If you've been following me on Twitter and/or YouTube, you'll know that I'm a sucker for Who Fan Series. When I first joined YouTube, I was constantly watching Tony and Tom (aka timelordfromhell and themastercrevasse)'s hilarious spoofs.
For some odd reason, one day I decided to search for some more; not that I was fed up with the two lads! Much to my delight, I was faced with a new channel and the promise of a new fan series, 'Doctor Who: After Death', by
Checkm8 productions. If you don't know them, go check them out, I'm sure you'll love their work.
www.youtube.com/checkm8productions
Nick, Daniel and Ricky are creative lads with a very bright future when it comes to fan series. Nicholas Gott, the actor who plays the Doctor, is witty and the head of the creative department: a truly gifted craftsman, Nick is able to wow us all with his fabulous props and outstandingly perfect drawings. Most of the designs, if not all of them, were designed and made by this talented young man. He is superb as the Doctor, bringing to our computer monitors a darker and slightly wittier Doctor than the ones we have been used to. In fact, Nick himself admits that he is a great fan of the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant, and that shows in his acting. I believe comparing such a young man to the brilliant actor that is Tennant is saying a lot, but Nicholas certainly has a bright future ahead of him.
Danni Matsell stars in the fan series as Ruby Howard, the Doctor's companion. Ruby reminds me of Donna at times: she gets quite scared when faced with aliens and has funny reactions to the Doctor's lifestyle, a bit like Donna did. Danni is at her best in frightening and intriguing scenes, such as the ones in which she questions the Doctor about who he is.
Daniel Mackrell is the editor-in-chief, so to speak: the editing is, after the acting and props, my favourite aspect to the show. The fact that it is very creative and even professional, dare I say it, is a good asset to the episodes. Ricky Crompton, last but definitely not least, is one of the directors, together with his two mates.
The scripts, a Gott/Mackrell collaboration, are witty and far more inventive than some of the fan series I've been following so far. The planets, the aliens, everything seems to struck a perfect code. Together with brilliantly put together Doctor Who music, the whole episodes have a twang of Old Who to them... which, in my opinion, is absolutely brilliant. It's Doctor Who minus the budget, that's all. In a nutshell, I could say it was perfect.
