Mad Norwegian Press UpdateBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Mad Norwegian has confirmed that Mags L. Halliday ("History 101") will write the fourth Faction Paradox novel, due out in December 2004. Warring States takes place in China, 1900, and concerns Cousin Octavia (the Faction Paradox member responsible for the fall of the Thirteen-Day Republic, as told in The Book of the War ). Meanwhile, the second book, Of the City of the Saved by Philip Purser-Hallard is now due out in late April, delayed a month due to production schedules. The cover blurb for the book (based on the cult favorites created in the BBC Eighth Doctor novel series) is as follows: "We all remember Resurrection Day. Even now, three centuries later, we cannot forget that awakening: our bewilderment, our terror and our joy. Each of us had experienced death, imagining ourselves bound for oblivion, Heaven or Nirvana, according to taste. Instead, we found, each member of the many human species û from tool-wielding australopithecines to posthuman philosopher-gods û had been harvested, gathered here by the FoundersÆ unfathomable technologies. Reborn in our countless immortal bodies, we were given the freedom of the City of the Saved. A single conurbation as broad as a spiral galaxy, she has been our sanctuary from the ravages of the War. That monstrous conflict between inhuman cultures cannot touch us here: we live our afterlives beyond the end of time, in perfect safety. We may be certain, therefore, that these rumours of a murder (the brutal stabbing of a City Councillor, no less!) are nothing more than lurid fabrications. The supposition that the murder weapon is missing, or that it could have been û as hysterical conjecture has claimed û a "potent weapon", capable of injuring a Citizen within the haven of the City, is equally absurd. The idea that a guerrilla war has already begun in one of our less harmonious enclaves need not be dignified with refutation. Please go about your business, Citizens, as normal. We are perfectly safe, here in the City. Humanity has never been safer." Also, author Lars Pearson will return with a fourth installment of his I, Who series later in the year; "I, Who 4" is scheduled for October 2004 release, co-written with Arnold T. Blumberg this time, and will again cover the BBC Doctor Who novels and Big Finish audios as well as the various anthologies recently published. Finally, the second edition of A History of the Universe by Lance Parkin has been moved up to November 2004 instead of December.




FILTER: - Books

Davison's DetectiveBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Peter Davison has returned as "Dangerous Davies" in a new series of the comedy drama "The Last Detective," which debuted on February 13 on ITV.




FILTER: - Peter Davison

State of DecayBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Terrance Dicks, Matthew Waterhouse and Peter Moffatt recently were in studio recording commentary on "State of Decay" for DVD, though no release has yet been planned.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

McGann on New ShowBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Paul McGann spoke to SFX Magazine about the forthcoming new series. He said he doubted he would be asked to reprise the role, but said that he would be happy to appear in any regeneration, should that be the direction that the producers want to take. When asked for the name of an actor he thought should be in the role, McGann mentionedDavid Warner, because he was quite happy with the actor's work.




FILTER: - People - Magazines

Nighy Out of Running?Bookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Bill Nighy, long noted as a choice of new producer Russell T. Davies to play the Doctor, is apparently not interested, Nighy's wife Diana Quick stated after a performance of her play "After Mrs. Rochester" at the Richmond Theatre recently. Quick -- who starred as Prime in BBCi's "The Scream of the Shalka" -- was quoted by our correspondent as Nighy having been offered the role of the Doctor, but turned it down. Nighy also delivered a cryptic acceptance speech at the Evening Standard Film Awards on February 5; picking up the gong for Best Comedy Performance (for playing an ageing rocker in Love Actually), Nighy pointed out that recently he's played both a vampire and a zombie before noting: 'I've reached that difficult age where I can only play men from different dimensions.' Although it was recently announced that he has been cast as Slartibartfast in the Hammer & Tong film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, could he also have been hinting at something dearer to our hearts? While this is second-hand information, OG felt it reliable enough to report as things are indeed progressing behind the scenes. (Thanks to Trevor Dobbin, Jim Sangster)




FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

The Green Death DVDBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The Green Death, the final story of season 10 and the last to feature Katy Manning as Jo Grant, will be the next DVD release in the UK after "Pyramids of Mars," likely out May 10. The DVD includes commentary from Manning, Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts, as well as interviews with effects designer Colin Mapson, writer Robert Sloman and actor Stewart Bevan (Clifford Jones), as well as "Global Conspiracy", a featurette described as "Man Alive's original 70's environmental reporter, Terry Scanlon, revisits Llanfairfach thirty years on, where troubles seem to be resurfacing..." A short piece called "What Katy Did Next" which was announced as an extra by the British Board of Film Classification will not be on the disc due to space issues (not rights issues as we originally mentioned; the disc producers asked for 45 minutes of extras and the Restoration Team was forced to leave off 10 minutes including this and an easter egg compilation of continuity announcements; hopefully they can be included on a future disc.) The release will be a single disc.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Webcasts End and Sands of TimeBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Due to the advanced production of the new series, BBCi have been asked to postpone new webcasts for the foreseeable future. "The Scream of the Shalka" is therefore the last webcast produced by BBCi until things change, which may not be likely while the series is going. However, BBCi comments that "the reasons for this are all Very Good, one of them is Terribly Exciting... and we hope they'll become apparent in the next few weeks." BBCi's producers are currently looking at possible ways to continue the loose ends from "Shalka" in an e-book written by Paul Cornell, but nothing has yet been confirmed. Meanwhile, BBCi's e-book adaptations of out-of-print books continues with The Sands of Time by Justin Richards, which debuts in early April on BBCi.




FILTER: - Online

Big Finish UpdateBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Big Finish producers Jason Haigh-Ellery, Gary Russell and John Ainsworth had some interesting comments about future developments in the Big Finish range at the recent Gallifrey convention. On the Doctor Who front: the Gallifrey audio series will start being released at the end of March, with one release per month, and a sequel miniseries is being planned (that might feature a two-Romana story). Russell said he was keen on doing a story featuring the Toymaker (if Michael Gough could be persuaded to reprise the role), a Rani story (if Pip & Jane Baker could be persuaded to write it), another Dalek-less Davros story, and a third story featuring Nimrod and the Forge (which would likely be later in their current 2004-2007 contractual run). Tegan will not appear as Janet Fielding does not have an interest in reprising the role. The seventh, forthcoming Unbound serial is apparently a sequel to one of the first six, though this is not definite. Bernice Summerfield will likely not be appearing in the regular Doctor Who range anymore, as the Seventh Doctor and Ace now have Hex along. Sylvester McCoy noted that he would continue to do the audious "until he couldn't see the pages anymore" and Paul McGann is also quite happy to continue in the role as long as the scripts are good. Two additional forthcoming stories in the range were mentioned, likely the August & September 2004 stories: Medicinal Purposesfeaturing the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn, a historical set in Scotland with the grave diggers who invented the modern autopsy, and Dead Man's Hand with the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Hex, set in the American Wild West and featuring Wild Bill Hickok; additionally, a Colin Baker / Bonnie Langford story will be out later this fall, which would be grittier and more serious than the two previous Mel adventures.

On the book front, details on the authors featured in the May 2004 Short Trips: Life Science edited by John Binns were featured in the most recent DWM, which include "The Changes" by Gareth Wigmore, "The End" by Alexander Leithes, "The Age of Ambition" by Andrew Campbell, "A Star is Reborn" by Richard Salter, "Mortal Thoughts" by Trevor Baxendale, "Sea Change" by Kate Orman, "Jonah" by Todd Green, "Observation" by Ian Farrington, "The Reproductive Cycle" by Matthew Griffiths, "Syntax" by David Bailey, "A Rose by any other name" by Jim Mortimore, "Sight Unseen" by John Seavey, "Land Land" by Jonathan Morris, "Northern Sights" by Mark Stevens, and "The Destroyers" by Steve Lyons. The next one, Short Trips: Repercussions edited by Gary Russell is out in June, while Short Trips: Monsters edited by Ian Farrington is out in August.

In other developments, Big Finish will shortly be announcing a new audio series based on Sapphire and Steel, as contracts have been signed with the estate of PJ Hammond, and a series based on the adventures of Luther Arkwright (a ten-part miniseries from the 1980's written by Bryan Talbot). Big Finish is also keen to do audios based on Ultravioletand will be doing five one-off original SF/fantasy audio "pilots," one of which may develop into another continuing series. Their Bernice Summerfield line will also continue, with a single-volume collection of three novellas due out this summer (with stories told from three different perspectives, one Bernice, one Jason and one Adrian); also, one of the two original audio shorts from the long out of print "Buried Treasures" will appear as an extra on an upcoming Benny audio release. (Thanks to the OG Forum members who reported these developments.)




FILTER: - Audio - DWM

Paul DanielsBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Several (likely erroneous) reports online have insinuated that magician Paul Daniels will be the next Doctor. Says an article at people.co.uk, "TV chiefs have already talked to Daniels, 65, famous for his catchphrase 'You'll like it; not a lot, but you'll like it.' A source said: 'Paul may seem an extraordinary choice, but he would make a very entertaining Time Lord. He may even be able to use his magic to defeat enemies like the Daleks and Cybermen.'" The article also mentions the names Shane Richie, Stephen Fry and Eddie Izzard. As usual, we'd advise you to take this with a grain of salt.




FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27 - Press

Phil Collinson and Series UpdatesBookmark and Share

Sunday, 22 February 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Phil Collinson, formerly a producer on "Born and Bred," "Linda Green" and the paranorma drama "Sea of Souls" currently airing on BBC1, is the new producer of the forthcoming Doctor Who series, joining Russell T. Davies, Mal Young and Julie Gardner. "I am delighted to be joining the team bringing back such an iconic and exciting series," Phil told Doctor Who Magazine. "I'm going to relish terrifying a whole new generation and putting such a well-loved character back on our TV screens where he belongs." In the latest issue of DWM, Russell T Davies notes that 13 episodes will be made, and he will be writing seven of them; the other six writers will be announced in only a few short weeks in issue 341 of DWM -- Outpost Gallifrey has been asked not to reveal them, though we do know the list (and that one original writer had a change of heart and decided not to submit a script after all.) He also notes that "Rose is only the first of the companions we've got planned," suggesting more companions will be added to the mix. Russell noted that he will be writing a regular column for the magazine starting with issue 341.




FILTER: - Production - DWM - Series 1/27