty much abandoning the role (playing it again only for a fraction of a second in the 1993
Children In Need special). He'll be starring in a set of
BBC audio plays along with Richard Franklin, who will return alongside the fourth Doctor as Captain Mike Yates, one of the Doctor's companions from that era.
This is big news. Until David Tennant, Baker was synonymous with the role yet absolutely refused to do any performances related to it. Big Finish has been doing
Doctor Who audio dramas for a decade with four of the other actors who played the part, yet the company was never able to snag Tom Baker for one.
I'm certain going to seek out this audio. Hopefully this is only the beginning of more
Doctor Who audio plays starring Mr. Baker. He has been sorely missed.
Posted Jul 21st 2009 9:03AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Doctor Who, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The new actor to play the lead role on
Doctor Who, Matt Smith, has begun filming his first episodes. Thus, the paparazzi were able
to snap some photos of his outfit. Despite being the youngest actor to play the role, he's dressed like the oldest. It's something of a full-color version of Patrick Troughton's outfit from the 1960's. Perhaps it's a hipster thing.
It's been suggested online that he's going for a science teacher look, and that would actually be pretty retro of the show (which was originally intended to teach children about science and history, although I'm not sure how meeting cavemen followed by Daleks teaches either).
Mr. Smith has pretty big shoes to fill, particularly considering that by the time he was considered of age to watch the show, it was off the air. Still, Steven Moffat is now the showrunner, so I'm confident that despite the loss of David Tennant and however the Doctor looks, it will still be among the best shows on television.
Posted Jun 2nd 2009 5:05PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Doctor Who, Reality-Free
BBC Video will be releasing some new DVDs in North America come July that includes
Torchwood: Children of Earth and
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead. I immediately took note of the fact that nobody mentioned releasing the last
Doctor Who Christmas special which was broadcast in England in December 2008,
The Next Doctor.
Way back in 1996, the BBC co-produced a
Doctor Who television movie with Fox in the United States which starred Paul McGann as the Doctor. Since then, the rights regarding reproduction or broadcast of that movie in North America has been somewhat convoluted at best. In the last Christmas special, a clip of Paul McGann from that TV movie was shown, and I cannot help but wonder if that clip is holding up release of the video.
Of course, it could simply be a case of the BBC waiting until Christmas or any one of a dozen other reasons. But I have a suspicious mind and I cannot help but think that it was a mistake for the BBC to ever co-produce
Doctor Who with an American company if it is such a hindrance to the American release of their own DVDs.
Posted May 28th 2009 10:34AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Doctor Who, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The good Doctor is going home...sort of. BBC America has
acquired first-run American rights for this year's
Doctor Who specials. David Tennant's final episodes will appear on BBCA and not on Sy Fy.
This makes perfect sense, of course. Despite having science-fiction trappings,
Doctor Who is, at its core, a British show. BBCA also runs other Brit science-fiction programs like
Torchwood and
Primeval (which runs on BBC rival ITV, but is still British), so having
Doctor Who on it is a no-brainer.
With the Sci Fi Channel's "reimagining" to Sy Fy, I can even see why it would pass on the show this year and probably future years. No doubt Sy Fy wants to own future programming and not broadcast someone else's stuff (particularly something that could be perceived as the competition).
In short, it's another reason to call your cable company and request BBC America if you don't already have it. Believe me, I've tried.
Posted May 15th 2009 4:29PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Doctor Who, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
This piece of news is from
The Sun newspaper in England, so as always when I relay information from that particular source, take it with a grain of salt. With that in mind,
The Sun is reporting that ex-Bond Timothy Dalton is
in talks to appear as a villain in one or more of David Tennant's remaining
Doctor Who specials.
While obviously Dalton would not play the main villain of the piece (that role has already been cast by a returning arch-nemesis), he's exactly the sort that Russell T. Davies would have play an evil businessman. I suspect that is the plan.
I'd be more impressed with they had gotten Roger Moore or Sean Connery to play a role in
Who, but I think that would be pushing it.
For you Dalton fans (and I just loved him in the 80's
Flash Gordon movie), it's just one more reason to tune in to the specials when they are broadcast later this year. Damn you, Sci Fi and/or BBCA for not broadcasting these specials in the U.S.!
Posted May 13th 2009 2:27PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, 24, Lost, Doctor Who, Heroes, TV Squad Lists, Reaper, Reality-Free, Fringe, TV Squad Ten
Everybody loves a good mystery. Well maybe not everybody if the ratings for
Harper's Island are any indication. But mysteries and suspense have been a part of television since it's inception. It's one thing for the plot to be full of mysteries. Things like "Who shot J.R.?" can become a part of popular culture. But J.R. himself wasn't a mystery, we knew him pretty well.
But there are those characters we don't know much about. Think about Benjamin Linus from
Lost when he first appeared as Henry Gale among the Flight 815 survivors. There were so many secrets and mysteries surrounding him that we couldn't take our eyes off of him when he was on-screen. Well Ben's story may be more or less told, though something tells me there's still more to be gleaned, but there are plenty of familiar faces on television with not so familiar back-stories. And while Ben didn't make the list, that doesn't mean
Lost went unrepresented.
If you just want the list, click here.Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Most mysterious characters on television
Posted May 13th 2009 2:27PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, 24, Lost, Doctor Who, Heroes, TV Squad Lists, Reaper, Reality-Free, Fringe, TV Squad Ten
10 - Dr. Helen Magnus (
Sanctuary, SyFy)
9 - Captain Jack Harkness (
Torchwood, BBC America)
8 - Castiel (
Supernatural, The CW)
7 - Tony Almeida, (
24, Fox)
6 - Angela Petrelli, (
Heroes, NBC)
5 - The Devil (
Reaper, The CW)
4 - Christina Scofield (
Prison Break, Fox)
3 - The Doctor (
Doctor Who, SyFy)
2 - Richard Alpert (
Lost, ABC)
1 - Walter Bishop (
Fringe, Fox)
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