Sunday, May 30, 2010
Cold Blood - Thoughts
I cannot believe how great last night's episode was, it was incredible. The Silurian council or whatever you want to call it was AMAZING, their city looked so incredibly real it gives me a hard time because I know none of it is real. You had everything, you had the Doctor being heroic, Amy being sassy as usual, Ambrose's demise and both scientists implicitly sharing their love. But there's one thing that is still on my mind, even after a day: Rory. I was expecting him to die, specially when River Song said she had killed a 'good man'... The Doctor told Rory he was a 'good man' as well, so I was suspicious, but I never thought they were going to kill him this early on. And then there's the light from that crack in the wall which surrounded Rory when he died - will Rory come back for the two-parter finale? Is this a dream? Is Rory still alive on the other side of 'reality'? - If you know what I mean; I mean, is he still alive on the 'other' dream? Did the Doctor make the wrong decision, is this one the dream?
And here's one for you: is River Song that Silurian who killed Rory? I keep thinking about that... What do you guys think?
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Just an update for Tennant gals (and boys)!
This is just a reminder that the 'Hairy Maclary' Story Collection is now ON SALE...Meet Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Donaldson's Dairy, always ready for mischief. In this fabulous set of audio rhyming tales, Hairy Maclary and his friends just want to have fun, but trouble is never far away! The eight stories on this bumper CD collection are all set to music and read fabulously by Dr Who star David Tennant.
... and that David's episode of 'People Like Us', 'The Actor', is now available on DVD.
David Tennant's "new new" project!, "Retreat" - commented news item
Psychological thriller - my two favourite words in the movie industry! will star Thandie Newton, Jason Isaacs and David Tennant. - Oh, what a trio. I'm excited already!
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has taken UK rights to Retreat, a Magnet Films project set to star Thandie Newton, Jason Isaacs and David Tennant.
Carl Tibbetts will make his feature directorial debut; Magnet’s Gary Sinyor produces.
Executive producers are David Frost & Michael Rosenberg.
The film is scheduled to shoot this summer in North Wales. The plot follows a couple who go to a remote island cottage to try to rebuild their marriage. Instead a stranger arrives on their doorstep with frightening news. - Is it just me or it seems like all his new projects have to do with marriage? Nevermind me. Hey, I'm not complaining, am I?
Dave G Bishop, Head of Acquisitions, Northern Europe, SPHE, said, “We’re excited to be working with Magnet Films on this fantastic project. Carl Tibbets has written a thrilling script that keeps you guessing to the very end and with such great British acting talent attached, we’re confident the film will be both a critical and commercial success.”
Gary Sinyor, Managing Director, Magnet Films, added, “Retreat has the potential to be not just a crowd pleaser, but also a critical success based on the intelligent page-turner of a script and the marquee cast.”
Daniel Radcliffe's magic moment as he shares a lift with Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue is a wizard hit with Daniel Radcliffe.
The Harry Potter star was in heaven when he shared a lift with her after the National Movie Awards on Wednesday.
Daniel told her: "I can't believe I've met you, I think you're great. Can I take a picture of us to send to my mum?" Bless.
But as he took a pic on his BlackBerry, at arms length, he cut himself off. Fortunately, Kylie took charge saying, "Come on, let's do this properly."
It wasn't the only thing to make Dan's night.
He told us: "David Tennant's comment about being asked to be in Harry Potter was like getting the call to be in the England team was genius." - I thought so too! I will post a clip of David's comment.
Verdict on Fish Custard Coming Soon!
Yes, yes, it IS true, I did it. I made my own custard, fried a couple of fish fingers and ate 'em... with custard. Well, if you're a Doctor Who fan, you obviously know what I'm taking about. Await a full report complete with step-by-step images... and reactions!
Fran's Back!
Hello y'all!
It has been some time since I actually wrote a proper post... and I kind of missed that! Anyway, I want to update you on what has been happening. First off, I won't be able to post as much as I used to (it will be like it was this week, nice and quiet, my little blog) because, well, exams are coming and I am up to my teeth with work. I will keep on linking you to the episodes, so don't worry. I won't be missing any Doctor Who episode. :D Even if I post the link and only watch it, I dunno... the next Wednesday evening or something.
I am hoping I can watch the episode tonight and link it back to you asap. Please be patient. Thank you!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Ynysybwl youngster stars in new Doctor Who adventure
YNYSYBWL youngster Sam Davies has been helping Doctor Who’s battle to save the world.
The 13-year-old spent six weeks with Time Lord Matt Smith filming the two-part story which started on Saturday, May 22 and also stars Meera Syal and Welsh actor Robert Pugh.
It was also a chance for Sam’s grandfather and chaperone Colin Evans to take a trip back in time – as several of the scenes were shot in Ynysybwl, where the 65-year-old was brought up.
“I had great fun filming, particularly the scenes I filmed with just me and the new Doctor,” said Sam, who now lives in Swansea.
“Matt Smith was really friendly. I can’t give much away about the story, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how the episodes look on screen.”
The teenager appears in episodes eight and nine of the new series and featured in a trailer for the show which was aired on BBC One Wales.
The story is set in the year 2015, when the Doctor, his assistant Amy and her fiance Rory arrive in a tiny mining village.
Sam said he was already a huge fan of the hit TV show.
“I was quite into the show and watched all the other series,” he said. “When I heard I got the part it was amazing, because I’ve watched and really wanted to be in it.
“I got on really well with Matt Smith. He wasn’t moody, he was just really funny.
“Only my close friends knew about it and the rest will find out in the end.”
The young actor is no stranger to the small screen, having played a lead role in BBC drama Framed alongside Trevor Eve and Eve Myles.
His parents Luan and Huw Davies run the Stagecoach Theatre Arts School in Swansea.
