The BBC have released a video featuring Jenna-Louise Coleman and Matt Smith introducing the Doctor Who Series 7 finale, The Name of the Doctor - watch it in the player above. It airs May 18 in the UK and North America whilst it broadcasts a day later in Australia, Poland and South Africa. Visit The Name of the Doctor section for more pics, news and clips HERE.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Blogtor has given our buddies over at Cult Box 10 Teasers and 10 Hints for the Doctor Who Series 7 finale, The Name of the Doctor - check out the links below. It airs May 18 in the UK and North America whilst it broadcasts a day later in Australia, Poland and South Africa. Visit The Name of the Doctor section for more pics, news and clips HERE.10 Teasers
10 Hints
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
This week’s The Beano is a Doctor Who special, with a complete reprint of the 1981 Summer Special that recently appeared in The Rings of Akhaten. After being inundated with messages, The Beano team decided to reprint the entire 32-page summer special and include it inside a special edition.
Editor-in-Chief Mike Stirling said, “Everyone at The Beano was delighted to see one of our summer specials appear on Doctor Who. We’re big fans of the show, and so are our readers – who haven’t stopped talking about it. We decided to travel back in time and get a copy of the 1981 summer special, which we’ve reprinted inside the latest issue – in time for the last episode of the season. We’re all really excited about this issue and thrilled that Doctor Who is one of our fans.”
The front cover of the issue features Doctor Who’s Matt Smith and Dennis catapulting a Dalek - click on the cover for a bigger version. The comic goes on sale today (Wednesday 15th May).Mike said, “We hope Matt Smith and the whole Doctor Who team love this issue. We’re giving every child the opportunity to travel back in time – just like the Doctor.”
The latest issue is one of many exciting editorial specials being published in 2013, as Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson celebrates The Beano’s 75th anniversary.
The latest issue is one of many exciting editorial specials being published in 2013, as Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson celebrates The Beano’s 75th anniversary.
INFERNO: SPECIAL EDITION
STORY
It’s a rare event in Doctor Who when our hero finds himself unable to save the day. The Doctor invariably bluffs, charms or - just occasionally - blows things up to defeat his enemies and save his friends. At the end of episode six however, the Doctor finds himself utterly defeated, the chain reaction unleashed by the Inferno project now impossible to stop. He’s wholly reliant on the survivors of this alternate fascist reality to help get him home.
Inferno is all the more powerful for that stark moment, informing the Doctor’s subsequent desperate efforts to stop the drilling project in “his” version of Earth, to the evident confusion of his friends, and emphasising the contrast between the cosiness of UNIT and its alternate reality counterpart.This is classic Seventies Who, and to my mind, not much bettered. I await the Blogtor’s comments, assuming he has the good sense to place Inferno high in his top fifty countdown… [Sorry, didn't make the Top 50 - Ed.]
As a reissued DVD, albeit remastered and with additional extras, there will be few who aren’t aware of the story. The Doctor, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier and UNIT are all in residence at the Inferno project, a venture overseen by the icy, domineering Professor Stahlman, drilling down below the Earth’s crust (presumably avoiding any hibernating Silurians?) to tap into hidden energy resources.
The Doctor is ostensibly present as an advisor, but is in fact there to make use of the project’s nuclear reactor to conduct experiments on the TARDIS console. With the countdown descending inexorably towards Penetration Zero, the sense of tension rises and the Doctor and Stahlman clash over their views on the inherent dangers of drilling through the Earth’s crust. With perhaps questionable timing, the Doctor manages to get the TARDIS working and pitches off in a fit of pique into a parallel dimension. Paradoxically it’s there, trapped in the skewed reality of Earth v2 that he comes to realise the appalling consequences should Stahlman’s project reach completion on Earth v1.It’s a remarkable testament to all involved that over the course of seven episodes, this is a story that doesn’t sag or drag. Jon Pertwee is on fantastic form, his rare flashes of humour and charm heightening the seriousness of the Doctor’s predicament. His portrayal of the Doctor’s mounting sense of desperation towards the story’s climax, in contrast to his usually urbane and unflappable demeanour, underscores the perilous situation. The supporting cast clearly follow their lead’s example, playing their roles dead straight and with total conviction.
Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John are dependably supportive as the Brigadier and Liz, believably selling the alternate reality of their counterparts, the Brigade Leader and Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw. Theirs is a nightmarish version of Earth in a parallel dimension. Praise also goes to Olaf Pooley (Professor Stahlman), Derek Newark (Greg Sutton) and Sheila Dunn (Petra Williams) for their solid work, breathing life into their characters and alternate reality versions.
Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John are dependably supportive as the Brigadier and Liz, believably selling the alternate reality of their counterparts, the Brigade Leader and Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw. Theirs is a nightmarish version of Earth in a parallel dimension. Praise also goes to Olaf Pooley (Professor Stahlman), Derek Newark (Greg Sutton) and Sheila Dunn (Petra Williams) for their solid work, breathing life into their characters and alternate reality versions.Writer Don Houghton is well served by the meticulous directorial control afforded his story by Douglas Camfield (the baton then gamely taken up by Producer Barry Letts), in giving vision to two versions of the Inferno project. The attention to detail in the model work, the effects of the rising heat levels once the drill has broken through the crust of the alternate reality Earth and the ever-present dull roar of the drilling, all combine to draw the viewer in over the course of this adventure. This reviewer, having finished watching Inferno, began to start worrying anew about the current day trend of “fracking”…
This truly is a gem worth drilling for. And I haven’t even said a word about the Primords’ shiny white teeth other than to say - Douglas Camfield was right. Darker lighting would have helped.
EXTRAS
The DVD comes with the plethora of extras that Who fans have now become accustomed to, spoiled as we are. In addition to the extras provided with the story's first DVD release, there are: Can You Hear the Earth Scream?, covering the making of the serial; the self-explanatory The UNIT Family – Part One; Deleted scene (Jon Pertwee’s Haw-Haw, hawhawhaw); photo gallery, etc... We also have the fascinating Production Notes - as always, an enhancement of the viewing experience, providing detailed insight into the making of Inferno.
Talking of the glorious quintessentiality [nice word - Ed.] of Who – Doctor Forever: Lost in the Dark Dimension investigates the forgotten years, when it looked as if Doctor Who was destined to continue crossing the void beyond the mind and all other places in between – so long as it wasn’t happening on the telly. Narrated by Zeb Soanes, this is a documentary which will linger long in this reviewer’s memory for the bemused appearance early on in the proceedings of David Burton, “the man with the car”. I’m still not entirely sure whether to ascribe any particular significance to the fact that, during his segment of the documentary, there was a bottle of smarties sitting on the shelf behind him. The succession of “wacky” photos illustrating the mysterious Mr Burton’s career provide a detailed counterpoint to the considerably less detailed recollections of his short tenure as someone who might have been, “The Doct…”.
This DVD provides, in both its main feature and extras, a timely reminder in the anniversary year of Doctor Who’s rich history. Well worth seeking out and adding to the collection.
BLOGTOR RATING 9/10
Thanks to BBC Worldwide
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The new BBC One drama Frankie, starring Eve Myles, started tonight and the first episode included a Doctor Who reference - watch it in the player below. Eve is best known for playing Gwen Cooper in the spin-off series Torchwood though she also starred in The Unquiet Dead and the Doctor Who Series Four finale. The scene also includes actor Dean Lennox Kelly, who played William Shakespeare in The Shakespeare Code, whilst the series also stars Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart in The Power of Three and the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special), Noma Dumezweni (Turn Left, Planet of the Dead) and Derek Riddell (Tooth & Claw).
Read Blogtor's interview with Eve Myles HERE
Eve Myles: Torchwood could return "now or in twenty years time"
Actress Jenna-Louise Coleman (Clara Oswald) has been chatting to UK TV listings magazine the Radio Times about the upcoming Doctor Who Series 7 finale, The Name of the Doctor. During the interview she says:
"in the beginning we see a Clara in the 60s, 70s and the 80s
so there are a lot of costume changes," adding:
"we finally understand why the Doctor has met Clara
so many different times."
so there are a lot of costume changes," adding:
"we finally understand why the Doctor has met Clara
so many different times."
The Name of the Doctor airs May 18 in the UK (at 7pm) and North America whilst it broadcasts a day later in Australia, Poland and South Africa. Visit The Name of the Doctor section for more pics, news and clips HERE.
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