Saturday, March 13, 2010

"The Doctor and I"



Do you like this version? :)

New TARDIS!! :) (description)

"It must be three times the size of Tennant’s, on multiple levels with staircases in between. Less grubby than its predecessor, with a transparent plastic floor on the main level, its walls are resplendent with polished copper and its central column features a blown glass decoration that could be straight from Tales of the Unexpected.

There are old car seats and downstairs – downstairs! – a swing. ??
With a nod to Paul McGann’s Tardis, the central column features an old TV screen on an extendable trellis. It also has a 1980s-style computer keyboard, and a His-Master’s-Voice style trumpet speaker."
Sounds really good. What do you think?

Who!News: Greatest Screen Doctor


Online market research site OnePoll have recently ran a poll on who is the best doctor on the screen, and The Doctor came out on top. The Time Lord beat off opposition from other well known doctors such as Doctor Watson, Doctor Dolittle, and Dr Emmett Brown (Back to the Future).

The Top Ten Screen Doctors:
1. The Doctor - Doctor Who - It was about TIME! :D
2. Doc Brown - Back to the Future
3. Doctor Kennedy - Neighbours
4. Doctor Evil - Austin Powers
5. Spock - Star Trek - Spock. Spock??
6. Ross Geller - Friends
7. Doctor Dolittle - Doctor Dolittle
8. Perry Cox - Scrubs - Ahah, good old Doctor Perry. :P
9. Douglas Ross - E.R.
10. Doctor Watson - Sherlock Holmes

Who! News: Doctor's orders? No girlfriends! Why actor Matt Smith has kicked his Brazilian lover into touch

I will comment this news item. The red remarks were written by me. :)
When Matt Smith was the age at which most children hide behind a cushion watching Doctor Who, he was on a football pitch. No Daleks. No Zygons. No Tardis.
Because Matt ate, lived and breathed football. And he was very good at the game. - And you can tell by the looks of him playing football. If you're up-to-date with the series shooting, you may have noticed some pictures of Matt playing football. I wonder if the Moff wrote that episode specifically for Matt... it looks like that's the case. So good, in fact, that Leicester City signed him to their youth training scheme as a centre back.
Then, at 16, injury struck, and ended his football career. ‘I was devastated,’ he says.

‘There are those times you remember yourself crying and that was one of them. All I’d invested in was being a footballer. It was everything - my whole identity.’ - That must have been a real turning point in his life. It gives me warm feelings towards Matt. Poor lad.


Now, 11 years later, Matt has a new obsession - he is the latest in a long line of actors who have had the good fortune of taking on the role of Doctor Who. - Yeepee. Obsession and Doctor Who. Could that be any more perfect?
In fact, he is the 11th, and youngest, actor to play the Time Lord.
‘Drama was just something I did at school until I was injured,’ he says. ‘But then it twisted and transpired me onto a new path.’
Now Matt eats, lives and breathes time travel. - Pretty much as I do. No mad partying. No shenanigans. It turns out that an egg and cress sandwich and an episode of MasterChef is about as riotous as his life gets.

‘My life is my work,’ he says. ‘The evenings are spent learning lines and, because there’s such a huge amount, that’s it, really. But I don’t mind. I’m happier when I’m working intensely. I find it rewarding.' - I am so glad he is giving DW his best shot. Then again, I didn't expect anything less of him.
‘The Doctor is the cleverest man in the universe. He’s the most infinite man I’ve ever played. When I was researching him, I read a lot about Einstein. I thought, if there were to be someone on the planet who had a brain near the size of the Doctor’s, it’s probably him. At the moment, this is a great source of joy.’ - Indeed, but I'm sure all Whovians are thinking, 'the Doctor's is much bigger!'
Crikey, what about fun? ‘I go for a pint with my mates, but I don’t want to spend my life getting drunk. There’s no time for that.’
I tell him I’d read somewhere he was head-over-heels in love with a girl from Brazil. ‘She’s no longer my girlfriend,’ he says.
‘Work is my girlfriend at the moment. I suppose any extreme artistic personality has an intense relationship with work. That’s the joy, that’s the gift.’ - It may sound harsh, but it is the truth. I too find work much rewarding and consider it to be the closest to a relationship that I have atm.
Matt was encouraged to act by an inspirational teacher at Northampton School For Boys, who put his name down for the school play, an adaptation of the classic courtroom movie Twelve Angry Men without his knowledge.
He appeared as Juror Number 10, but when the teacher signed him up for a drama festival he failed to turn up.
‘Mr Hardingham was convinced I had what it took to be an actor and kept pushing me,’ says Matt. ‘But I didn’t turn up for the festival because I was a footballer and thought drama was a bit ridiculous. Then I got the injury.’ - That's a bit like that lad from 'Glee', innit?

