Blogtor Who

REVIEW - "Hornet's Nest: A Sting In The Tale"

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:45:00 +0000

BBC Audio released Dec 3
Available on CD [RRP £6.25] & Download [RRP £4.95]

After the rather dull Circus Of Doom, it's refreshing to hear Tom Baker wake up again and deliver a performance worthy of the Fourth Doctor. This latest installment of the Hornet's Nest series gets rather dark, horrific and incredibly goulish too. Not only that, but Tommy B uses the phrase "red hot slober"! What's not to like?

A Sting In The Tale does, however, have its lighter moments. Notably at the start were we hear The Doctor sing and reappropriate Good King Wenceslas - a moment that really does remind you that Tom Baker is not of this Earth. The actor delights in the script, relishing words like the aforementioned "slober" and "slavering" - the latter evoking Richard Burton's performance on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds.

Baker positively drools his way through having a "hot toddy" with some nuns and one did wonder if the "sting" in this "tale" would be an erotic dalliance with one of the Sisters. Sadly, this was not to be. (Maybe for another adventure though, eh?) Instead his attentions are turned to mesmerising a pig. No, really...

As I said the story takes a beastly turn in the shape of a battle between the Sisters and the slavering, menacing dogs - a fight straight out of the pages of Lord of the Rings. It's incredibly well portrayed and extremely graphic in its description of the various contretants.

A Sting In The Tale comes to a clattering climax and leaves with a cliffhanger worthy of Doctor Who (thankfully, not long to wait 'til I hear the resolution). With Baker back in form, a top tale to boot and numerous references to the show - including Krynoids, Zygons, Kraal and even the Pescatons to name but however many that was - the penultimate episode sets up the finale in some style.

Blogtor Rating 8/10

THE WATERS OF MARS on "Harry Hill's TV Burp"

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:07:00 +0000

Last night on ITV1, Harry Hill's TV Burp used footage from THE WATERS OF MARS as part of the show. See the sketch in the player above.

RADIO TIMES - The End Of Time cover & feature

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:21:00 +0000

The latest issue of the RADIO TIMES (a UK television listings magazine) has featured DOCTOR WHO on the cover again. Inside there's a three page exclusive feature, previewing The End Of Time. The article confirms the casting of BRIAN COX, TIMOTHY DALTON, JUNE WHITFIELD and CLAIRE BLOOM whilst we also learn that Wilf gets to enter the TARDIS in The End Of Time. Click on the pics for bigger versions.

THE END OF TIME - Running Time

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:49:00 +0000

The running times for THE END OF TIME have been released, along with their airdates in the UK. The End Of Time Part 1 has a running time of 59 minutes 42 seconds and will broadcast on Christmas Day whilst Part 2 (72 minutes 47 seconds) will be screened on New Year's Day. Click on the pic above for a bigger version.

PELADON TALES DVD Artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:46:00 +0000

Coming up soon is the first classic release of 2010 from 2|entertain - The PELADON TALES Boxset. This 3 Disc set includes the stories THE CURSE OF PELADON and THE MONSTER OF PELADON and will be available from 4th January 2010.

Thanks to 2|entertain

Who On Who? BBC Radio 2 documentary

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:59:00 +0000

In an exclusive interview for BBC Radio 2, actor David Tennant talks to Doctor Who executive producer and show-runner Russell T Davies in a special programme broadcast just days before the Time Lord's latest regeneration.

Who On Who? marks the end of an era in the history of Doctor Who. In this programme Russell reveals whether he will write for the show in the future and his feelings about his successor on the series Steven Moffat. Russell also reveals the influences behind Doctor Who and why the success of the revamped series took the cast and creative team behind it by surprise.

He also reveals that he declined the BBC's original request for a series about a young Doctor studying at the Time Lord Academy. David Tennant also asks about Russell's plans for the future. They discuss why it's the right time for them both to leave the series and reveal that they made the decision to leave at roughly the same time.

"It just made sense and it's continued to make sense with hindsight," says Russell T Davies. "There's not been one moment where I've thought we've done the wrong thing."

David Tennant agrees: "It feels like we've had the right amount of time to tell a great story."

In a programme featuring clips from the last five years of one of the BBC's most successful dramas, the pair also consider how the television industry has changed in that time and the ever-changing nature of the Saturday night television schedule.

Who On Who?
Tuesday 29 December   

5.00-6.00pm BBC RADIO 2

New Series - Casting News

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:10:00 +0000

RICHARD CURTIS has announced a piece of casting regarding his episode for Doctor Who next year. This news should be regarded as SPOILERISCIOUS, so you can click HERE to find who is playing who.... You have been warned!

DAVID TENNANT reads "Bedtime Story"

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:21:00 +0000

Click  for a bigger version

There's a Christmas Eve treat for young story-lovers when Doctor Who star David Tennant swaps the Tardis for the Bedtime Story chair and breathes life into the enchanting seasonal tale of The Christmas Bear by Henrietta and Paul Stickland.

It's Christmas Eve and Bear Cub leaves his parents in their den to go out exploring. Falling into a big, bright hole in the snow, Cub finds himself in Santa's workshop and at the start of a wonderful Christmas adventure. From the post room to the wrapping room, Cub is given a whistle-stop tour of the Christmas present process – with a tantalising glimpse of the toy-testing room. But Cub is disappointed when it's time to leave – until Santa gives him the best present of all...

David Tennant reads four more stories during the festive season: How High Is The Sky by Anna Milbourne, illustrated by Serena Riglietti; Small Mouse, Big City by Simon Prescott; Emily Brown And The Elephant Emergency by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton; and Miki by Stephen Mackey.

David's appearance on Bedtime Story will be broadcast during the festive period on CBBC.

It's A David Tennant Christmas!

The Last Voyage - Audio CD cover & synopsis

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Coming up early next year is another EXCLUSIVE release from BBC Audio. The Last Voyage is read by DAVID TENNANT and will be available from January 7th, 2010 - priced £9.99. Click on the pic above for a bigger, juicier version whilst you can read the synopsis below:

The TARDIS materialises on board the maiden voyage of a pioneering space cruiser, travelling from Earth to the planet Eternity. The Doctor has just started exploring the huge, hi-tech Interstitial Transposition Vehicle when there is a loud bang, a massive jolt and a flash of light. Shortly afterwards, he discovers that nearly all the passengers and crew have disappeared. Unless the Doctor and flight attendant Sugar MacAuley can take control and steer the ship, they could crash-land – or keep slipping through space forever. And as if that wasn’t enough, something awful awaits them on Eternity…

Written exclusively for audio by Dan Abnett and read by David Tennant, The Last Voyage features the Doctor as played by David Tennant in the acclaimed hit series from BBC Television.

Thanks to BBC Audio

Doctor Who: A Legend Reborn - Audio CD cover & synopsis

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:39:00 +0000

Coming up early next year is another EXCLUSIVE release from BBC Audio. Doctor Who: A Legend Reborn is read by ELISABETH SLADEN and will be available from January 21st, 2010 - priced £13.69. Click on the pic above for a bigger, juicier version whilst you can read the synopsis below:

In 2005, after sixteen years off-air, Doctor Who returned to BBC television – and soon became more popular than ever before. In this special anthology of clips and interviews, Elisabeth Sladen journeys back to the recent past to delve into the show’s dazzling success.

With the help of extracts from radio programmes as diverse as Go For It, Jo Whiley, PM, Newsbeat and The Now Show, she explores the run-up to the launch of Series 1 and follows the programme’s progress right up to 2009, with the announcement of the impending departure of David Tennant and the casting of Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor.

Featuring the voices of David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Billie Piper, Christopher Eccleston, Kylie Minogue, Freema Agyeman, Russell T Davies and many others, this is an absorbing retrospective look at how Doctor Who returned to our screens to capture the hearts of millions of fans.

Thanks to BBC Audio

Doctor Who & The Ice Warriors - Audio CD cover & synopsis

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:39:00 +0000

Released next year is another audio book version of a TARGET novelisation of a classic Doctor Who story. Doctor Who & The Ice Warriors will be hitting stores on January 7th, priced £12.99. Here's the synopsis:

The world is held in the grip of a second Ice Age, and faces total destruction from the rapidly advancing glaciers. Doctor Who, with Victoria and Jamie, lands at a top scientific base in England, where they have just unearthed an ancientIce Warrior. Aliens from Mars, preserved in the ice for centuries and now revitalised, the Ice Warriors feel ready to take over... Can the Doctor overcome these warlike Martians and halt the relentless approach of the ice glaciers?

Frazer Hines, who played Jamie in Doctor Who, reads Brian Hayles’ complete and unabridged novelisation, first published by Target Books in 1976.

‘BBC Audiobooks has chosen well with its books and has taken the right approach with its readers... they benefit from new music and sound effects’

Doctor Who Magazine

Thanks to BBC Audio

THE END OF TIME - Radio Times coverage

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:12:00 +0000

This week's edition of the Radio Times (a UK listings magazine) has a number of Doctor Who related features inside including a small preview of the Christmas special, a free episode from iTunes offer and a two page spread on Who products from Amazon. Click on the pics for bigger versions.

TOTAL TV GUIDE Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:56:00 +0000

This week's edition of TOTAL TV GUIDE has a Doctor Who cover as part of their Christmas television preview.

TV & SATELLITE WEEK Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

The latest issue of the listings magazine TV & SATELLITE WEEK has DAVID TENNANT on the cover and as part of their Christmas preview. Click on the pics for bigger versions.

NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS - Doctor Who special

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:03:00 +0000

As announced a few weeks back (see HERE), DAVID TENNANT is to present an episode of NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS. Also appearing on the show are CATHERINE TATE and BERNARD CRIBBINS. More pictures to come next week, click on the one above for a bigger version. This special edition is due to air Wed, Dec 16.

DAVID TENNANT in Hamlet - BBC synopsis

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +0000

The Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Hamlet, directed by RSC Chief Associate Director Gregory Doran, stars David Tennant in the title role.

Made by Illuminations, this screen version of Shakespeare's great tragedy retains the quality and tone of the critically acclaimed stage production and was filmed on location. All key original members of the cast, including Patrick Stewart as Claudius, star in this special 180-minute production, which also has the same creative team. The film is directed by Gregory Doran and designed by Robert Jones, who also designed the stage production.

To support this new film of Hamlet, a rich online BBC website is being created in collaboration with the RSC, featuring behind-the-scenes stills and footage; specially shot interviews with the actors talking about their characters and their approach to the play; interviews with the director and other key backstage personnel; and a comprehensive range of links through to the full depth of BBC Learning's content on Shakespeare and RSC Education's content on Shakespeare in performance.

Hamlet is simulcast on the BBC HD channel – the BBC's High Definition channel, available through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

THE END OF TIME - Official Synopses

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:27:00 +0000

The BBC Press Office has released both synopses for The End of Time, here's Part One:

It's the Tenth Doctor's final journey – but his psychotic nemesis the Master has been reborn, on Christmas Eve. With both determined to cheat death, the battle ranges from the wastelands of London to the mysterious Immortality Gate, while the alien Ood warn of an even greater danger approaching, as a terrible shadow falls across the entire Universe.

And Part Two:

The Doctor faces the end of his life as the Master's plans hurtle out of control. With the sound of drums growing louder, and an ancient trap closing around the Earth, the Doctor and Wilf must fight alone. But sacrifices must be made, and the deadly prophecy warns: "He will knock four times."

David Tennant stars as the Tenth Doctor and guest stars include John Simm, Bernard Cribbins, Catherine Tate, Timothy Dalton, David Harewood and June Whitfield.

The End Of Time – Parts One & Two are written by Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn. The producer is Tracie Simpson. It will be simulcast on the BBC HD channel – the BBC's High Definition channel, available through Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.

REVIEW - The Sarah Jane Adventures, "The Gift" Pts 1 & 2

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:51:00 +0000

You can read the Blogtor review of the series 3 finale of The Sarah Jane Adventures, entitled The Gift, HERE over at Den of Geek.

THE END OF TIME - Children In Need preview

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:16:00 +0000

As part of the BBC's televisual line~up for Children In Need 2009, an exclusive preview clip for The End Of Time Part 1 was shown. See it in the player below and click on the pics for bigger, juicier versions.

DREAMLAND - David Tennant interview

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:12:00 +0000

The official site has updated the DREAMLAND section with an interview with DAVID TENNANT and writer PHIL FORD. See it in the player below.

DREAMLAND - TV Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Included in the player below is the television trailer for the new animated series DREAMLAND. It starts this Saturday on the BBC's Red Button channel.

Charity Auction - signed 'Time Crash' figures

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:42:00 +0000

On Ebay you can find 2 sets of pre-production UK release ‘Time Crash’ figures, featuring the Fifth and Tenth Doctors. The ‘UK100’ set, as it has become known, is the most exclusive of all of the Character Options range, with only 100 sets being made. Both of these sets are signed by David Tennant and Peter Davison and have been donated to the Lynn North Memorial Fund by the Doctor Who Art Department. See the charity listing HERE.

The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:44:00 +0000

BBC Books are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook.

For this new edition of Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook expand their in-depth discussion of the creative life of Doctor Who to cover Russell’s final year as Head Writer and Executive Producer of the show. Candid and witty insights abound throughout two years’ worth of correspondence, covering David Tennant's last episodes as the Doctor and the legacy that Russell and David leave behind as a new era of Doctor Who begins. This edition will also include new photos from behind the scenes of David Tennant’s final episodes.

With over 300 pages of new material, and taking in events from the entire five years since the show’s return in 2005, The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter will be the most comprehensive - and personal - account of Doctor Who ever published.

Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter will be published on 14th January 2010 as a £16.99 paperback.  

Thanks to BBC Books

REVIEW - The Waters Of Mars

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:26:00 +0000

You can read the Blogtor review of The Waters Of Mars HERE. It includes screengrabs and, more importantly, SPOILERS. So if you haven't seen the episode, do not read the review as it will ruin your enjoyment of the story. The comments section will also be open for your opinions on The Waters of Mars.

"He Will Knock Four Times" - RTD explains

noreply@blogger.com (Cameron McEwan) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:31:00 +0000

Included on the official site as part of their videos for The Waters of Mars is an interview with Russell T Davies where he discusses what the phrase, "He will knock four times" means. See it in the player below.