August 2016 – Page 7

Doctor Who toy shop owner appeals for help from sci-fi fans after thieves steal his stock

12 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who toy shop owner appeals for help from sci-fi fans after thieves steal his stock

Who’s Toys in Ratcliffe Gate, Mansfield, is pleading for help from sci-fi fans after thieves raided the premises and stole almost all of the small independent retailer’s stock.

Shop owner John Hadlow, who has run Who’s Toys for the past ten years, told RadioTimes.com that the burglars smashed the padlock and booted in the shop door before making off with Doctor Who models, Star Trek spaceships and other precious memorabilia, clearly undeterred by the store’s life-size Dalek, Scaramanga.

‘They must have made two or three trips because there were Tardises, there were Daleks, there were Star Trek ships, all sorts of things”, he explained. “It’s just destroyed me.”

Never ones to allow a fellow sci-fi lover to suffer alone, fans have already gathered online to begin raising funds to help John replace his stock.

A JustGiving crowd funding campaign to assist in covering the cost of the stolen goods has already surpassed its £500 target, and in continuing to gain support.

“A massive, massive thank you from the bottom of my heart” is what Hadlow tells RadioTimes.com he’d say to all those who’ve supported the shop thus far. “This last week, I’ve seen both sides of the human race, I’ve seen people who are so generous.”

“If there are any Doctor Who fans out there who think they can help us it would be absolutely amazing. Seriously amazing. It would kind of restore my faith in the human race.”

Doctor Who: The Movie (Bluray)

12 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

The cover for the forthcoming Bluray release of the 1996 Paul McGann Television Movie version of Doctor Who has just been released. You can now pre-order this title from the link below. The title is due to be released on: 19th September 2016.

Whilst returning the Master’s remains to their home planet of Gallifrey, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) crash lands the TARDIS on Earth in end-of-century San Francisco. Gunned down by a street gang, the Doctor is rushed to hospital, where exploratory surgery by Doctor Grace Holloway triggers a regeneration. The Master has meanwhile taken over the body of a paramedic and infiltrated the Doctor’s TARDIS, which he plans to use in his latest scheme to take over the Doctor’s new body and destroy the world. Filmed as the pilot for a revived ‘Doctor Who’ series – tailored to the American market – which subsequently failed to materialise, this feature-length adventure introduces Paul McGann as the renegade Time Lord.

This double-disc set, packed with extras, includes his first outing twenty years ago in the TARDIS and his more recent adventure from the 50th Anniversary year, Night of the Doctor.

PLEASE NOTE: This is an ‘upscale’ version of the TV Movie.

DISC 1 EXTRAS

• Commentary #1
From director Geoffrey Sax (recorded 2001)

• Commentary #2
By Paul McGann and Sylvester McCoy, moderated by Nicolas Briggs (recorded 2009)

• The Seven Year Hitch
Documenting the return Doctor Who to the screen. Narrated by Amanda Drew.

• The Doctor’s Strange Love
Writers Joe Lidster and Simon Guerrier discuss The TV Movie with comedian Josie Long.

• The Night of the Doctor
The Night of the Doctor was a mini-episode released in 2013 in the run-up to the show’s 50th anniversary special. This marks Paul McGann’s second on-screen appearance as the Eighth Doctor.

• Photo Gallery

• Isolated Score
The option to view The TV Movie with the isolated music soundtrack.

• Music Tracks
Four tracks from the production presented in full: In a Dream, All Dressed Up, Ride into the Moonlight and Auld Lang Syne.

• Production Subtitles

DISC 2 EXTRAS

• Paul McGann Audition

• Electric Press Kit
Used by Fox in 1996, this includes a short documentary and interview segments to allow other broadcasters to put together their own packages about the TV Movie.

• Behind the Scenes
On set and on location in Vancouver, Canada during the filming of The TV Movie.

• Philip Segal’s Tour of the TARDIS

• Alternate Takes

• BBC Trails

• Who Peter 1989-2009
The second part of this documentary, exploring the special relationship between Doctor Who and Blue Peter. Presented by Gethin Jones.

• The Wilderness Years
In the years between the end of the classic series and the broadcast of The TV Movie, Doctor Who survived in print, video and audio, kept alive by fans who were determined not to let it die.

• Stripped for Action – The Eighth Doctor
Looking at the Doctor’s adventures in comic-strip form.

• Tomorrow’s Times – The Eight Doctor
A look back at the contemporary coverage of The TV Movie in newspapers and other publications. Presented by Nicholas Courtney.