He went on to study drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia and, by his third year, had an agent. He was cast in the play Fresh Kills at London’s Royal Court Theatre before he’d even graduated, and then in The History Boys at the National Theatre. Before landing the part of the Doctor, he had a lead role in the BBC’s Party Animals, in which he played a parliamentary researcher. - Ooh, I haven't seen that one. Must watch it!



Widely regarded as one of the up-and-coming actors of his generation, I wonder if he hesitated when he was offered the part of the Doctor. Does he worry about trapping his career in a Tardis?
‘I suppose, in my head, I want to think I had reservations, but I didn’t - not for a second,’ he says. - Every 'Doctor' goes through that. Look at Eccleston!
‘How can you? It’s been the best part on British TV for 30-odd years. He’s a brilliant man and I get to play him every day.’ - Now we're all proud. :)

by Rebecca Hardy (Daily Mail)


Doctor Who Series 5 shooting

I've found the most amazing website dedicated to DW shooting... The link to it is http://www.doctorwholocations.net/stories/dw05. :)

Please check it out, it is really good!
x

Tired... but back :)

Howdy, fellas. I'm sorry I've been out of the picture for a while. I've been really busy. Anyway, I'm super excited about the new series of Doctor Who - I have been following all the reports on shooting available on the Internet. I'm so excited.

Trust me... I'm a Doctor.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

SJA back for two more seasons!


Woohoo! Sarah Jane is baaaaack! :)


It’s been a long time coming and much rumoured but at the BBC has officially given The Sarah Jane Adventures a renewal order. However, in a surprising move the corporation hasn’t ordered just one new season but two! A fourth and fifth season of the CBBC spin-off from Doctor Who has been ordered by the BBC – both seasons will comprise of 12 episodes. Season Four will air later this year, probably around the Autumn time, while Season Five will air next year.


A fourth season of The Sarah Jane Adventures was considered likely after its rating winning performance last year for its third season – two episodes featured David Tennant in his role of The Doctor. The BBC began a search for a new producer for the spin-off late last year prompting many to believe that the corporation had renewed the series. Russell T Davies will remain as Executive Producer on both new seasons of the CBBC drama despite stepping down as show-runner on Doctor Who. Nikki Wilson will join Davies as an executive producer while Brian Minchin has joined as a new producer.



The fourth season will begin production in Cardiff later this month and will see Elisabeth Sladen, Daniel Anthony, Anji Mohindra and Tommy Knight all reprise their respective roles. It was announced earlier this week that The Sarah Jane Adventures had been nominated for a Royal Television Society award.

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Gallifreyan Embassy Podshock Galore!

I don't know if you're familiar with this Doctor Who podcast or even their website, but I have been having a blast when listening to their podcasts of late. Basically, it's everything a Whovian can possibly want: it features reviews of episodes, audio clips, some considerations about several Doctor Who Conventions... It is really, really good. I can honestly say that this is the highlight of my entire evening. In between all the fussing, studying and tidying, I grant myself a few minutes of pure Who entertainment...

Make sure you check their podcasts out, they are awesome!
http://www.gallifreyanembassy.org/ or http://www.podshock.net/

Checkm8 Productions: Interview HERE!! :D

Alright, alright, don't blame me. Our very own dark Doctor, Nicholas Gott, has just sent me the answers to my (and hopefully yours!) questions.
Without further ado, I'll leave you in Nick's hand, knowing that you're in a good place. :)

1. When/Where was your first contact with Doctor Who?
A: 2005, the new series, Rose. I had been ill before that easter holiday, and remember seeing an item on BBC news during the day about all the designs. It fascinated me very much, all these aliens they were making for the End of the World. I'd always known about the Daleks too, just images, not their names. They were used in Dead Ringers a lot, so I knew their origins once I saw them in the trailer for the new series. I watched it on the 26th of March, and whilst I surprisingly didn't fall instantly in love, I watched... it was the regeneration at the end that really captured my imagination.

