Posts Tagged ‘ Doctor Who ’

There’s Lego and then there’s Lego imitators; wannabes, rip-offs. I never had much time for them when I was a kid, and as I’ve been pretty much Lego-adverse – at least until recently – for my adult life, I never gave them much thought.

Then I saw the Doctor Who not-Legos while I was back in the UK several months ago by UK-based company Character Building.

I couldn’t help it; I picked up the TARDIS set with the 11th Doctor and Amy, a Dalek army-builder pack consisting of 5 red Daleks, a couple of the blind character packs – ending up with a Silurian, a Weeping Angel and another red Dalek – and the really-rather-awesome 11 Doctor set in TARDIS packaging.

Since then, through the wonders of eBay, I’ve managed to get hold of all the series 1 and 2 blind figures and a limited Cybermen army-builder pack (limited in the sense it was available from a single UK retailer and features different Cybermen to the regular army pack).

And they’re good. Very good. Granted, the figures aren’t quite Lego compatible (although you can switch heads with regular Lego minifigs) but they’re well designed and can be switched around with each other if you so desire to make a Cyberman-Amy.

The blocks are completely compatible with Lego, and perfectly sized so you can finally have Darth Vader execute his raid on the TARDIS that you always dreamed of.

There are a number of additional playsets available at varying prices; a Dalek Progenitor Room set, a Dalek Factory, a Cyberman Conversion Chamber, a pretty crappy Weeping Angels one (although some of the rock pieces may come in handy for regular Lego dioramas) but the big Kahuna of them all is the TARDIS Console Room set…

The main drawback of these for US buyers is that they’re pretty damn pricey. Entertainment Earth has a bunch coming into stock soon but depending on shipping costs you may be better off buying direct from the manufacturer in the UK.

So far, with the exception of the 11 Doctor set, the series has focused on the adventures and characters of the 11th Doctor but I imagine that as it moves forward we’ll get more characters from earlier incarnations of the Doctor. While I think I’d rather have had the characters more in line with regular Lego minifigs, I understand why they’re not and they are quite cute. I also understand why Lego passed on the license (if they were ever even interested) since Doctor Who isn’t quite the worldwide brand that Star Wars or even Pirates of the Caribbean are.

Regardless, I’d recommend these to any Doctor Who fan, or parent of one. As for Jack, well, he’s a little too young for these right now so I’ll just have to keep them.

Until he’s old enough. Of course.

Looks pretty good. Some interesting shots in here, and an appropriate sense of inevitability. August 27th isn’t too far off…

After the SDCC panel, here’s a trailer for the second half of the current season.

I don’t know about you but there’s a shot about 26 seconds in there which makes me a little worried…

Also: Cybermen!

Lots to like the look of here. And clowns. Why did it have to be clowns?

Poor Rory doesn’t get much face time does he?

(And by season six I clearly mean season thirty-two).

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of Christopher Jones’ ‘Most Heinous’ etsy print (just $20 in his store), it’s worth an entire mini-series worth of words.

Marvel, if you still have a certain movie license, time to make nice with IDW and make this happen…

Found at

…a Pop Idol, that is.

That’s what the UK version of American Idol was called, way back before there was an American Idol. Remember before there was an American Idol?

I digress.

Anyway, according to Bleeding Cool who are reporting on a BBC America press release, Will Young – the winner of the first Pop Idol – is starring in a UK supernatural show Bedlam alongside a bunch of other people from shows you may or may not recognize, including Gavin and Stacey‘s Joanna Page (the Stacey of the aforementioned stars of the comedy, definitely an acquired taste that I’m still unsure on) who may be better known as the woman who played the body double Love, Actually character who simulated movie sex scenes with Martin Freeman, formerly Tim of The (far superior UK) Office, currently Watson of the brilliant Sherlock, and the man who will be Bilbo.

Everything’s coming up a bit Love, Actually around here at the moment isn’t it?

And again, I digress.

Because the point of this post was Will Young. He won Pop Idol, released some technically quite good but aurally excruciating albums, came out to nobody’s surprise, then vanished before cropping up in some TV shows and movies that didn’t do much over here. But now he’s going to be on a supernatural show on BBC America which means it may get watched.

So I thought you should know what you’re in for:

David Gallaher knows. And he’s probably crying right now.

Incidentally, buried in that mammoth press release that Bleeding Cool runs is the news (well, it’s news to me anyway) that the next season of Doctor Who will be split into two blocks in Spring and Fall with a cliffhanger between them. Dammit.

This Dr Who/Star Wars mash-up doing the rounds is pretty good – but honestly, it’s worth watching for the bits in the credits alone.