• VFX Tests June 1994
Early video effects tests by Amblin Imaging in 1994, featuring the ‘Spider Dalek’ design.

• VFX March 1996
Video effects presented as mute time-coded ‘work in progress’ shots from the CGI department.

Doctor Who Magazine Circulation Figures

12 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who Magazine increased its circulation in the first half of 2016, compared with the same period in 2015, according to figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

In the period January to June 2016 the magazine had an official certified circulation of 25,832 copies, up from 25,663 in the first six months of the previous year. As expected, the figure is slightly down on the July to December period last year, as the circulation is usually higher while the show is in transmission.

Doctor Who Adventures however, now has a certified circulation of 11,268, down from 20,506 in the equivalent six months last year, a drop of over 40%. At its peak in 2010, DWA had over 50,000 readers.

Apparently this Doctor Who location is seriously good for Pokémon Go

12 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

Apparently this Doctor Who location is seriously good for Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go doesn’t really need to be any more popular. There’s many (many, many, many) a person out there hunting Pokémon. But Patrick Ness, author and showrunner on Doctor Who spin-off Class, might just have found a way to take your Pokedex to a whole new level – thanks to a certain Time Lord.

How? Well, he claims that Cardiff Bay is actually a ruddy good place for a spot of Pokemon catching. “Heavy” in fact is his word of choice.

Yes, the filming location that has been used for many an episode of Doctor Who, and of course also featured as Torchwood’s secret headquarters The Hub, is apparently quite the hot spot for Pokemon Go. Thanks for the tip, Patrick.

https://twitter.com/Patrick_Ness/status/763425514388422656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

So many Pokemon down Cardiff Bay

— Liam Clapham (@liamclaphamx) August 9, 2016

Doctor Who returns to ‘Blink’ location for Season 10 episode

12 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

Doctor Who Blink Sally Sparrow

The second block of filming for the new season of Doctor Who continues this week.

Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie, who play the Twelfth Doctor and new companion Bill, were spotted on location today in Newport shooting scenes for what is believed to be Episode 4, written by Doctor Foster creator Mike Bartlett.

The pair were seen filming outside Fields House, which was previously used in ‘Blink’. Could the episode be a sequel to Steven Moffat’s 2007 story?

The location has also appeared in ‘The Snowmen’ and Fields Park Avenue was used in the first episode of Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Several photos of today’s filming have been posted by fans on Twitter.

#dwsr Peter and Pearl pic.twitter.com/yLhIWHtKnW

— Adam Till (@SillyTilly9) August 11, 2016

Took this earlier! #DWSR pic.twitter.com/XTBTozKsMZ

— adam (@ThatAdamOrford) August 11, 2016

Doctor Who: Casualties of Time

11 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

The finale of the fifth series of Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures is out today…

Now available is Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Casualties of Time, as the Doctor (Tom Baker), Romana (Lalla Ward) and K9 (John Leeson) confront David Warner’s villainous Cuthbert whose scheme spans space and time:

The TARDIS crew have unknowingly become embroiled in a web of deceit. A trap has been laid across time and they have no possible means of escape. Destiny has ensnared them.

The Doctor is finally getting the chance to see the Conglomerate’s work at first hand. Romana is working to save the alien Laan once and for all. K9 is returning to Ancient Britain in search of an unusual power source.

The Doctor, Romana and K9.

Today one of them will die.

Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Casualties of Time is out on Download and a CD version which unlocks a digital download for your instant listening satisfaction. If you’ve got the Big Finish iOS App, then you can be joining the Doctor, Romana and K9 for this brand new adventure even as you’re reading this!

All five series so far of Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures are available as money-saving bundles which enable a whole year of stories to be bought in one go. The range continues next year with season six’s Doctor Who – The Beast of Kravenos with the Doctor and Romana in a reunion with Jago & Litefoot. Subscriptions on CD or Download can be bought today.

Doctor Who in the Dating World

10 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

Clara Oswald and Danny Pink (credit: BBC)

What is it like dating as a Whovian?

Emma Daly of Radio Times would seemingly have you believe (despite burying a reassurance) that being a fan of Doctor Who makes one a social pariah in the realm of dating. While the show may be a turn-off for some, it is quite a stretch to make such a generalization. In a recent survey by EliteSingles UK,* the Doctor Who fandom was included amongst the top three that were reported as being unappealing… by twenty two percent of respondents. Aside from the fact that this percentage is nowhere near the majority, the sample size is relatively restrictive.