Mum Luan said: “Sam’s having some wonderful experiences and is learning a great deal from some highly talented people.”
'Who' writer defends Pratchett accusation
Neil Gaiman has responded to Terry Pratchett's claim that Doctor Who is not science fiction.
The Discworld author previously said that the series is "ludicrous" and "breaks most of the laws of narrative".
However Gaiman, whose script for the show will air in 2011, told the BBC: "Doctor Who has never pretended to be hard science fiction.
"At best Doctor Who is a fairytale, with fairytale logic, about this wonderful man in this big blue box who at the beginning of every story lands somewhere where there is a problem."
Gaiman, who previously wrote Stardust and Coraline, also admitted that he felt powerful when writing the episode.
"I don't know what it's like to be God - obviously," he said. "Until that very first moment when you get to sit down and type the words in your script: INTERIOR. TARDIS.
"Suddenly I got a very good idea of what it must feel like. I went: 'I'm writing it now, this scene in the Tardis. I'm writing it!' And that was amazing. It was wonderful."
Monday, May 24, 2010
BBC Worldwide hits record profit
The success of television shows overseas including Doctor Who, as well as the sale of formats of The Office, Top Gear and Strictly Come Dancing have helped BBC Worldwide to record profits this year of around £140m.
The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, disclosed the figure for 2009/10 in a speech during a conference at Chatham House in London, ahead of the publication of the annual report of the commercial arm of the corporation in July. The figure, described by the corporation yesterday as an "indicative guidance", is a significant improvement on last year's £103m.
The commercial division also owns BBC Magazines (Radio Times still sells 1m copies a week), licences brands such as Doctor Who to toy manufacturers, owns channels including BBC America, and produces shows for local markets, including its biggest US hit, Dancing with the Stars.
BBC Worldwide this month signalled its intent to produce more projects in-house instead of selling formats to Hollywood studios and hired Vlad Wolynetz, an American TV executive whose successes include the advertising drama Mad Men, to help lead the effort.
The History Channel in the US recently announced plans to show an American version of Top Gear, which will be co-produced by the BBC. The Dancing with the Stars format, known as Strictly Come Dancing in Britain, has been sold to 30 countries, while versions of The Weakest Link are shown in 60 countries.The rebooted Doctor Who continues to be one of Worldwide's biggest money-spinners. According to BBC Worldwide, the drama has been sold to more than 50 territories, with over 3.3m DVDs and more than 7m action figures sold in 2009 alone.
Doctor Who Star Returns to NI
Just weeks after the 'new' TV Doctor Who chose Belfast for the first stop of the BBC's pre-broadcast introductory tour, the sci-fi star is back again.
Matt Smith has been in Bangor, Co Down filming his new drama, Christopher and His Kind.
Having won the wholehearted support of even die-hard fans of the previous Dr Who, David Tennant, the 27-year-old is now playing a new role, that of Christopher Isherwood, a celebrated writer, in a 90-minute film based on his 1976 memoirs.
Filming started in suburban Bangor West - on the Co Down coast - and is expected to continue in and around Belfast until June 8.
The new BBC2 drama charts the formative years of Isherwood, who left behind repressive English society and his suffocating mother, played by Lindsay Duncan, for the decadent but politically unstable world of 1930s Berlin.
He was the inspiration behind the smash-hit Broadway musical Cabaret and his 1964 semi-autobiographical book, which chronicles the experiences of a gay man living in early 1960s California, inspired fashion designer Tom Ford's recent directorial debut, A Single Man, starring Colin Firth.
Filming in Belfast has already caused controversy as scenes of Berlin have been shot inside the courtyard of Belfast City Hall where the Nazi swastika was flown.
The drama is being made with the assistance of Northern Ireland Screen, supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
It also generated opportunities for up-and-coming stars, as NI Screen were helping the hunt for supporting artists or 'extras' earlier this month for the filming.
They wanted women aged 16 - 39 with 'bob' haircuts to add atmosphere and background to the drama, which is now expected to screen on BBC2 some time in the autumn.
The UK Dr Who tour - in March - was to introduce the new Doctor to fans of the series, and 'crossed time zones and space' to materialise in five different locations spanning the length and breadth of the British Isles, with first Belfast, then Inverness, Sunderland, Salford and Northampton included.
The tour also introduced his new companion, Karen Gillan, to fans of the BBC One show and offered them a unique chance to meet the stars.
Each location will also hosted a regional premiere of episode one, The Eleventh Hour, for local children, working alongside BBC Outreach to enable kids to get a first look at the new Doctor in action.
Meanwhile, alongside his Dr Who commitments, Matt Smith is also due to star in Womb, with Bond girl Eva Green, later in the year.
Doctor Who comic bids farewell to Tennant
By Hugh Armitage, http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/comics/s7/doctor-who/news/a221453/dr-who-comic-bids-farewell-to-tennant.html
IDW Publishing's Dr Who title will bid farewell to David Tennant's Tenth Doctor, reports MTV News.
The character has continued to star in the series following his death in the New Year's Day television special.
'Final Sacrifice' will be the final outing for Tennant's Doctor - a four-issue arc that will not tie directly into 'The End of Time'.
"We were told from the very beginning that 'The Waters Of Mars' would lead straight into the regeneration ending," said series writer Tony Lee. "So we set up the whole season arc to end directly before 'The Waters Of Mars', which worked really well as the mindset The Doctor is in during the start of that episode matches the mindset he has at the end of the series of comics.
"But we decided that we needed to have a solid end, something that would weaken The Doctor, that would push him towards the final song.
"And then, of course, we saw that between 'The Waters Of Mars' and 'The End Of Time', The Doctor went off and had a load of adventures, which meant that this wasn't right before the regeneration. But, we had tied it so nicely into 'Waters Of Mars', we decided to keep it that way.