Via

There…are no words.

Thanks to Citizen Tim for finding this!

I know I was away from the internets for a while, but how on earth did I miss this image of Doctor Who’s David Tennant as Peter Vincent in the Fright Night remake?

What would Roddy McDowell say?

More importantly, why isn’t there a collection of Tennant’s increasingly manic “What?”s on YouTube?

From The Kevin Bishop Show, apparently.

Bet that post title gets some hits..

A TARDIS that sits on your desk, levitates and spins around when you flick it?

Magnetism is a wonderful thing!

Available for preorder at Entertainment Earth – $35.99

I mentioned earlier that The Eleventh Hour was the final straw, making me love Doctor Who again.

(No spoilers until the embed at the bottom. Which is awesome)

I’m sure you’ve read the reviews, watched it on TV or downloaded the torrent (what torrent? who said there was a torrent?), tried to get into/actually got into/been jealous of people who got into one of the Steven Moffat/Matt Smith/Karen Gillan events that have been held in NYC this week, read the Bleeding Cool bit about a possible season long mystery, and, you know, generally got your geek on over the new Doctor and his scrumptious new assistant.

Yes, I just called Karen Gillan ‘scrumptious’. I’m bringing scrumptious back. And I have a weakness for Scottish redheads, what with me being married to one and all.

In any case, I won’t go into two much detail, but it feels more like Doctor Who than any other Doctor Who I’ve seen since the relaunch with the possible exception of Blink, which barely even featured the eponymous hero.

An English country village.

Something in the corner of your eye.

A new Doctor who fits into the role perfectly and looks, as one reviewer put it, like a Target novelization description of Jon Pertwee – an old face on a young man.

Requisite creepy alien being.

A Doctor capable of being silly, worldly and a little bit terrifying.

A companion introduced in a clever way and not being completely useless. Instead she’s resourceful, strong willed and funny.

Doctor Who – The Eleventh Hour is on BBC America on Saturday, April 17th and I highly recommend you watch it.

That slight spoiler bit I mentioned starts here.

The best damn bit about the episode for me was the climactic scene on the hospital roof, and Matt Smith’s delivery of two simple lines.

“Hello. I’m the Doctor.”

“Basically, run.”

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

With the scenes of old villains (Sea Devils!) and all of the Doctor’s previous incarnations, my mouth literally dropped open. My wife, who was very amused already that of all the things I was going to break my no-torrenting rule for it was Doctor Who, laughed as I looked at her, open mouthed. I felt like I was a kid again, and like Doctor Who was the most important show on television.

So even though I’ve yet to finish David Tennant’s run, I’m officially on board with the new Doctor and Amy – and you should be too.

When I was a kid, I was a Doctor Who fanatic.

I had almost all of the Target novelizations of episodes.

I got Doctor Who Weekly every week, and Doctor Who Monthly every month when it switched publication schedule.

I dragged my parents to the Doctor Who Exhibitions in Blackpool and Longleat on multiple occasions.

Doctor Who Exhibition Blackpool, originally uploaded by byronv2.

I watched every episode (well, except the last episode of State of Decay because I was five years old and the vampires scared the bejesus out of me).

I took great pride in the fact that on a clear day I could see Jodrell Bank from the road that led to my house – being, of course, the site of Tom Baker’s regeneration into Peter Davison.

You get the idea.

Peter Davison was ‘my’ Doctor. Even though I grew up on Tom Baker, it was Peter Davison who I really clicked with. He was younger, more energetic. He didn’t have hair like my dad. When I wrote a fan letter (remember, I was young and foolish) I got a signed picture back which I’m absolutely 100% sure to this day was really really signed by him.

Don’t shatter my illusions, okay?

I didn’t mind Colin Baker as much as others did, and actually quite enjoyed some aspects of his character even if he was a bit of a pompous ass. I even liked the Trial of a Timelord, and especially the idea of the Valeyard’s identity (which I won’t spoil, but you can read about him here – rather a clever idea) – although I could have done without Bonnie Fricking Langford as a companion.

In the show’s twilight years, I even grew to like Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor as he grew darker and more mysterious, a master gamesman.

And then it was gone. Doctor Who was canceled, not to be seen again (aside from that godawful co-funded US TV movie of which we shall not speak) until Russell Davies resurrected the show complete with a more down to earth (well, Northern) Doctor.

And I didn’t like it at all.

I watched the first two episodes and decided that I was better left with my memories of the old show. Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor was too manic, too over the top. A while later I caught the I, Dalek episode and found it derivative and simply not very good – so I was done.