For one thing, not only was the survey limited to “just 850 British singles aged 18-75,” but presumably ones who use EliteSingles UK. If the latter is so, then it would be narrowed down even further in that, according to their website, over eighty seven percent of their “members hold either a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or Doctorate degree.” While that is all well and good, it is hardly representative of the general population. But, if the survey is to be given any credence, other shows are much bigger offenders. Fifty four percent said that Eastenders was a turn-off, and forty nine percent said Corrie.

On the other end of spectrum, of the fandoms that respondents found most attractive, twenty three percent said Sherlock and Big Bang Theory, and twenty two percent said Game of Thrones.

As for desireable celebrities, men preferred (in this order) Billie Piper, Kaley Cuoco, and Natalie Dormer, while women preferred Aidan Turner, Idris Elba, and Benedict Cumberbatch. The glaring problem with this survey is that it appears to be heteronormative and operating within a gender binary.

In any case, you would probably be better off disregarding this whole survey and just enjoying what you enjoy. It is far from impossible to find someone who likes the same things as you, or can at least accept the things that appeal to you.

DOCTOR WHO: FIESTA OF THE DAMNED

9 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

The Doctor, Ace and their returned travelling companion Mel arrive in Spain for a holiday. But their timing couldn’t be worse…

The two hundredth and fifteenth story in our much-praised and loved Doctor Who – Main Range is out today; Doctor Who – Fiesta of the Damned:

In search of “a taste of the real Spain”, the TARDIS transports the Doctor, Ace and rejoined crewmember Mel not to sizzling Fuerteventura, or the golden sands of the Costa Brava – but to 1938, amid the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.

Having fallen in with a rag-tag column of Republican soldiers, the time and space travellers seek shelter from Franco’s bombers in the walled town of Farissa – only to discover themselves besieged by dead men returned to life…

Released today on Download and CD (which instantly unlocks a download copy so that you can be enjoying the story within minutes of buying it on either format), Doctor Who – Fiesta of the Damned stars Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Bonnie Langford, and was written by Guy Adams, the writer behind some of our recent Torchwood hits among many others!

Doctor Who Bollywood style is brilliantly bizarre

9 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

You’ve seen him outsmarting dinosaurs on spaceship. You’ve even seen him bust into to Gallifrey with an electric guitar. But you haven’t enjoyed an episode where the Doctor stabs a deer dressed as a bee over a sitar soundtrack. Until now.

It’s all thanks to Doctor Who: The Bollywood version, your new favourite video on the net. Why? It’s got the classic elements of every episode (The TARDIS, the assistant and the Doctor himself), but they’re combined with the costumes, the soundtrack and villains of India’s classic cinema. Well, sort of.

Alexander Vlahos says he’s “itching” to be Doctor Who

9 August 2016 admin Comments 0 Comment

Alexander Vlahos

It doesn’t look like Peter Capaldi is leaving Doctor Who any time soon – but one actor is already putting himself forward as a potential replacement.

Alexander Vlahos told Digital Spy that he is “itching” to appear on the BBC sci-fi series – and playing the Doctor himself would be his dream gig.

“I know they’re filming series 10 now – so maybe they’re holding back because they’re waiting for Peter to go and they want me to get the Doctor part?” he joked. “That’s what I’m telling myself, that’s why I haven’t had a phone call!

“The hashtag #VlahosForWho is what I’m trying to get going. What’s funny is that I’ve met Andy [Pryor, the show’s casting director] before – for Atlantis, when he was casting that show.

“He’s very aware of my work from Merlin – and I’ve met Steven Moffat a couple of times as well.”

Vlahos – currently appearing in BBC Two’s Versailles – said he’s always happy to entertain the idea of playing the Time Lord, because he’s “really proud of Doctor Who”.

“Does that make sense? I think it’s such a great show. There were connotations that came with it from the ’80s, of it being a joke of sorts… now it’s become this flagship show for the BBC. It’s such a moneymaker but it’s also so high quality.”

If he were ever cast, though, the 28-year-old has some… unique ideas about his Doctor’s own particular eccentricities.

“I’m definitely bringing back the Tom Baker hat… and I think my Doctor might rollerblade,” he laughed. “Let’s make a little half-pipe in the TARDIS. That’d be amazing.”

Alexander Vlahos stars in Versailles, out now on Blu-ray and DVD.