Doctor Who

An archive of blog entries about British science-fiction programme Doctor Who.

Film

The other Sherlock Holmes movie of the year: that one starring Gareth David-Lloyd – you know, Ianto off Torchwood – and Dominic Keating from Enterprise and Desmond’s

13 January 2010 Rob Buckley 11 Comments

Gareth David-Lloyd in Sherlock Holmes

Dominic Keating in copper

Now I’m not saying that Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto off Torchwood) as Dr Watson, Ben Syder as Sherlock Holmes, and Dominic Keating from Enterprise and Desmond’s in a copper suit as some kind of villain, all against a backdrop of dinosaurs in London, is the worst idea in the world.

But…

Sherlock Holmes

…well would you? Watch it, I mean?

[via]

A few morsels from Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale – The Final Chapter, p662, about The End of Time

8 January 2010 Rob Buckley 4 Comments

I have here a shiny review copy of Russell T Davies/Benjamin Cook’s updated version of The Writer’s Tale (aka The Final Chapter). I’ll be reviewing it next week, and then one of you lucky people can have it in a totally random competition. 

But on p662, I found these exciting nuggets on information that should help clarify a few things in The End of Time that are causing controversy.

Euros has just been on the phone to Timothy Dalton, about playing the Lord President! TIMOTHY DALTON!!! AS RASSILON!!! Early days, of course – it’s still not a definite booking – but it’s as close as it can be. (I wanted the bloke from The Five Doctors, but apparently he was banned from acting ever again.)

Then, in a footnote, "In 1983 Doctor Who Special The Five Doctors, Rassilon was played by the late actor Richard Matthews."

So definitely the same Rassilon then.

And then

Oh, and Claire Bloom is playing the Doctor’s mum! (Yes, that’s what she’s been told, too.)

That looks reasonably definite to me.

Friday’s Mamma Mia! BBC3 news

8 January 2010 Rob Buckley Post a comment

Doctor Who

Films

British TV

US TV

  • Laura Linney’s The Big C gets a greenlight
  • The Middle hits a series high in the ratings
  • TBS orders Uncle Nigel pilot from Monk creator
Audio and radio play reviews

Review: Doctor Who – An Earthly Child

7 January 2010 Rob Buckley 2 Comments

An Earthly Child Big Finish occasionally come up with some nice ideas for subscriber bonuses. Okay, Return of the Krotons wasn’t one of them but Company of Friends was at least a good idea, even if it was poorly executed. However, every time they do it, they say it’s going to be exclusive to subscribers, don’t manage to get many people to subscribe on the strength of it (what? I get three Sylvester McCoy plays and the Key2Time season? Whoopee), so end up releasing them anyway.

So it is with An Earthly Child, a potentially very good idea, which is already available to pre-order, having been sent to subscribers in December. In it, Paul McGann journeys to the now defunct future in which the Daleks mined out the Earth’s core to turn it into a spaceship, so he can visit Susan, his granddaughter.

Yes, the Doctor not only has kids, a wife and probably a mum, he also had a granddaughter – the very first companion to the very first Doctor, William Hartnell, in the very first story, An Unearthly Child (which you can watch all of on YouTube). Played by Carole Anne Ford, she stayed behind on Earth to help rebuild the planet and married a man called David Campbell.

Ford is back as Susan for this story, set 30 years after the invasion, and she’s accompanied by Paul McGann’s son, Jake McGann, who appropriately enough plays Susan’s son, Alex – the Doctor’s great-grandson.

Continue reading “Review: Doctor Who – An Earthly Child”

The writers for series five of Doctor Who

7 January 2010 Rob Buckley Post a comment

According to DWM (apparently. You think I’d buy it?), the writers on the fifth series of Doctor Who are:

  • Steven Moffat (six episodes); past work – Coupling, Press Gang, Jekyll et al; The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
  • Mark Gatiss (one episode); past work – The League of Gentlemen et al; The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot’s Lantern, The Lazarus Experiment
  • Gareth Roberts (one episode); past work – The Sarah Jane Adventures; The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp
  • Richard Curtis (one episode); past work – Blackadder, The Vicar of Dibley, Four Weddings and a Funeral et al
  • Toby Whithouse (one episode); past work – Being Human et al; School Reunion
  • Chris Chibnall (two episodes); past work – Torchwood, Law and Order; 42
  • Simon Nye (one episode); past work – Men Behaving Badly et al

What are we all thinking? Interesting choice of Chris Chibnall, certainly, but the rest look potentially good, IMO, especially since Nye, Gatiss and Curtis are primarily comedy writers.