Theme parks are big business these days, it appears! A deal has been struck between the BBC and Paramount to create the London Paramount Entertainment Resort. The park will feature attractions based off of BBC properties like Doctor Who and Top Gear, along with Paramount films such as Star Trek and Transformers. This is a pretty impressive collaboration, but don’t start booking your tickets yet: the park isn’t planned to open until 2020. In other theme park news, Disney chief Bob Iger revealed that Disney’s plans for Star Wars attractions will mainly feature rides themed around the new films, but yet didn’t exclude the possibility of rides based around the prequel and original trilogies. Still early for a lot of these plans, but still fairly interesting! Read more…
We all know Peter Capaldi will be playing the Twelfth Doctor when the new Doctor Who‘s eight season starts this August on BBC One. With filming having started earlier this year, it’s about time to start promoting the new season. So what do we get? The most teaser-y teaser to ever tease. We get a logo, an approximate date, some ominous music, and a couple frames of Capaldi in shadow. There is so little to actually tease, because this offers us nothing new to freak out over! At least give us a quip, an arm movement, a stare! Regardless, I’m sure this will throw some fans into a tizzy. Read more…
Part of the excitement of getting a new main actor on Doctor Who is seeing what he’s going to wear. Sometimes you wind up with something unique and classic, like Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, and other times you wind up with possibly the worst outfit ever cobbled together, like Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor. Now that Peter Capaldi has taken over the role as the Twelfth Doctor and filming has begun, we finally get to see how his version of The Doctor will look. And how he will look is pretty cool. Read more…
Steven Moffat is in charge of both Doctor Who and Sherlock, two of the BBC’s biggest current exports (along with Downton Abbey). Unsurprisingly, there are many fans of both who have been dying for a crossover — Wholock, if you will. While Moffat thinks such a move would ruin Sherlock‘s setting (and I’m inclined to agree), that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be awesome to see. That’s why this fanmade crossover is so great. There are minor flaws here and there, but for the most part, the two series mesh pretty well thanks to some clever compositing. it’s pretty cool to see Sherlock enter the TARDIS after years of searching for information on the mysterious Doctor and go off on an adventure. It’s just a shame that in becoming a companion, Sherlock is leaving behind his own companion. Read more…
The time has come to say goodbye to Matt Smith, the Eleventh Doctor. But before Peter Capaldi takes over as the Twelfth Doctor, Eleven has one more chance to go out with a bang. It’s “The Time of the Doctor,” the Doctor Who Christmas special, and BBC America has a nice little trailer. Watch as The Doctor takes on, like, all the enemies ever. Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, the Silence, it almost seems like overkill. I’m sure it will be cool, but can any regeneration ever top The Caves of Androzani, Peter Davison’s last serial as the Fifth Doctor? I’d argue no. Read more…
The wait is almost over for Sherlock fans. There hasn’t been a new episode (really, more like a new 90-minute movie) since May 2012 (or January 2012 if you watched the British broadcast like me). But now we know when season three is airing, at least in the US. The first of the three new episodes will air on January 19 at 10PM on PBS’s Masterpiece anthology program. Of course, the episodes will likely be out there before that, as the BBC does have first airing rights. While the BBC hasn’t announced their premiere dates, they will be sometime before PBS airs the episodes, possibly airing even by the end of 2013. Read more…
Will the long wait for Doctor Who fans finally be over? There have been rumors swirling that this Sunday a big Doctor Who announcement would happen, but nothing had confirmed it yet. Now, Metro.co.uk accidentally posted their article early (and then quickly pulled it), and the news is out: this Sunday, at 7pm UK time on BBC One, the twelfth Doctor will be announced (currently codenamed Houdini). Supposedly, no one knows who the next Doctor is aside from a select few, and many have been working with the twelfth Doctor without even realizing it. There are so many possibilities and rumors for who the next Doctor could be, but I suspect it will be someone a bit more unknown, as that has been their M.O. more. Read more…
Christmas may have come early for fans of classic Doctor Who. In the 70s, the BBC began a shortsighted policy of wiping old tapes for new use. Since all of the serials featuring the First and Second Doctors were in black-and-white, which was considered to have little potential for sales now that color TV was ubiquitous (and a home video market didn’t exist), they were some of the first episodes on the chopping block. (Even some Third Doctor material was wiped, though missing episodes were recovered, even if some were only found in black-and-white.) As a result, these early episodes are only extant thanks to private collectors or copies sent to other countries; anything not found has been reconstructed by fans based on telesnaps, fan-recorded audio, and other materials. Experts like Ian Levine believe that there will never be less than 106 missing episodes, mainly centered on the Second Doctor. And yet, there are now rumors that a whopping 90 episodes have been recovered. Read more…
The Zygons haven’t been truly featured since their debut story, Terror of the Zygons, a 1975 Doctor Who serial featuring the Fourth Doctor. Sure, they have been in a few newer episodes, and there have been in a few books released since then, including one with the Tenth Doctor, but those don’t count as much as being the main villains for a story. The BBC just tweeted this photo though, confirming that the Zygons will fully return in the 50th Anniversary Special! Read more…
I know many of you are really hyped for the return of Doctor Who this fall. BBC knows it too, and this new trailer for season 7 runs the gamut of episode stories, from “holy crap that’s a ton of Daleks” to “dinosaurs on a spaceship” to “dark, dramatic, body-carrying.” I think it’s an easy thing to say that this upcoming season seems to have a little bit of something for everyone. Looks to be another fantastic ride!