Funny thing is over the past couple of years, twitter pals (and David Gallaher in particular) have been pecking my head to give the show another chance so I’ve been getting back into it.

Paul Cornell’s ‘Father’s Day’ was the episode that convinced me the show might be worth watching again. After that, the introduction of Captain Jack (and much preferred him here to in Torchwood) added some much-needed levity.

Shortly thereafter David Tennant’s introduction – once past the terrible Christmas episode – reminded me more of the old Who. There was something about his character – a darkness, tempered by silliness (as opposed to Eccleston’s darkness tempered by manicness) which appealed to me.

The only thing which I’m not keen on is romance between the Doctor and his companions. I’ve always considered the doctor rather asexual, not even really knowing if Susan was his real granddaughter or someone that he ‘adopted’. Having the Doctor all tongue-tied and dreamy-eyed doesn’t sit well with me, somehow – but it appears it’s something that I need to get used to.

In any case, the first few years of Tennant’s run (I’m currently a couple of episodes in to the fourth season) almost – almost – made me a believer again.

Then two sealed the deal.

The first was the short David Tennant/Peter Davison segment done especially for Children In Need, which fits neatly between scenes at the end of season three:

The last few minutes play like a love letter to Peter Davison’s Doctor – as I mentioned, my Doctor – and that really, really made me realise that maybe the new Doctor Who could be mine too.

The second thing that clinched it for me was the Eleventh Hour. But that’s a whole other post…

I appear to be short a blog post this morning, unfortunately.

This is a shame as there’s a lot I want to blog about…

Lost, and how much I’m enjoying this season, where I think it’s going and what’s bugging me about the Man In Black. Oh, and that I’m maybe thinking about doing something kind of big and kind of cool when it’s all over.

Fringe, and (again) how much I’m enjoying this season, and what’s bugging me about all this alternate world stuff.

Supernatural, how much I love it and why I only watch it on DVD so I’m years behind.

Doctor Who, why I wasn’t sold on it when it relaunched, how I’ve come round to it slowly, and what I think of the new Doctor and the first episode of the new season.

Torchwood, now that I’ve watched it all.

And that’s just on the TV side, not even counting comics…

How the characters that returned in Blackest Night weren’t worth the characters that died.

Why I’ve bought the Fantastic Four through every crappy creative team in the past twenty-plus years, and yet the pretty-much universally acclaimed Jonathan Hickman’s run has it on the chopping block.

Which other ‘Forever‘ branded books I want in light of New Mutants Forever being announced.

What else I’m on the verge of cutting, but what trades I’ve got on preorder.

Why I loved Criminal, yet was disappointed in Incognito.

Then there’s books that I want to recommend, movies I want to recommend – and things that I really, deeply want to not recommend but warn people away from.

So there’s a lot around that I want to blog about, I just need to get around to it.

I also need to get around to answering some Formspring questions – just as soon as I get a few more…

Over at OS, Val linked through to the Daily Telegraph’s article about the new Doctor Who being too sexy.

If you haven’t seen the new Doctor Who yet you may want to look away. Also, there are images potentially NSFW so I’m putting this behind a jump.

The new Doctor, Matt Smith, is in – along with his assistant, Karen Gillan. It’s not much more than a teaser for things to come, but it’s still pretty good.

I’m still catching up on the new Who series, having finally admitted that it’s not bad, and the last episode I saw ws ‘Blink’ – so glad to see the stone angels back.

It’s funny; neither of my parents are the slightest bit nerdy at all, but both my eldest sister and myself come pretty close. Honestly, I’m not sure that I really qualify as a nerd. I’ve never been entirely sure of the definition, or of the difference between a nerd and a geek – although somehow, I think that geek involves technology in some way.

My father comes closest to either definition, I suspect, but only because as an engineer he’s always been interested in computers and various gadgetry – something I have inherited in a far less hands-on way.

So where do all my interests come from? I think it’s because I was encouraged when I was little to pursue what I enjoyed. Just look at this picture of me aged 8, circa 1982.

Right there is pretty much the genesis of every bit of nerdiness I have – except for my deep and abiding love of all things Star Trek. Yes, even Voyager.

In this picture there’s evidence of my early interest in Star Wars, Doctor Who, fantasy, comics, books, Dan Dare, science fiction, figure collecting (in the form of Kermit and Fozzie) and even talking monkeys – allow me to elaborate:

See?

Right here, in this one photo, is the genesis of a nerd. I have to admit, in spite of collecting comics and toys (not to mention movies and TV shows) pretty consistently from the age I was in this picture to, oh, about now, I’ve always kind of hidden my nerdlight under a bushel.