"So although it's the final Tenth Doctor comic, it's not going to be a 'regeneration prequel'. But we do perform some amazing timey-wimey endings and pretty much do a similar farewell end scene."
A series starring Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor is planned for 2011.
'Final Sacrifice' will begin in July with Doctor Who #13.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Noel Clarke Interview (May 23rd)
The lead characters in your first films Kidulthood (2006) and Adulthood (2008) were male. Was it challenging writing your new film, 4.3.2.1., about four girls?After Kidulthood, I was called in to a meeting and told that I didn't write women very well. I was very annoyed. If you're pulling me in to tell me how to improve on the film's flaws, OK. But just telling me I didn't write women very well? Great, thanks. I was so angry that I went home and wrote the script for 4.3.2.1. in a month.
So you didn't find it difficult?
No, but I never thought I found it difficult on the first film either! This guy told me that no girl he'd ever met behaved at all like the women in Kidulthood. I said: "You probably don't know many girls then…" The kind of person I am, if I could remember his name I would name him.
You have a small part in 4.3.2.1., but Adulthood puts Sam, the character you played in Kidulthood, at its centre. Were you consciously writing yourself a meatier role back then, to help establish yourself as an actor?
Sam's wasn't a huge part in my first film – the horrible bully, one-dimensional, no sympathetic side, just an arse – but I was too old to play the lead, who was supposed to be 16. When Kidulthood was doing well, and I started thinking about writing a follow-up, the only character I could think of expanding was Sam. Why? Number one, he would have the biggest journey to go on. And number two, I wasn't going to be stupid enough to write another film where I wasn't playing the lead character.
Sam's wasn't a huge part in my first film – the horrible bully, one-dimensional, no sympathetic side, just an arse – but I was too old to play the lead, who was supposed to be 16. When Kidulthood was doing well, and I started thinking about writing a follow-up, the only character I could think of expanding was Sam. Why? Number one, he would have the biggest journey to go on. And number two, I wasn't going to be stupid enough to write another film where I wasn't playing the lead character.
If you wrote 4.3.2.1. before Adulthood, why has it only now made it to cinemas?
The few people who saw the script told me that it would have no audience in the UK. So I put it in my drawer. Then I wrote Adulthood and we know what happened with that. It was the second-highest grossing British film that year. It did all right. Bafta. Can't complain. Then, of course, people asked me if I had any other films I could make. Well, funny you should say that. (He mimes blowing dust off a script.) Here's a film I just wrote called 4.3.2.1.
The gym that you were working in when you got your first acting break appears in 4.3.2.1. Is it an important place for you?
I worked there from 15 onwards. I was the water slide attendant – "Go, wait, go, wait" – then I was a life guard and a gym instructor. It was five minutes from my house (in west London) so it was a convenient place to work, but I realise now it was a great place to meet people in the industry. Film producers, heads of model agencies, that kind of thing. I was the guy everybody spoke to. I met the playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair there; I think he also taught aerobics there or something. It was through him I got my first acting job. And I met my wife there (Iris, with whom Clarke has a son, Samuel).
How old is your son now?
He's two this week. By the time he's six or seven, I hope I'll make something he can actually watch. I've got a plan for a children's film. I'm not going to let him watch the other ones until he's of a decent age.
How have your films been received in America up to now?
They haven't really. Fan-wise, they've gone down well. Industry-wise, they don't seem to get it. They thought Kidulthood and Adulthood wouldn't sell, so they only came out on DVD.
4.3.2.1. is partly set in New York – will it travel better?
I think so. The films that I've written and directed to date aren't necessarily the kind of films I like watching. 4.3.2.1. is starting to go more in a way I want it to go. I want to do more commercial things. I want District 9, I want… maybe not Independence Day, because we don't have the budget, but I want event movies. I can't always be making "British films". Why should we be making films about corsets and horses and girls learning to drive when Americans send over an event movie and make five or 10 million?
The director Kevin Smith plays a small role in your new film. Are you a fan of his?
His films inspired me a lot and he came to the industry in a similar way to me. He couldn't get in, so he made Clerks by himself. I couldn't get in, but by hook or by crook I made it. Kevin's a nice guy. I like people who engage with their fans, who show some modicum of respect to the people who buy your fucking stuff.
Is that what you do?
I'm a nice guy to anyone I meet, until they show me they don't deserve niceness. I'll turn very quickly. But I'm pretty pleasant overall. Young kids who like Doctor Who, 16-year-olds who were fans of Kidulthood… It's all good. I can go from (adopts voice): "Ooooh, where's the Doctor?" to (adopts voice): "Are you dizzy, blood?" Part and parcel of the job.
Were you happy with the way your Doctor Who character, Mickey, bowed out at the end of the last series?
He married Freema (Agyeman, playing Martha Jones), which I didn't mind; it was a good character arc. A lot of Mickey happened by accident. I came in and played him quite badly in season one. We didn't know what Doctor Who was going to be – it was a kid's show, right? So there's me, doing the big eyes, grinning like an idiot. It's partly my fault, I didn't rehearse, but I wasn't really told about the tone of the show either.
Season two, Russell T Davies started writing the character more towards me, because he knew me, and Mickey became a little bit darker. By season three, Kidulthood had been out, so I had the stubble and low-cut hair. And then in my last episode I've got a huge beard because I was in the middle of filming Neil Marshall's Centurion. So mostly by coincidence, Mickey has this arc from nerdy guy to bearded freedom fighter. I thought that was cool.
Speaking of freedom fighters, you mentioned event movies before. Do you ever see yourself as an action star?