2. Who is the first Doctor you remember seeing on television?
Technically, it was probably Tom Baker, since he did Little Britain, but I remember before Doctor Who the 2005 series, classic stories being shown on UK TV Gold... although I remember seeing an old black and white one, maybe "The Daemons" which isn't entirely in colour, I think I vaguely remember Jon Pertwee laying down or something.

3. Who's 'your Doctor'? Who do you consider to be the best Doctor so far?
David Tennant of course :D the man's been there for me all through my teenaged years, saying goodbye to him was like a right's of passage for me haha.
4. When did you decide to start your own series? What and who was the driving force behind it?
Well Dan, Rick and I are all school friends, we always watched Doctor Who and spoke about it. I always thought of making my own series, to replicate the marvellous acting of these two great leading actors who had so inspired me. Then one day on MSN, talking to Dan, I don't remember how, we just said "Let's make a fan series!"

5. How do you come up with such creative customes and props?
Thanks for the compliment. The approach to our series is to be as authentic and as original as possible, even without a killer budget to spend on it. I wanted to make new monsters that you could recognise as our own. I didn't want to use masks from a party shop, because they already have a character behind them. It would be like using a "Predator" mask for the Mantors, you already have an association with it. Plus it helped give our series its own unique feel, almost that if you see the props, you know it's us... I hope.

6. How has Doctor Who affected you throughout the years?
It's literally, as corny as this sounds, inspired everything I do, not just drama or art. When going into a science exam (although I wasn't gifted there) I often went in as the Doctor, thinking like he did. Because if the Doctor, my absolute hero, loved science and knew it all, then I could too! It must have worked somehow, it got me a B for science GCSE and an A for maths... so go on kiddies, the Doctor is your guide at school!

7. How do you like your series so far? Is it what you had planned at first?
We planned and had written 8 episodes. Time constraints had forbidden us from getting the latter 4 done, which is a shame, but our up and coming finale "The Dead Place" is a treat, and was always a favourite of mine. That's because it's our most unique and original in terms of design, characters, monsters to an extent, and story. It was sort of a finale anyway, being halfway, you're not missing anything, you'll still find out everythign about my Doctor and his background. The ending is much sadder than perhaps our original finale anway. I'd call this finale "Unforgiveable", you may understand once you've seen it why...

8. What do you expect from Series 5 of 'Doctor Who'?
The best. I love the look of Matt Smith already, and the style of monsters too. I'd say Moffatt is a more abstract writer than old RTD. He's very "Burtonesque" and expressive, Tim Burtons being one of the inspirations behind "The Dead Place". I love the look of the "Smilers", so macabre. And Matt Smith will be the best, he has this approach to drama I envy and nowadays apply to myself. The man has done his homework, he's looked at the series, without any predetermined knowledge, and gone out there with a fresh outlook to the series, aspecially in a recent itnerview about his audition, I think his opinion of the character differs from Tennant's vastly. He has intricate knowledge of his character, which shows he will be different, but absolutely stunning!

9. Any final considerations you'd like to add?
Thank you Fran for being such a supportive fan to our series. You and our subscribers were the vital ingredient to our fanfilm. Never mind the acting, the props, the stories. You were all the vital components in the circuit. Without you, our hard work would have been for nothing. Think of all the bright stars in the sky you see at night, you can see them because you know they're there. But there are stars out there that we can't see, because we don't know they're there. When we know of something, we look deeply for them. You knowing about our series and staying with us, even during our little absence is what keeps it alive. So please keep watching us, we love to know you're enjoying it :)

The last episode of 'Doctor Who After Death' is going to be released soon. In the meantime, check their previous episodes: www.youtube.com/checkm8productions