Tennant and Tate in Much Ado

Saturday, 8 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
David Tennant
Readers in the United Kingdom may watch the interview via BBC News.
David Tennant and Catherine Tate appeared on BBC's Breakfast this morning to chat about their latest project together.

The two are to appear in a production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which opens in London's Wyndham Theatre from 16th May 2011. They will be playing the roles of combative lovers Beatrice and Benedick in the play, being directed by Bush Theatre Artistic Director Josie Rourke.

This is the duo's first full collaboration together, though they have been firm friends since meeting for the first time on the set of Doomsday and have presented The Jonathan Ross Show for BBC Radio 2 together a number of times. Catherine Tate explained:
The idea came from us, we went to them. I'd always wanted to do it, but never said, because I thought it was too close to the Doctor Who time when I was thinking about doing it ages ago, with David - he would have been absolutely my ideal Benedict. And then David just rang in the summer and said "look I'd like to do it, what do you think?" and I said oh god I've been wanting to ask you for years!
David Tennant's last appearance on the stage playing Hamlet met with critical acclaim, and he talked about returning to the theatre:
Theatre is where we both started really, and it still to me feels like my proper job a little bit. And although I've had the opportunity to go and do lots of exciting things elsewhere on tv, films and so on, going back to the theatre feels like something that I would naturally do. And to get the chance to go to work with your mates and do a play you really wanted to do just felt like an opportunity that was too good to miss.
David Tennant
David Tennant is not a stranger to the role, having previously played Benedick in a BBC Radio 3 adaptation of the play alongside Samantha Spiro as Beatrice. The play first broadcast September 2001, was repeated in November 2005 - a month before his debut story as the Doctor, The Christmas Invasion.

Catherine Tate is currently appearing in Season's Greetings at the National Theatre, alongside Mark Gatiss and David Troughton.


The issue of tickets were discussed on the programme (available to book now from the theatre), especially in regard to how quickly tickets sold out for Tennant's performance in Hamlet - subsequently this morning has seen the booking facilities for the play overwhelmed by fans of the duo trying to obtain tickets!




FILTER: - People - Special Events - Catherine Tate - David Tennant

"Torchwood: Miracle Day" revealed

Saturday, 8 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The BBC have released details on the new series of Torchwood - which has now been renamed from The New World to Miracle Day.

The release introduces the plot of the new story, plus cast and character details.

The principal guest stars which have been mentioned in the news over the last couple of months are now formally confirmed, with a couple of character name changes. As reported last month, the principle role of CIA operative Rex Matheson will be played by Mekhi Phifer (most recently seen as FBI agent Ben Reynolds in Lie to Me), whilst protagonist Oswald Danes will be played by Bill Pullman (Independence Day). Alexa Havins (One Life to Live) will play field agent Esther Drummond, whilst Arlene Tur (Crash) plays Doctor Vera Jaurez.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

REX MATHESON (Mekhi Phifer)

He’s the golden boy. The embodiment of the American dream and has been all his life. Harvard education, Rex is destined for success and could make a fortune in Wall Street or Hollywood, but he chose the C.I.A. because he believes in justice and will fight for it. He can talk his way into anything, then charm his way out, fast. This may be just what he needs as he joins forces with Jack and Gwen to fight a global mystery behind “Miracle Day” that has them racing from one crisis to another, dodging assassins, blackmail, corruption and conspiracy, from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai.


CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS (John Barrowman)

Jack looks like a hero. He's handsome, witty and subversive with a killer smile. But there's a reason for that glint in his eye. His dashing style hides a secret. Truth is Jack Harkness is immortal, the only one of his kind. He once ran the Torchwood Institute, a British organization dedicated to fighting the strange and bizarre. But Torchwood closed down, and Jack disappeared, to start yet another of his many new lives. When a new, epic danger affects the whole planet, Jack finds himself back at the center of events, fighting not just for his own life, but for everyone on Earth.


GWEN COOPER (Eve Myles)

Gwen once lived the ultimate double life - the funny, salty, earthy woman who loves home and family, combined with the tough, ruthless warrior, who loves the thrill of the fight. She was the heart and soul of an organization called Torchwood. She was a defender of the human race. But now she lives in seclusion, with her devoted husband Rhys and baby Anwen, knowing that one day trouble would come calling again. When events surrounding “Miracle Day” push Gwen to the limit, she'll need to call on resources she never knew she had and make the most terrible decisions, on behalf of all mankind.


ESTHER DRUMMOND (Alexa Havins)

Esther is an innocent, in a world of assassins, liars and zealots. She got where she is with the C.I.A through diligence and application. Hard work keeps Esther focused but she still dreams of active duty as a field agent serving her country. The dream is going to happen faster than she thinks and in no time at all, Esther finds herself running alongside Jack, Gwen and Rex, living off the grid, gun in hand, fighting a global conspiracy against enemies ranging from big business to the state. It’s a tough, brutal, hard lifestyle where survival is hard won and life-changing choices have to be made.


OSWALD DANES (Bill Pullman)

Well-educated and a former school teacher, Oswald’s a convicted child killer, both guilty and unrepentant. But when Oswald survives his own execution, he’s given a whole new life. The most infamous man in the world, he becomes the most provocative figure in modern media. He’s a flare, reviled yet mesmerizing, whose very existence embodies how the world changed on “Miracle Day”.


DR. VERA JUAREZ (Arlene Tur)

An attending surgeon in Washington D.C., she’s smart, fast talking and hard working, Vera is on the frontline of medical care on “Miracle Day”. As the world crisis grows, Vera's surgical and ER experience sees her recruited to advise on government think-tanks until she has to make a moral choice of enormous consequence. Sexy, confident and passionate, Vera's life is soon inextricably tangled up with Rex's.


The plot of Torchwood: Miracle Day takes place over the course of the ten episodes of the series:

One day, nobody dies. All across the world, nobody dies. And then the next day, and the next, and the next, people keep aging -- they get hurt and sick -- but they never die. The result: a population boom, overnight. With all the extra people, resources are finite. It’s said that in four months’ time, the human race will cease to be viable. But this can’t be a natural event – someone’s got to be behind it. It’s a race against time as C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy. The answers lie within an old, secret British institute. As Rex keeps asking “What is Torchwood?", he’s drawn into a world of adventure, and a threat to change what it means to be human, forever.

Though launching in the United Kingdom (BBC1) and the United States (Starz), BBC Worldwide plan to distribute the new series around the world. Torchwood has previously been seen in countries like Korea, Japan, Italy, Spain, Israel, Russia and across Latin America.

Torchwood: Miracle Day will premiere in July.





FILTER: - Torchwood - Production - Press - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Torchwood: transmission date still to be announced

Friday, 7 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
TorchwoodA number of news-sites (including ourselves) had reported in the last day or so that the transmission date for the forthcoming Torchwood has been revealed for BBC1 in the UK and Starz in the US.

BBC Marketing have informed us, however, that the "Torchwood" Facebook Page and Twitter feed which purported to 'announce' the series premier date is not an official site as claimed, and has no links to the BBC itself.

The transmission date will be officially announced by the BBC and Starz later in the year.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Editorial

Torchwood: production details

Friday, 7 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
TorchwoodProduction shifts into gear to start filming next week, with members of the production team recently confirmed in the latest Torchwood Magazine - all of which have established sci-fi credentials!

Production designer is Greg Melton (whose previous work includes the Zombie series The Walking Dead) and within the UK is joined by the original designer for Torchwood, Ed Thomas. Costumes are being handled by Shawna Trpcic (who has worked on shows like Angel and Firefly), and Makeup by Todd McIntosh (Pushing Daisies, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The Director of Photography is Nate Goodman (whose credentials include Heroes).

The series will be produced by Kelly Manners (who worked on Angel and co-produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer); he will be joined in the UK by the producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Brian Minchin. The first episode is due to be directed by Bharat Nalluri (whose credits include directing the first episodes of BBC successes Life on Mars, Spooks and Hustle).

As previously reported, the writers for the series are Jane Espensen, John Shiban, Doris Egan, and John Fay, and of course executively produced by series creator Russell T Davies alongside Julie Gardner.

You can view all of our recent articles on casting and the development of The New World here.


An earlier version of this article cited a launch date for The New World - this has been reported by BBC Marketing as incorrect and has been removed. More news soon!




FILTER: - Torchwood - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Torchwood: Casting News

Thursday, 6 January 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
TV Line are reporting that Alexa Havins and Dichen Lachman have both been cast in the forthcoming series of Torchwood.

Havins will play Esther Katusi, a CIA Watch Analyst who possesses an unshakable faith in human nature and a monster crush on colleague Rex Matheson (Mekhi Phifer). Details about Lachman’s character are still to be released officially but Michael Ausiello of TV Line says that she also works at the CIA.

Alexa Havins
's credits include American soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children.

Dichen Lachman has appeared in Australian soap opera Neighbours and American science fiction series Dollhouse.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Production

Thinking Allowed

Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Reported by Marcus
Wednesdays edition of Radio Four's Thinking Allowed included a discussion on Doctor Who with US academic Marc Edward DiPaolo, who talked about his Journal of Popular Culture article "Political Satire and British-American Relations in Five Decades of Doctor Who."

DiPaolo has analysed the political content of five decades of Doctor Who and concluded the Daleks are obsessed with racial purity and dedicated to a policy of genocide and represent the Nazis and the Jagrafess is a loathsome alien purveying useless information - which he has censored, rewritten and controlled and represents a modern day media mogul. He finds that the Time Lord is a liberal, bohemian, pacifist environmentalist, and definitely anti-American So is Doctor Who a closet radical?

The programme is available worlwide on the BBC iPlayer for the next week. The discussion starts around 13 minutes into the show.




FILTER: - Documentary - Radio

Doctor Who: Casting News

Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Filming for the Matthew Graham-penned episodes five+six returned to Cardiff Castle today, where three of its guest stars were spotted on-site in the story being directed by Julian Simpson.

As previously reported, Sarah Smart is playing a character named Jennifer Lucas. Her recent on-screen credits include Wallander (Anne-Britt Hoglund), Casualty 1906/1907/1909 (Ada Russell), and Five Days (Sarah Wheeler). [Smart's entry at Conway - Van Gelder - Grant Voices]

Leon Vickers is a new actor, having just graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His television credits include Garrow's Law (John Davis) and Being Victor (Carl Sutton), and is believed to be playing a character named 'Clone Worker' in Doctor Who. [Vickers's entry at Amanda Howard Associates].

Mark Bonnar's credits include timey-wimey series Paradox (D.S. Ben Holt), and recurring roles in Casualty (Bruno Jenkins) and The Bill (Ray Moore). His role in Doctor Who is currently unknown. [Bonnar's entry at Hatton McEwan]


Filming for this block is drawing to a close, with Matthew Graham tweeting: "My DW 2-parter finishes shooting end of this week. They will be glad to come in out of the perishing cold. Poor dears."





FILTER: - Series 6/32 - Production

Torchwood Comic #6

Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Reported by Harry Ward
The latest issue of the The Official Torchwood Comic by Titan Magazines is now on sale. Issue Six includes two comic strip adventures - Hell House by Roger Gibson and Overture by Gary Russell, with art by John Ridgway - and the conclusion of the Issue Five short story Photo Finish by Mark Morris.
 

Art work from Hell House

The series of Comics for the US market was first reported by us back in June 2010.




FILTER: - Torchwood - USA - Comics - Magazines

TARDIS tunes

Wednesday, 5 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Audio solutions company Speakal have announced two new products in their speaker systems range at the International Consumer Electronics Show, tying in with two of the BBC's biggest brands. Top Gear sees a Stig helmet with iPhone dock, whilst Doctor Who sees a bluetooth system in the guise of a police box ...

Doctor Who fanatics will rejoice in the T.A.R.D.I.S replica speaker featuring powerful bass and premium speakers with Bluetooth playback. Fans of this classic BBC series can now travel back in time on their playlists and be the envy of any science fiction enthusiast.

"Top Gear and Doctor Who have some of the most die hard fans of any program in the world" said CEO David Solomon. "We’re proud to offer their fan base these unique and lifelike replicas of their favorite BBC icons."




FILTER: - Merchandise

Doctor Who: Casting News

Tuesday, 4 January 2011 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Two more guest stars have been confirmed online for the Neil Gaiman-penned episode three of the next series, directed by Richard Clark.

Spotlight have listed Adrian Schiller as playing the character "Uncle" in the story. Schiller has recently played Noah Zeitler in BBC Series Silk, and has previously appeared in sci-fi/fantasy projects Being Human (Hennessey) and Going Postal (Mr Gryle).

As one might expect, an "Uncle" implies an "Auntie", and that role has been confirmed by United Agents as being played by Elizabeth Berrington. Berrington plays regular character Ruby in Waterloo Road, and sci-fi/fantasy-wise played nurse Nicola in Psychoville; she also appeared over the festive period as Terry in Jo Brand's Christmas Cracker.

The two join Suranne Jones, reported last year as playing the character Idris.

The Evening Times has revealed that Jimmy Vee will be rejoining Doctor Who for the forthcoming series, saying "details of who or what he’s playing are top secret". He is probably most notable for playing The Moxx of Balhoon in The End of the World and Bannakaffalatta in Voyage of the Damned, as well as playing various other characters in The Sarah Jane Adventures.





FILTER: - Series 6/32 - Production