I don't think I'm egotistical and I know what my limits are: I'm a black guy who's probably losing his hair. But I'm happy to play roles that I'm given and I'm happy to play roles that I write. And yeah, those roles will probably be more about being the cool action star than the nerd.
'The Hungry Earth' - Thoughts
Silurians Fact File!
Other NamesHomo Reptilia
Home Planet
Earth
Appearance
Green reptilian humanoid
Start to worry when
They start moaning about 'stinking apes'. And looking in your direction.
First Appearance: Doctor Who and the Silurians; Doctor: The Third Doctor
Last Appearance:The Hungry Earth; Doctor: The Eleventh Doctor
Overview
The Silurians (Homo Reptilia) were Earth's first intelligent inhabitants, cold-blood reptilians with a lifespan of over three centuries who developed a civilisation at least 300 million years before human beings evolved.
Silurian astronomers predicated the arrival of a minor planet would devastate Earth, and so the species went into hibernation, with one genetic line being left as caretakers while the others slept. Time hid their cities underground, while the minor planet became Earth's moon.
Advanced Silurian technology includes germ warfare, mutated dinosaurs, electromagnetic barriers, heat rays, laser scalpels, bioprogrammed materials, fluid controls and disc transports that use geothermal currents and gravity bubbles to move underground.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Karen Gillan: Just what the Doctor ordered - commented news item
by Matthew Sweet, http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23836631-karen-gillan-what-the-doctor-ordered.do
She'll stay with the series beyond this year: whatever tests June's season finale has in store for Amy, her survival is assured. - Woohoo! Amy's up for another series! I'm so happy. 'It saddens me to think of the day when it'll all be over,' she admits. 'But once you're in Doctor Who you're in it forever.' Longer than that, sometimes. In December 1998, the crematorium curtains closed on the coffin of Michael Craze, 56, one of Patrick Troughton's sidekicks, to the ominous diddly-dum-diddly-dum of the theme tune. - It must have seemed only appropriate. It really takes on great proportions. Other actors have had extreme experiences in their post-Tardis years. Anneke Wills, another Troughton co-star, disappeared into the ashram of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. As for Katy Manning, who tussled with giant maggots alongside Jon Pertwee…
Red alert! It's Karen Gillan: the giant flame-haired time-travelling Scotswoman with whom the British nation has fallen madly, hopelessly and devotedly in love. Here she comes, fresh from these photographs, pounding down the thickly carpeted stairs of Fulham Palace in a dirty great pair of heels and a shimmering fairy-tale frock, all six foot of her and, I can't help noticing, most of it leg.
If you've watched the last few weeks of Doctor Who you'll have seen her alter ego, Amy Pond, skitter down frowsty spaceship corridors - The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, across sinister English village greens - Amy's Choice, around vampire-filled Venetian palazzi - Vampires in Venice and through a forest populated by malignant alien gargoyles - The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone. 'The other day I was looking at a version of myself in a new computer game and I asked for the legs to be changed.' They were too muscular, 'almost like a body-builder's', and she asked for them to be made more feminine. - Actually, I can picture the look on her face when she first saw her computer character's legs. See, she's noticed, too.
As we find a space in the palace café to drink tea, it quickly becomes clear that Karen is much more comfortable talking about sex than politics. I ask if she voted in the General Election. 'That's a secret!' she exclaims in the same excitable Scottish tones she uses on TV. 'Isn't it? I don't talk about that sort of stuff.' If Karen thinks that the former Doctor Who, David Tennant, was right to come out for Gordon Brown, and agrees with her boss, Steven Moffat, the programme's new head writer, that the country should be run by anyone but the Tories, then the truth can't yet be told. - Maybe we'll never know! And who cares, really? Being the Doctor's sidekick is clearly more of a diplomatic role than it used to be. - It certainly is. With it comes a lot of responsibility, and any misinterpreted comment can trigger a nightmare... and put these actors' careers on the brink. Being a public figure is a huge responsibility. You really have to know how to handle it. You can say what's on your mind, sure, you just have to be careful not to say what goes on in your soul. Did that make sense? Hope so. What I mean is that you can't pour your most intimate dreams and fears into an interview, 'cause people will know how to hurt you through them. They so will.
Get her on the precise nature of the relationship between Amy and Matt Smith's freshly regenerated Doctor, however, and some Newsnight-standard comment and analysis gush forth. First we talk about the peculiar but oddly compelling shape of her co-star's head. 'I've never seen anything like it,' she agrees. 'And he has an aura as well. A head and an aura.' - People are constantly talking about his head. I swear to God, that's a trendy topic right there! 'Have you seen the new Doctor?' 'Oh yes, he's fabulous. What's with the head?'. Smith is, apparently, as eccentric as he seems. 'He has some strange mannerisms but he really doesn't see it. All those odd things he does with his hands.' - His mannerisms are cute and that's the kind of thing that makes a person stand out from the crowd. For example, David is constantly tugging his earlobe - and he has no idea he does it! She performs an explanatory mime that suggests she may one day find work with outré director Lars von Trier. 'As you spend more time with Matt you don't notice it so much and he becomes normal. - 'He becomes normal'. That made me laugh. And that's how it must be for him. He feels normal. But he isn't. - And again! Which is great for the Doctor.'
And for her, too, it seems. 'Sometimes they're like brother and sister, getting at each other and winding each other up. But Amy is also attracted to the Doctor. It's just that she's not attracted to him in a romantic way. That's what separates her from the other companions who came before. She's not secretly in love with the Doctor. She wants something else.' - 'Flesh and Stone' said otherwise, but it has become apparent, specially throughout 'Amy's Choice', that Rory is the one for her. And Karen has a point: Amy is no Rose not Martha. Nor Donna, for that matter! It's a friendship that covers certain nuances of relationships based on love... It is great to see it develop along the episodes, though.