I mean, yes, there was that picture of me in the Eagle wearing a logo jumper that my mum knitted for me (and believe me, if I can find that picture, I’m putting it up here), but aside from that I think I’ve always managed to come across as relatively…well, normal for lack of a better word.

I think the main reason for this was my shyness. I was – and still am – incredibly shy. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself too much when I was younger; to a large extent I still don’t. And I think because of it I’ve held back a bit from doing things that I always wanted to do. I followed the safe career path because that was easier.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s served me pretty well, and more importantly I met my wife through work so I can’t really complain too much – but I still have this itch that needs to be scratched.

As my wife has said in the past, looking wistfully at the bucket loads of money earned by ubernerds such as Joss Whedon, “Yes, you’re nerdy. You’re just not nerdy enough.”

A PSA – Amazon has a sale on Doctor Who today – the first four seasons available separately for $33 each – they normally retail for more than double that, so its a pretty damn good deal!

Click away!

As a kid, I loved Doctor Who. Loved it. Watched every episode (except that last one of State of Decay because all those vampires scared the crap out of me and I was about 5 at the time).

But for some reason I couldn’t get into the new take on the show, because Christopher Eccleston hamming it up just seemed wrong after watching him in stuff like Cracker and Shallow Grave.

As a result I never really watched spin-off Torchwood either – but as I’ve been slowly watching the new Who over the past year, I figured I could do worse than give the five-night miniseries Children of Earth a go.

(Some spoilers follow)

And I was pretty impressed to start with. Sure, it suffers in comparison to a lot of US TV thanks to a low budget, but it was pretty solid, creepy stuff and it retained its Britishness very well.

If Torchwood was a US show, everyone would be gorgeous, thin and ripped, all bulging muscles and toned leg. But its not. Instead we get people who look more, well, real – with double chins and beer bellies. Even Captain Jack’s looking a little portly and plasticky these days. It’s kind of charming and makes me think of home and also makes me a little bit glad I’m not still there.

Anyway, it was pretty good. You get the mystery set up with the children all stopping and speaking in unison, you get a governmental conspiracy, and you get a nice intro to the characters. It’s kind of like the X-Files in Wales.

By the third night, though, the problems were beginning to show.

Firstly, we were being told information twice. We’d find something out in scenes with the governmental characters, and then find it out again when the Torchwood team found it out. That’s not exciting, that’s repetitive.

Secondly, the team were pretty much reactionary for most of the first three nights. Things were happening to them rather than them being proactive and instigating things. That at least changed a little in the fourth night.

Thirdly, we spend a lot of time with the survivor of the 456′s original contact who spends a lot of time looking nervously over his shoulder and telling us things that, once again, we either already know or are about to be told again.

Conventional storytelling would suggest that he should have some information that can help the 456 be defeated, but he knows nothing that Jack doesn’t know – instead here he’s merely used to externalize Jack’s guilt at handing over the first batch of children back in 1965. Once Jack’s confessed to his guilt, he’s killed off as Jack now needs something else to feel guilty about – like being responsible for Ianto’s death.

Then there’s the biggest problem for me – the alien 456. From the moment the children start talking, everyone is running around terrified of the aliens, building them a special environment to live in, giving children to them…

…but we never find out exactly why they’re so terrifying. Sure, they can make children stop and talk. It’s a little creepy at first but after a while it’d just become annoying, and then, finally, I can only imagine that it’d be a bit of a relief.

Other than that, and the fact that they’re obviously a bit disgusting physically, there’s no overt reason why they’re a threat, so you’re left wondering why everyone has themselves in such a tizz – after all, the first episode goes to great length to establish that most of the world has now had alien contact.

Admittedly, the threat becomes a little clearer in the fourth episode when the 456 release a virus in the Ministry of Defense building killing everyone in there but it still feels a little…pedestrian.

They’re basically not that threatening.

And that deflates the whole thing for me.

Not that it’s all bad – like I said, the opening night has a nice sense of menace, and there’s a good Jack regeneration of sequence (although it unfortunately takes him out of play for most of an hour) – and it’s refreshing to see Jack and Ianto’s relationship relatively underplayed – for most of the time anyway.

In fact there is one quite nice element to their relationship – Ianto’s realization that he’s just going to be a blip in Jack’s abnormally long life, and that, eventually, Jack will move on and forget him.

So…its pretty much the show I thought it was. Okay, but not great.

And ‘Torchwood’ is an anagram of ‘Doctor Who’ you know.