Torchwood Casting: Bill Pullman

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Hot on the heels of news about Mekhi Phifer being cast yesterday, today Deadline reports long-time Hollywood actor Bill Pullman will be joining the cast of Torchwood: The New World. He will be playing one of the lead roles in the series, that of the psychotic Oswald Jones.

Like Phifer, Pullman was born in New York (1953). Starting out in the theatre, he made the move to the big screen in the 1986 film Ruthless People (with Bette Midler and Danny De Vito); he quickly rose to lead role status the following year in the Mel Brooks sci-fi spoof Spaceballs, and he has since been involved in a number of successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping, and Casper. However, his sci-fi credentials are probably best represented in what is possibly his highest profile role, portraying President of the United States Thomas Whitmore in the Will Smith/Jeff Goldblum blockbuster, Independence Day.

On television, he is best known for playing Harvard scientist and astrophysicist Bill Massey in the supernatural thriller series Revelations.

OSWALD JONES
Oswald Jones is dangerously clever, a psychotic, convicted murderer and paedophile. He escapes his lifelong prison sentence on a technicality and quickly becomes a media sensation.

Genuinely repentant yet boiling with lust and rage, Oswald gets caught up in a terrifying worldwide crisis.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Karen Gillan in Shortlist Magazine

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Reported by Harry Ward
Karen Gillan is featured on the front cover of this week's Shortlist Magazine.

You can read the full interview online (pages 40-44). Karen also took part in a photo shoot for the magazine, some of these can be viewed below.

How does it feel being a role model?

That’s a tricky one. You’ve got to get the right balance I think. You can’t live your life thinking about how it’s going to affect everybody else. You’ve got to have your own life and do what you want to do, but it is something I take into consideration and I wouldn’t want to fall around drunk or anything.

What’s it like working with Matt [Smith]?

Matt is so focused he really inspires me. That sounds really cheesy, but it’s true. I’ve never met someone so focused and he never slacks off. He’s really driven. And his approach to acting is really creative. Rather than just reeling off the lines, he changes it every time. It’s an intense day. He takes it very seriously, but that’s not to say it’s not fun. In fact, part of our taking it seriously is messing around between takes, because I feel like it’s us staying in character and being silly.



(Images: Lee Jenkins)


The magazine is handed out every Thursday in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, West Yorkshire, Dundee and Aberdeen. It is available from distributors at around 100 main line and Underground stations and bus terminals. [Wikipedia]




FILTER: - Karen Gillan - Magazines

Doctor Who Laser Show at Florida Planetarium

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Reported by Josiah Rowe
UPDATE December 16: This event has been CANCELLED due to licensing issues.



The Riverview Planetarium in Sarasota, Florida will host a Doctor Who Laser New Year event on January 1, 2011. The program will include a new Doctor Who-themed laser show on the planetarium's 40-foot, 360° dome, and a showing of the 2010 Christmas Special on the dome's screen. There will be two showings, one starting at 6:00 and another at 9:00; seating is limited and tickets are required. The tickets are free, but a donation is encouraged (and donors will be given first priority for seating). The event is sponsored by Florida fan group Blue TARDIS.




FILTER: - Special Events - USA

Study Doctor Who in Australia

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who NIDAAustralia's National Institute of Dramatic Art is once again offering young people in the Commonwealth the chance to experience the world of Doctor Who as part of its Summer Programme 2011.

A number of courses are being run in the Summer Holiday in association with BBC Worldwide, teaching students skills associated with the making of the television series.

