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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Jul 7, 2012 18:42:24 GMT -5
Year of the Pig: Year of the Pig is an audio story released by Big Finish Productions in December 2006. Written by Matthew Sweet and featured the Sixth Doctor and Peri. The guest cast includes Paul Brooke, Michael Keating (Blake’s 7 and a returning Doctor Who guest star), First Doctor companion actor Maureen O’Brien (Vicki) as another character and Adjoa Andoh who had appeared in TV Doctor Who which included playing Martha’s mum Francine. Remarkably speaking from this year 2012, Year of the Pig was released before Adjoa Andoh first appeared as Francine Jones in the 2007 season but already had TV Doctor Who to her credit when she played Sister Jatt in the 2006 season opener New Earth but her face was covered with cat prosthetics due to Sister Jatt being a cat. For a pig-themed story it is remarkable to note that Year of the Pig was released mere months before the original transmission of the 2007 TV story Daleks In Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks which had featured pig creatures but not a story that had featured Adjoa Andoh as Francine. Paul Brooke played the performer Toby The Sapient Pig and I was quite surprised to find out that there was a performer by that name although he was long deceased before the setting of Year of the Pig. Year of the Pig is a jolly good romp of a story as it is extremely fun in a lot of places including the mystery about Toby’s history. My enjoyment of this story was helped by how much the cast seemed to enjoy making it. Considering that it was released in December 2006 it was definitely a suitable story due to its atmosphere to have been released in time for Christmas 2006.
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Jul 7, 2012 18:42:43 GMT -5
P.R.O.B.E.: The Devil of Winterborne: In 2011 I found out the passing of Nicholas Courtney (the Brigadier) and Lis Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith) during or shortly after viewing The Sarah Jane Adventures season 2 which included an appearance by the Brigadier on the DVD release. More than a year later in 2012 came the passing of another former companion in Caroline John (Liz Shaw). So it is with sad coincidence that like Nicholas Courtney and Lis Sladen, I was watching Caroline John in a production she was in when learning of her passing. In Caroline John’s case it is The Devil of Winterborne released in 1995, the second in the P.R.O.B.E. independent video series from BBV in which Caroline John reprised her role as Liz in the 1990s when she was an investigator for P.R.O.B.E. (Preternatural Research Bureau). Saw it on Youtube in 10 parts starting here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JFa1oBEOP0Along with Caroline John, the cast has other Doctor Who alums. Unlike Caroline John, these other alums, Peter Davison, Louise Jameson, Terry Molloy and John’s husband Geoffrey Beevers all played different characters instead of their familiar Doctor Who characters. In Davison’s case he could not play the BBC-owned The Doctor in a non-BBC production. Instead he played the headmaster of a boarding school when a gruesome murder took place nearby. Also appearing were Mark Gatiss, who in his capacity as writer wrote all of the P.R.O.B.E. series including The Devil of Winterborne, and his fellow League of Gentleman Reece Shearsmith. With The Devil of Winterborne, Gatiss has written a chilling mystery. Overall it is not bad but also quite disturbing in seeing rituals of a cult. P.R.O.B.E. has been said to be a forerunner of fellow spin-off Torchwood and like Torchwood, The Devil of Winterborne is definitely not for children’s viewing.
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Aug 14, 2012 17:30:08 GMT -5
Read the following article in which I found the opening paragraph full of praise to Doctor Who in relation to its sci fi peers: www.giantfreakinrobot.com/scifi/continuum-scifi-surrogate.html“If you’re a serious science fiction fanatic then you’re part of a passionate, but underserved group of TV watchers. Science fiction is all but gone from television and, outside of Doctor Who, the few true sci-fi shows which do manage to remain on the air are pale imitations of the genre’s former glory.”
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Aug 14, 2012 17:55:18 GMT -5
Cyberon: Recently saw Cyberon on Youtube starting from here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9toLwkyQIQReleased by BBV in 2000, this by all accounts isn’t part of the Whoniverse on its release but has become so due to the later released Zygon which I go into later on. Cyberon starred Jo Castleton as Dr Lauren Anderson and PJ Ochlan. In contrast to his dramatic role here, I am familiar with Ochlan from his comedic role as a regular in the Police Academy live action TV series. The name Cyberon was obviously meant to be Cybermen by another name. The Cybermen name itself would not have been able to be used due to copyright reasons. The Cyberon itself does not have an overwhelming presence just glimpses of it throughout this film and they look kind of like the Cybermen. Cyberon is not bad and it does raise some ethical issues. Eight years after Cyberon in 2008, the lovely Jo Castleton returned as Lauren for Zygon also made by BBV which meant Cyberon became part of the Whoniverse as an afterthought.
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Aug 14, 2012 18:12:54 GMT -5
From the Doctor Who News Page: The official titles of episodes 4 and 5 of the next season are now known: 4. The Power of Three, written by Chris Chibnall, directed by Douglas Mackinnon 5. The Angels take Manhattan, written by Steven Moffat, directed by Nick Hurran
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Nov 8, 2012 7:10:58 GMT -5
The Darksmith Legacy - The Colour of Darkness: The Colour of Darkness is the third book in The Darksmith Legacy series. Written by Richard Dungworth and released in 2009. It featured the Tenth Doctor travelling on his own without a regular companion. Very thrilling book taking place in the midst of a village on the planet Karagula especially since the village is childless. Also eerie is the woman with powers.
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Nov 8, 2012 7:11:45 GMT -5
Bidding Adieu: A Video Diary: tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Bidding_Adieu%3A_A_Video_Diary Released by BBV, Bidding Adieu was a documentary that followed Sylvester McCoy to Vancouver when he filmed his scenes for the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie which saw him regenerate into Paul McGann. Saw it on Youtube beginning here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsRbeG7dUxM As well as McCoy, it also interviewed McGann, Daphne Ashbrook and Anneke Wills. Anneke Wills is present here due to the fact that she was a companion who had witnessed the very first regeneration of the Doctor when William Hartnell turned into Patrick Troughton. For some of the scenes the interviewer was Mark Gatiss, now a Doctor Who writer. Bidding Adieu does not really go into much about making of the TV movie as this was about McCoy reflecting on his time as the Doctor as he makes his final performance as the then current Doctor. Quite poignant for McCoy and it is easy to see this as a template to David Tennant making his video diary on his own last days as the Doctor more than a decade later.
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Post by Danielle K's Chinese Husband on Nov 8, 2012 7:12:41 GMT -5
From the Doctor Who News Page: It has been confirmed that Tamzin Outhwaite will be in the 2013 Neil Gaiman episode along with Warwick Davis and Jason Watkins.
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