This is the attitude she played out in a scene that caused a mid-size media kerfuffle a couple of weeks ago. - Flesh and Stone. Amy recumbent on the duvet and making mildly smutty remarks about being 'sorted out'. Amy grabbing the Doctor by the braces and planting an enormous wet smacker on his great big bony face. - References to his head: 2. I find this amusing, for some reason. Amy telling the Doctor that she didn't care if she was getting married in the morning, as she wasn't looking for anything long-term. How, I wonder, do you recover from a one-night stand with a Time Lord? 'Amy would take that in her stride,' says Karen. 'In the morning she would probably have been back to being his sister.' - There's a post on this, and I've commented this particular scene.
Modern, isn't she? A bit too modern for Mediawatch-UK, the current form of Mary Whitehouse's protest outfit, which spent the 1970s attacking Doctor Who for being too violent. It has now suggested that the programme was bringing a new and unwelcome note of sex to Saturday teatime. Does Karen think they have a point? 'I read the complaints, but I don't see that it's very bad at all. The Doctor isn't reciprocating, so it's not inappropriate. We're not sending out bad messages.' - I agree with Karen. Sex is part of life, isn't it? And I don't think they're sending bad messages... If, as she very well says 'he reciprocated', then they would be sending bad messages. It's obvious there's referring to sex, but I wonder whether some kinds really acknowledge it as such. I'm sure some of them didn't even think of it. They just thought she was kissing him. That she was her girlfriend. In an 'only kissing' way.
Karen was born in Inverness in 1987, when Bonnie Langford was in the Tardis and nobody was worrying about whether the companion was getting too fresh with Sylvester McCoy's Doctor. Not even Karen's mother Marie, a committed user of Dalek bubble bath long before her daughter gave her the excuse. The less excitable John Gillan, who manages a care home in Kinmylies, claims that the infant Karen would point at the television and announce her intention to be on it. - It's great to know that today's actors grew up watching the show. And some of them even star in it nowadays! Karen is sceptical but does concede that she was a starstruck teenager.
She left home at 16 to study performance at Telford College, Edinburgh, then followed in Bonnie Langford's spangled footsteps to the Italia Conti drama school near the Barbican. From there she started to get smallish roles on TV: a few lines in an episode of the detective show Rebus, a turn as a soothsayer in a David Tennant episode of Doctor Who - Fires of Pompeii, Series 4, and spots as a comedy headmistress and a lesbian bride in The Kevin Bishop Show (no, me neither) - that show was hilarious. Truly hilarious. Then the work dried up and the pint-pulling began. She spent a year behind the bar of The Pilgrim pub in Kennington, wondering if she'd done the right thing to launch herself into an acting career without formulating any kind of Plan B. It was brought to an end by a talent-spotter from a modelling agency, who noticed that Karen didn't have to stretch very far to reach the optics and asked if she fancied parading on the runway in the Allegra Hicks show at London Fashion Week 2007. 'It was depressing not working for so long,' she reflects. 'I hated not being involved in acting, but looking back on it I'm pleased it happened. Otherwise I wouldn't know what it's like to have a normal job.'
She secured her abnormal job a year ago, after a clandestine audition in which the applicants passed BBC reception only by uttering the codewords 'panic moon', an anagram for 'companion'. - It amazes me how the BBC manages to keep all these auditions a secret. That's not an easy task when all eyes are in 'Doctor Who'. So 'panic moon' seems appropriate... even because they would panic if word leaked out. Once she'd said yes – or, to be more accurate, screamed it down the phone – her new employers sat her down and gave her an interview in which the new recruit was invited to volunteer anything from her past that might conceivably cause work for the press officers. - Man, all the work that goes into getting yourself into a big show. Most of the time, we think it's only rehearsals and interviews. We forget that it also means to cover up any odd patches from your past and hiding who you really are at times. That must be awful sometimes. 'Surreal' is how she describes the experience, though, naturally, she won't divulge any details. 'It makes you realise how serious it all is. But it's only a moment. It's not hanging over you all the time.'
Other things are, however. Such as the paparazzi, who were there to snap her on a Welsh beach during her first day of filming, and to clock her hanging out at a garden centre in Suffolk where she was looking at bonsai trees with her boyfriend, a 24-year-old photographer called Patrick Green. The fruit of that expedition is sitting on her windowsill. 'A succulent. Alberta Graptoveria. I called it Albert. Just to clarify, I don't really know anything about bonsai trees.'
The Doctor Who schedule, too, seems pretty overpowering: nine months of 11-day work stints with one day off between each block. There are good biological reasons why, during her first season on the programme, Billie Piper developed a spot so gigantic and tenacious that the production team gave it a nickname. 'We work such long hours that it completely dominates your life,' says Karen. 'I had a few days off once and I didn't like it when I came back because I felt out of touch. I was out of it for two days and I felt I'd lost Amy.' And possessing Amy is clearly a source of strength and pleasure for Gillan. 'She's a lot cooler than me,' she says. 'She has a different walk from me. She struts. She's bad.' - Spoilers, maybe? Or just a gag?