January's courses take place around the Country and can be booked Online

SYDNEY
  • DESIGNING DOCTOR WHO 9-11 YRS
  • 12 to 14 January - Be inspired by stories from the universe as you create your own props and model landscape inspired by Doctor Who. Develop design and craft skills in model making with professionals. Display your work in the NIDA foyer at the end of the week.
  • DOCTOR WHO ON LOCATION @ COCKATOO ISLAND 12-16 YRS
  • 11 to 14 January - Create your own Doctor Who episode using the atmospheric landscape of Cockatoo Island as inspiration. Develop screen acting and film making skills and discover the world of on-location shooting. Travel each day from Circular Quay to Cockatoo Island by ferry is included. Participants receive a DVD copy of their short film.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN 12-16 YRS
  • 10 to 14 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Discover how to work with green screen technology, develop skills in characterisation and rehearse and film scene work to camera. This course will also examine the different acting styles of the past and present Doctors. For committed young people wanting to explore strategies for approaching acting on screen.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ADVENTURES IN TIME & SPACE @ BLACKTOWN ARTS CENTRE 9-11 YRS
  • 10 to 11 January - Travel through time and space with the Doctor and his companions. Open doors to new realities and meet the characters that live there. Create your own mini Doctor Who adventure.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ADVENTURES IN TIME & SPACE 6-8 YRS
  • 15 to 16 January - Travel through time and space with the Doctor and his companions. Open doors to new realities and meet the characters that live there. Create your own mini Doctor Who adventure.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN ADVENTURES 12-15 YRS
  • 22 to 23 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Discover how to work with green screen technology, develop skills in characterisation, and rehearse and film scenes to camera.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN ADVENTURES 9-11 YRS
  • 17 to 18 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Discover how to work with green screen technology, develop skills in characterisation and rehearse and film scenes to camera.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN ADVENTURES 9-11 YRS: WEEKEND
  • 22 to 23 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Discover how to work with green screen technology, develop skills in characterisation and rehearse and film scenes to camera.
BRISBANE
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN 12-16 YRS
  • 17 to 21 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Develop skills in characterisation, and rehearse and film scene work to camera. This course is designed for committed young people who want to explore strategies for acting on screen.
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN ADVENTURES 9-11 YRS
  • 10 to 14 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Develop skills in characterisation, and rehearse and film scenes to camera.
MELBOURNE
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN ADVENTURES 9-11 YRS
  • 17 to 21 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Develop skills in characterisation, and rehearse and film scenes to camera.
CANBERRA
  • DOCTOR WHO: ACTING ON SCREEN ADVENTURES 9-11 YRS
  • 24 to 28 January - Identify and experience the essentials of screen acting as you work on scripts from the Doctor Who series. Develop skills in characterisation, and rehearse and film scenes to camera.




FILTER: - Special Events - Australia

Doctor Who - BBC Video Catchup

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A number of videos have been released on the BBC website in the last couple of days relating to publicity for the Christmas special, A Christmas Carol; these appeared on BBC news programmes, but are sometimes extended versions online.

In this video, Matt Smith talks to Lizo Mzimba about his thoughts on the Christmas special, during which he was asked if he felt any pressure over ratings with previous specials doing so well at Christmas:
I hope it continues to do well, I really do. Yeah, but I can't really feel any pressure for it because I've done it now, I've made it, so c'est la vie, what will be will be, it's out of my control. But I think it's a great episode and it will be a nice way to spend it with someone.
Matt was also very surprised to find out that he'd been known as the Doctor for nigh on two years:
"Is it really? Blimey oh Riley. God, that's a long time, isn't it! It's whizzed by I suppose because we're very busy up in Cardiff, but, yeah it's been a wonderful two years, it's been a privilege to play it, I have to say, and it's been a great experience for me, it really has."
The video includes several brief scenes from A Christmas Carol.

Children's news programme Newsround featured a truncated version of the above video, which was broadcast during their television bulletins. Here, Matt talked about emotional impact of the special:
It's a very Christmassy Doctor Who, and I think that Stephen (Moffat) has interpreted and managed the spirits of the Doctor. Particularly in the retelling of classical stories, anyway; if you look back at the classic stories that tend to hit us over Christmas, a lot of the great ones do pull at the heart strings.

As reported earlier tonight, Katherine Jenkins visited her old primary school in the afternoon. During this video, she was asked how she found filming for her first acting role in a BBC Wales production:
Well we filmed it over about three/four weeks, in Wales of course, and so that was lovely because I was able to come home and see the family. It's challenging in so many ways because I'd never done any green screen stuff either, so all the sleigh/carriage stuff, the flying scenes ... when you're just in a room with a fan and having to scream on tap, you know, it was sometimes quite wierd. But lots of fun, cos I was in the carriage sometimes with Matt, and sometimes with Michael Gambon and so we had a really good laugh.

I cannot thank them enough, the whole Doctor Who family have been brilliant at making me feel very welcome and making me feel like I could do this. Matt is so energetic and so enthusiastic, and I kept thinking I when was doing scenes with Sir Michael Gambon, "how has this happened, how am I acting here across from Dumbledore" - it was just a very surreal moment.

This is my debut, and for it to be such a typically Welsh show, I think that was part as well in making me feel so at ease, because most of the crew are Welsh-based. Yeah, it was really, really lovely and I've got great memories of it and I don't think I could have done it without everyone being involved.