Although Steven Moffat’s remained rather tight-lipped about the upcoming season of Doctor Who, its been known that production on the latest episodes featuring Jenna-Louise Coleman has been underway. While we’re still at loss as to what to expect beyond the departure of Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the 5th episode of new series, these latest promo photos from the BBC gives us a small glimpse of what to expect. The Doctor has some sharp new threads and Coleman looks to be dressed in your everyday street clothes, so perhaps her character might not be too far from the norm. The TARDIS can also be seen in the background. A few more photos are available after the jump.
Here’s a few bits of Doctor Who news from the past week. Producer Steven Moffat recently stated that contrary to popular belief, The Doctor isn’t the main character of the show. Instead he believes that while The Doctor is certainly the hero, the main characters are, in actuality, his companions. With the impending exit of Amy and Rory next season, one story will be coming to an end, with Jenna Louise Coleman’s story about to begin. Sadly, he hasn’t given any further details regarding her upcoming role as the Doctor’s new companion.
Probably not, but it’s a possibility. Earlier this week, UK tabloid The Express published a juicy rumor regarding the upcoming 50th anniversary series of Doctor Who. Reportedly, a source close to the production is claiming plans are in place to have Matt Smith regenerate during the climax of the season finale, to be replaced our the first female Doctor. They also indicate that Sherlock star Lara Pulver is among the front-runners being considered for the role. Read more…
Last week the BBC promised to release their first trailer for the upcoming season of Doctor Who, and now they’ve delivered. Oddly enough, it includes quite a bit of Amy and Rory, which leads me to believe that most of what we’re seeing takes place within the first half of the season. If that’s the case, then we’re in for a hell of a ride. It also seems like the Daleks will be making their return — I’d call it triumphant, but when is it ever when The Doctor’s involved. Also, any else notice Cleopatra? What’s that about?
For those in need of a Doctor Who fix, 2011 Christmas special, The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe, is set to hit stores on February 14th, just in time for Valentines day. Some of you might have caught my mini-review back in December, and while I felt it wasn’t the Doctor at his best, the special certainly had its moments. For some of you it’ll make an awesome alternative to flowers or chocolates, and for others it might just serve to hold you over till the Doctor returns to BBC later this year. For those of you who want to pre-order it, Amazon is selling the Blu-ray for $15.99, or if you’d rather have it on DVD, just $10.99. Amazon prime members can select free 2-day shipping to receive their copy on the 14th instead of having to wait.
We haven’t really covered it much, but last month David Yates discussed plans for a potential Doctor Who motion picture. Yates, credited for directing final four installments of the wildly successful Harry Potter film franchise, mentioned his desire to reboot the series from scratch, setting aside the series crafted by Russel T. Davies and Steven Moffat. Though I couldn’t fathom why, Yates insists a reboot would be necessary for Doctor Who‘s transition to a feature film — Moffat doesn’t agree.
It’s a sad day for fans of The Doctor’s latest companions, Amy & Rory. At a Doctor Who press screening in London today, series producer Steven Moffat confirmed our fears when he announced that the Doctor would be moving on next season with a “new friend,” stating “The final days of the ponds are coming.” Read more…
Last month, the BBC announced plans to cancel Doctor Who Confidential. The series had given fans a behind-the-scenes look at the Doctor and his companions since the show relaunched in 2005. Despite being a huge fan of Doctor Who, I never managed to catch a single episode of the documentary myself. I suppose if they had actually aired it on television here in the States, I might have, but for whatever reason the BBC decided against it. Instead, they opted to air shot clips of the show via their website. Despite that, there seems to be quite a bit of outcry from fans both in England and abroad regarding the cancellation. There’s currently an online petition asking BBC to reconsider their decision to axe the show — it’s already gained nearly 40,000 signatures.
Though I was never a huge fan of Doctor Who, it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with it’s more recent spin-off Torchwood. Series four, Miracle Day as they’re calling it looks to move the production of the show stateside, no doubt due to the nature of its mixed cast. It had been rumored that the show would end up as a reboot airing on Fox but that deal seems to have fallen through, and the series will instead continue its previous plot where it left off on Starz and BBC Worldwide starting July 8th. To help promote the show, the studio has developed an iOS app that’ll pack in an interactive motion comic with “some gameplay elements”. The comics will tell a parallel story featuring the voices of Eliza Dushku, John Barrowman, Eve Myles. Personally, I can’t stand Dushku, but Barrowman’s great so I’m psyched. An additional nine episodes will be available in packs of three for $1, or as an entire pack for $3. The app will be made available prior to the premiere on July 8th.
The BBC has announced that it will remake two new films based upon the the 1951 science fiction novel The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. The best known adapatdation of the novel is the 1962 film directed by Steve Sekely, although the title is an old BBC favorite having inspired radio plays in 1953, 1957, 1968 and a TV series in 1981. The new version will be set in the year 2011 in a post-peak oil setting where mankind has turned to the biofuel Triffid to solve the world’s energy problems — and everything goes wrong when the plant creatures grow hungry for human flesh. You see I always knew that biofuels aren’t the way to go…Read more…