She'll stay with the series beyond this year: whatever tests June's season finale has in store for Amy, her survival is assured. - Woohoo! Amy's up for another series! I'm so happy. 'It saddens me to think of the day when it'll all be over,' she admits. 'But once you're in Doctor Who you're in it forever.' Longer than that, sometimes. In December 1998, the crematorium curtains closed on the coffin of Michael Craze, 56, one of Patrick Troughton's sidekicks, to the ominous diddly-dum-diddly-dum of the theme tune. - It must have seemed only appropriate. It really takes on great proportions. Other actors have had extreme experiences in their post-Tardis years. Anneke Wills, another Troughton co-star, disappeared into the ashram of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. As for Katy Manning, who tussled with giant maggots alongside Jon Pertwee… The name sends a flicker of recognition across Karen's face. 'Is she the one who posed with a Dalek?' Yes. 'Nude?' Umm-hum. That 1978 issue of Girl Illustrated always does well on eBay. 'I think I probably won't be doing that.' But if she imagines herself in 40 years, when she's been invited to talk about the Amy Pond years to a gaggle of Doctor Who geeks as yet unborn, does that image make her smile with pleasure or fill her with the desire to jump on a chair and scream? She chooses the smile. 'I talk about Doctor Who all the time. Maybe I'll never stop.' - Would we want you to stop, Karen? That's my question. Right now, I'm happy.
The Diary of a Doctor Who Addict, by Paul Magrs
There could not be a better moment for this novel. Doctor Who has never been bigger, and a whole new generation has just experienced the phenomenon of regeneration, where one Doctor changes into another. When David Tennant made way for Matt Smith in the role, the last words he cried out echoed the feelings of millions of fans: "I don't want to go!"
The Diary of a "Dr Who" Addict
by Paul Magrs
The genius of Paul Magrs's book is the way it uses this notion of regeneration as a metaphor for adolescence: a time when your whole life changes, a new body grows around you, and you have no idea who you may be becoming – just that all familiar certainties are gone for ever.
The story is set in 1981, when Tom Baker gave way to Peter Davison (below) as the Doctor. Its protagonist is an obsessive fan called David who is on the verge of becoming a teenager, and is terrified at the prospect. He's happy with his childhood in working-class north-east England, and doesn't want anything to change. He takes comfort in the weekly ritual of watching Doctor Who (or The Show, as true fans call it). He and his best friend, Robert, have always shared their love for The Show, but now Robert seems more interested in chasing girls, listening to goth music and, most threatening of all, dismissing The Show as childish rubbish.
Magrs's take on early adolescence is very sharp and beautifully nuanced. Almost every page contains some seemingly offhand observation that rings true, from the cringing embarrassment of boys' changing rooms to the way the tiniest details of popular culture can become matters of life or death, fiercely personal and political.
This is backed up by a fully realised pop-cultural landscape that encompasses not only television but music, books, comics . . . even chocolate bars. It might be wondered whether all this period detail would mean anything to a teenager today – but it isn't retro reference-dropping for its own sake. Rather, Magrs treats the details as if writing a historical novel or science fiction: using them to build a picture of a world, and show what matters to the people in it. The reader may or may not know the distinction between "Laughing Gnome" David Bowie and "Ziggy Stardust" or "experimental Berlin" David Bowie – but will surely recognise the crushing humiliation of being seen to like the wrong things, of being less cool than the people around you appear to be.
There is sexual politics, too, as David comes to realise that he is gay, or at least not attracted to girls. There are some similarities here with Jacqueline Wilson's standard-setting Kiss, as well as with Magrs's own Strange Boy. But in this respect, the book seems more preoccupied with what David is not than with what he is, and perhaps thereby misses opportunities for narrative development.
It should also be said that although the writing is deeply thoughtful and textured, it's not exactly action-packed. There are plot strands that go nowhere, and an epistolary section that is essentially a collection of sketches. Yet the emotional dynamics keep it moving towards a conclusion that is both uplifting and convincing.
The discovery that there are people in the world whom David might hope to become – people who have not lost everything that made childhood magical, while confidently inhabiting the new bodies and aspirations of adulthood – is something anyone can take heart from, whatever their situation. And this sense that change may be survivable after all makes this not just a book for Doctor Who addicts, but for everyone interested in the transformations that come with growing up.
SF Said's Varjak Paw books are published by Corgi.
--> All I know is that I'm gonna buy this book. Period. Full stop. Finito. Nul points.
Who painted the Doctor in 5000 B.C.? - commented news item
by Paul Sutherland, http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2982917/Who-painted-the-Dr-in-a-cave-in-5000BC.html
A CAVE painting created 7,000 years ago has stunned experts - by appearing to show Doctor Who's time-travelling Tardis. - It really looks like the TARDIS! Blimey, that's a bit unexpected. Doctor, what have you been up to?
The picture dating from 5,000BC portrays mysterious figures around an object looking like the TV police box currently occupied by new Doctor Who Matt Smith and assistant Amy Pond (Karen Gillan). - The angels have the blue box. Ahah!
One fan said: "The Doctor is always travelling through space and time so maybe we shouldn't be surprised." - Indeed! No wonder, then!
Experts believe the picture in Utah, US, was created by mammoth-hunting nomads.
Friday, May 21, 2010
'Rocking the Time-Space Continuum' makeover!
What do you think? TARDIS-y like! :) I'm really pleased with it.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Episode Titles Revealed! [Doctor Who]
The BBC has revealed the episode titles for the series finale of Doctor Who.
The two-part story is penned by Steven Moffat and will air June 19 and June 26 on BBC One. The first episode is called 'The Pandorica Opens' and the second 'The Big Bang'.
Alex Kingston will reprise her role as River Song for the finale, which is also thought to include appearances from The Daleks, The Cybermen and The Sontarans.
In the US, the finale will air June 26 and July 3 on BBC America.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Matt's new role: Worried About The Boy
DOCTOR Who is to snog Boy George, TV Biz can reveal.
New Timelord Matt Smith, 27, will lock lips with actor Douglas Booth, 17.
The teenager starred as Culture Club frontman George in the film Worried About The Boy on BBC2 last Sunday. He and Matt play lovers in new drama Christopher And His Kind - about gay writer Christopher Isherwood.
Matt plays Isherwood who moves to decadent 1930s Berlin at the invitation of his pal, the poet WH Auden (Pip Carter). He meets a street cleaner played by Douglas.
The highbrow BBC2 film also features Lindsay Duncan and Toby Jones - who have both starred in Doctor Who.
It is being made in Ireland.
Scots actress Karen Gillan wants Doctor Who to take on Loch Ness monster
by Toby McDonald, http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/television-news/2010/05/16/scots-actress-karen-gillan-wants-doctor-who-to-take-on-loch-ness-monster-86908-22262273/
DOCTOR WHO star Karen Gillan has revealed she hopes the Time Lord will take on the Loch Ness Monster.
DOCTOR WHO star Karen Gillan has revealed she hopes the Time Lord will take on the Loch Ness Monster.The 22-year-old actress admits she has badgered the show's Paisley-born producer Steven Moffat to do a Scottish special.
Karen, who plays the Doctor's assistant Amy Pond in the new series, even wants Billy Connolly to appear.
She has also begged Moffat to provide a role for Nessie.
Karen said: "The Scots are taking over. I said to Steven that we should do something with the Loch Ness Monster in Inverness.
"I would love to see someone like Billy Connolly in the show.
"I just think we should have someone who's a big character and who is really funny. Someone like that,who is Scottish."
The Inverness-born star also revealed that she had to audition for the part of Amy in both an English and Scottish accent.
She said: "After I was cast, they still weren't sure if Amy was going to be English or Scottish and we just decided that she could be Scottish.
"But it was really nice to be able to do it in my own accent because it's obviously something I feel more comfortable doing. I really think it suits her."
The Sunday Mail revealed last month that Connolly had been targeted to become the eighth Doctor - a part that eventually went to Paul McGann.
And, as all self-respecting Doctor Who geeks know, Nessie has featured before.
The fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, fought off the Zygons, who were trying to use the monster to help them take over the world in 1975.
Expert Alex Westthorp, of the Den of Geek website, said: "The storyline was good but the special effects department seriously let them down.
"Nessie looked more like something knocked up on Blue Peter than a proper scary monster."
Meanwhile Karen, who won a coveted Sunday Mail Young Scot award last month, has pledged that she will not exploit her sexy image by posing for lads' mags.
She has worked as a model in the past but said: "I've kind of laid that to rest for the moment. It's something I did to support my acting, really, and now that I don't have to do it, I 'm just concentrating on this.
"But it was fun, I really enjoyed it, and maybe in the future I'd like to go back to it at some point.
"Probably not in things like FHM - rest assured."
Karen, who claims she is normally a couch potato, believes filming has kept her in shape.
She said: "We spend a lot of time running in Doctor Who.
"I have been in pain after some of the running days that we've done and the work-outs I've been given. But it's good because I want to get fit.
"A lot of stuff involves 'a bit of strength', which I don't have. So that was quite challenging."
Karen yesterday revealed a US female fan proposed to her.
In a Radio 1 interview with Vernon Kay, she said: "I was in America and got proposed to by a girl. That was quite strange.
"I said, 'I think its a bit soon.' I just tried to make a terrible joke and then I moved away.
"Also someone asked me if I am a chubby chaser, or something like that. I didn't know what that was, and then he invited me for sushi."
Page: 'I'd love Doctor Who role'
Joanna Page has admitted she would love a role in Doctor Who.
The Gavin And Stacey actress denied rumours that she had landed a part in the sci-fi drama, but stressed she would be open to appearing in the show.Speaking at the guest night celebrating the new cast of Wicked, Joanna said of recent reports: "It's not true. A friend was telling me about that. I was like 'I wish it was true'."
She went on: "I think I've got to be the only Welsh actress who has never been in Doctor Who so if someone would like me to be in Doctor Who I'd love to have a part."
The actress was at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre to support friend Louise Dearman, who recently took over in the role of good witch Glinda.
Joanna said she was "blown away" by her pal's performance, and revealed she'd be keen to tread the boards in a musical herself.
"I'd love to do a musical - I haven't got the voice to be in Wicked. It would have to be something I can act in."
The «'Rex is not your Lawyer' has been dropped» Aftermath
Right, I've had a couple of hours to calm myself down (I'm obviously exaggerating the fact that I need to 'calm myself down'. It's not like I was angry and up kicking things. I was upset. So yeah, maybe I needed some time to reassure myself. Nothing wrong with that, eh)... And I'm sad. I'm feeling genuinely sad. I had high hopes for this project of David's, only for it to be dropped. That's not a good way to pass my afternoon. After all the 'Burke and Hare' hyper, a project me and the girls on the forum were anxiously waiting for, we acknowledged that he wasn't going to be on it. To be completely and utterly honest with you, I thought 'RINYL' was better a project, but I was excited about 'B&H', I truly was. But then I got really, really flabbergasted about this new show. I thought it was going to be massive, and I loved the concept so much, OH SO MUCH!, a lawyer who suffers from panic attacks, who can barely control them on court, I thought 'This is going to be brilliant, epic, magnificent!' and then today... massive disappointment. I'm sure every single DT fan feels that way... I'm sure David was superb... Oh, well.
'Rex is Not Your Lawyer' is not to be - commented news item
by Tim Walker, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/7737765/Doctor-Who-star-David-Tennant-fails-to-make-it-in-America.html
After failing to convince enough voters to back Gordon Brown with his election broadcast - David supports the Labour party, David Tennant has suffered a further blow to his amour-propre. The former Doctor Who hoped that a pilot episode of a legal drama called Rex Is Not Your Lawyer would be taken up as a series by NBC and it would turn him into an American television star as big as Hugh Laurie. - That's a bit presumptuous, isn't it? Something David is definitely not. Alas, NBC executives have quietly decided to shelve the project.
Tennant had played a lawyer who couldn't appear in court because of panic attacks. The actor failed to make the first night of Hamlet in 2008, but a bad back rather than a panic attack was given as the reason. - David had to be submitted to surgery (he had to remove two vertebrae, if I'm not mistaken - he had a prolapsed disc), and yes, it was a big deal, unlike many journalists put it. I read this article, back when he was in the hospital, stating that he hadn't shown up on a whim. Just because. That made us all Tennant fans feel really sad.
Jonathan Miller, the polymath, said the RSC's decision to give Tennant the title role amounted to "celebrity casting". - Celebrity casting? David has been doing Shakespeare for YEARS. He IS great at it, and they knew it. Celebrity casting? Oh, co'mon. So they gave Patrick Stewart a role because he is a celebrity, too. Both actors are brilliant. So leave it there.
So yeah, I know what you're going to say. 'You're a huge Tennant fan and you think he is perfect and are constantly defending him. Thing is, the British tabloids and newspapers seem to be constantly bashing David these days, and that has GOT to stop. Stuff like 'he's not much on TV, is he?' or 'Hey, what happened to David?' or 'He is not a good actor' do make me angry, and I'm not afraid to admit that! Not in the slightest way. I am just sick of hearing this kind of stupid remarks just because he is busy filming and, consequently, not appearing on television as much as before, e.g. Christmas season, etc.
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Monsters Are Coming!: Doctor Who LIVE
Developed in association with Doctor Who’s Executive Producer and show runner, Steven Moffat, Doctor Who Live promises the same excitement, adventure and suspense that viewers have come to expect from the TV programme and will feature specially filmed new video scenes.
Opening in wartime London and concluding in an epic onstage battle, audiences should expect the unexpected as the The Doctor’s arch-enemies the Daleks are joined by some of the best-loved and most terrifying monsters from the TV series including the Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Judoon and Oods to name but a few.
With an out-of-this-world set, Doctor Who Live will feature special FX, optical illusions and spectacular pyrotechnics building to an epic finale. Specially edited video clips, drawn from the TV Programme will be shown on a massive screen and accompanied by the music of longtime Doctor Who composer Murray Gold. These iconic scores will be brought to life by a 16 piece orchestra live on stage.
Actors from the TV series will not be appearing live on stage.
On sale 9am Friday 21st May 2010.
Tickets are priced at £38.50, £34.50 and £25.00 subject to booking fees.
Belfast Odyssey Arena only
Tickets are priced at £42.50, £37.50 & £27.50 and may be subject to service charges.
Please note that for Belfast Odyssey Arena, the ticket prices are higher as booking fees and agency commissions are included in the ticket price - this is standard practice for shows in Northern Ireland.
Doctor Who: coming live to a stage near you
by Steve Busfield, http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/may/17/doctor-who-live-on-stage
Doctor Who is soon set to step out of his Tardis and onto a theatre stage near you.
The Doctor – plus assorted adversaries and creatures including Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and Oods – is to tour the UK this autumn with Doctor Who Live.
The tour follows a string of other TV shows which have developed stage versions: The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, and even Coronation Street.
The new Doctor, Matt Smith, and assistant Karen Gillan, will not appear in the stage show, which is being developed by Doctor Who's head writer Steven Moffat. But the pair will feature in "on-stage battles, pyrotechnics and special effects".
The show will open in wartime London and conclude with "an epic onstage battle". There will also be a live soundtrack, performed by a 16-piece orchestra, by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold, responsible for the programme's controversial new theme tune.
The television and music industries have discovered a lucrative new revenue stream through live performances, with ticket sales and merchandising.
Moffatt, who is also the executive producer of the TV series, said: "This is everything I ever wanted since I was eleven. A live show, with all the coolest Doctor Who monsters, a proper story, and brand new screen material for Matt Smith's Doctor. I'll be writing scenes for it, and probably attending every single night."
The tour will cover nine cities with 25 performances, opening at London's Wembley Arena on 8 October, and then Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, Liverpool and Belfast on 7 November.
Reality shows such as the X Factor have toured the UK to huge crowds who want to see the stars of the programme in the flesh.
Coronation Street Abridged Live! will bring the entire history of the ITV soap to the stage to celebrate the 50th anniversary in August, written by Corrie scriptwriter Jonathan Harvey. More than 7,000 episodes, 115 deaths and 86 marriages will be shoehorned into two hours, for the Lowry Theatre in Salford and then on a nationwide tour.
Details of the Doctor Who shows are available from doctorwholive.com.
My Doctor Who Figures Collection
Yeah, here it is! The long-awaited post regarding my Doctor Who Figures Collection. It's not much, I am aware, but I'm very, very proud of it. Mind you that the figures aren't exactly cheap...! But the price ain't too bad as well, eh?
Series 1
Bronze Assault Dalek
The Ninth Doctor
The Newly Regenerated Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor in spacesuit
The Tenth Doctor in Pentallium suit
Series 3
The Newly-Regenerated Master
The Tenth Doctor (Old)
The Tenth Doctor (Ancient)
Martha Jones
The Journal of Impossible Things (next to the Tenth Doctor in spacesuit)
Toclafane
Series 4
Adipose
Sontaran (Commander Skorr)
Natural Ood
The Tenth Doctor with glasses
Captain Jack Harkness (w/ jar with the Tenth Doctor's hand)
The Master (Blonde)
Rassilon (The Narrator)
The Tenth Doctor (Injured)
The Newly-Regenerated Eleventh Doctor
Misc
Series 2
Clockwork Man
The Tenth Doctor in long overcoat
Series 3
Series 4
Misc
Sonic Screwdrivers, Laser Screwdriver, Sonic Pen
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