Monday saw television critic Alison Graham on BBC's Breakfast chatting about what she thinks are the programmes to watch over Christmas; Doctor Who was of course one of her favourites, which she discusses in this video segment from the programme.
The special I thought was lovely, it was very, very, very Christmassy, it was snowy, based on A Christmas Carol, so can't get more Christmassy! One man has the power to rescue everybody, but he's Michael Gambon, a very Scrooge type, so the ghost of Christmas past, who's the Doctor, comes in and tries to make him see the error of his ways. I loved it, quite warmed my heart!

Finally, Catherine Tate appeared on the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning; in this video she briefly talks about her experience with meeting Daleks!




FILTER: - Specials - Online - Catherine Tate

Win the Eleventh Doctor Christmas Adventure Set!

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The Doctor Who News Page is offering readers a chance to win the Eleventh Doctor Christmas Adventure Set which is released next week, in our Christmas Competition.

The set includes two 5-inch action figures: The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond with police uniform and also features a non-electronic TARDIS with opening front doors.

Five Gift sets are up for grabs.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply tell us your prediction for the total BBC One audience, to the nearest 10,000 viewers, for the Christmas Day showing of A Christmas Carol.

Just to clarify, we are looking for the final confirmed audience as published by BARB in January. This figure includes those who record the programme and watch it within one week and it includes those watching on BBC One HD. It does not include those watching on iPlayer.

Please also give your estimate for the final figure for the BBC Three/BBC HD Christmas Day showing of Doctor Who Confidential. This figure will be used as a tie breaker in the event of a draw for the prize. In the event of a further draw the winner will be chosen at random.

To help you estimate the figure, ratings for the previous episodes of Doctor Who transmitted on Christmas Day were:

1965 - 5.50pm - The Feast of Steven - 7.90 million
2005 - 7.00pm - The Christmas Invasion - 9.84 million
2006 - 7.00pm - The Runaway Bride - 9.30 million
2007 - 6.50pm - Voyage of the Damned - 13.31 million
2008 - 6.00pm - The Next Doctor - 13.10 million
2009 - 6.00pm - The End of Time Part One - 12.04 million


Entries should be sent to the Doctor Who News Page at doctorwhocompetitions@gmail.com - please include your answers, name, address and daytime contact number.

Only one entry is allowed per person.

Entries must be received by 6pm, 25th December 2010 UK Time.


In the meantime, there are a number of other Doctor Who related competitions online that you might also wish to enter, listed below:

SiteClosing DateCompetition
Toxic Magazine15th DecWin a Nintendo DS and a copy of Evacuation Earth, with the game for five runners up. Registration required, and restricted to under-18s
National Geographic15th DecWin Evacuation Earth with a DSi. This one is open to under 16s
Radio Times21st DecWin a Nintendo Wii console, and a copy of Return to Earh; simply answer 15 questions on television trivia
Love Offers22nd DecWin a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who
Fortean Times22nd DecWin one of three sonic-screwdrivers
DrWho Online31st DecWin one of three copies of The Complete Series Five boxed set to win.
Eye of Horus10th JanWin one of ten copies of Meglos.
Love Offers12th JanWin one of five copies of Return to Earth.
Webuser12th JanWin one of five copies of Return to Earth Wii games to win.
Whovian Netn/aWin one of three copies of the official 2011 Calendar when they reach 1000 Twitter Followers
Eye of Horus31st JanWin one of ten copies of The Mutants.


 




FILTER: - Competitions - Editorial

An early Christmas Carol for Katherine Jenkins's old school

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
A Christmas Special treat came early at the Alderman Davies Primary School in Neath today. This was the school a young Katherine Jenkins attended as a child, and the singer returned there this afternoon to watch a special showing of her acting debut in A Christmas Carol alongside current pupils and staff.

Afterwards, she spent time answering questions with her young fans.

The visit was covered on tonight's Wales Today, and you can watch a longer version of their report on the BBC Wales News website.




FILTER: - Specials - Special Events

Red Button Christmas Preview

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC is to show a short Pre-Christmas edition of Doctor Who Confidential on the BBC Red Button Service.

The preview programme will follow Vlogger Charlie McDonnell as he gives his unique insight from behind the scenes of the 2010 Doctor Who Christmas special.

Exact times are not confirmed, but the programme is listed on some platforms as starting at 5.30pm on Sunday 19th December.





FILTER: - Specials - