An archive of blog entries about British science-fiction programme Doctor Who.
I realise it’s been a while since I’ve posted a David Tennant picture for your enjoyment. Since apparently it’s a contractual obligation or something, here you go. And I have 156 where that came from.
Freema Agyeman chats with Doctor Who Magazine this month about her role as the new companion, in her first proper interview since the Beeb announced her casting.
Meanwhile, David Tennant gives a local paper something to write about for a change by opening a school fair.
Doctor Who‘s all very nice and all, but at its heart, it’s a show aimed mainly at kids. Happily enough, adults can also get some fun from it, but if you want hard-core, adult sci-fi (which is very different from adult hardcore sci-fi, of course), you have to go to the States.
Battlestar Galactica is still the show to beat in terms of, well, everything really, if you want decent plotlines, decent effects, decent characters, etc. Season three would normally be starting right now, but the US SciFi channel has delayed it until October to make sure it’s all really well done and ready for when it finally sees the light of day.
However, there’s a trailer available on YouTube now (with a slight audio sync problem) to give you an idea of what season three’s going to be like.
Incidentally, Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate SG-1 both began new seasons on Friday. I haven’t reviewed them because, to be honest, it’s the same old, same old there – they keep plodding along with nothing desperately bad or desperately good to take away from it all. Fun, but we’re in the 13th mile of a marathon, really.
One thing though. Both shows, together with Battlestar Galactica, have the kind of effects that Doctor Who can only dream of. So the next time you hear RTD going on about how fabulous The Mill is, show him an ep of Stargate Atlantis. Hell, even these mocked up season three titles for BSG should give him pause for thought:
I spent the weekend in Cardiff, which was very nice and very sunny, despite the usual Welsh weather. Cardiff, of course, is where Doctor Who is filmed, so the challenge was to avoid anything Doctor Who related. This was easier said than done.
I could brave the posters, the banners, the fliers and the leaflets. I could survive my wife’s repeated hints (“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to see the Doctor Who exhibition?” “Yes!” “You know you want to…” “Can we not see the birds at the wetlands reserve instead?” “It’s Doctor Who…” And so on.). But then the mother-in-law turned up and I was out-numbered (“We’re just going off this way. If you’d like to come with us…”). So we went to the exhibition.
It’s not bad actually. It’s just a couple of rooms really, but only costs £4 per adult and there’s plenty of props from the new series, as well as a few props from the classic series that are starting to look a bit droopy. There’s plenty of buttons to push, behind-the-scenes facts, Doctor Who background information and a shop for buying tatt. Plus, of course, there’s a shrine to RTD.
Here’s a few pics from the exhibition (incidentally, a piece of advice: if you drop your camera on the floor and break the zoom on your lens, don’t try and brave your way through it. It’s time to buy a new camera)
With no new David Tennant Doctor Who stories to watch until the Christmas Special, you could do worse than tune in to listen to Paul McGann’s Doctor on BBC 7 this Sunday at 6pm.
This repeat run begins with the six-part Shada, which also features both Romana and K9 in a script originally written by Douglas Adams for Tom Baker. Following that, it will continue with McGann’s first audio season for Big Finish.
The Beeb are going to be doing an episode a week (so it’ll last until the middle of next century, I reckon), but half an hour or so of Who every seven days should be enough to keep you going until Christmas.
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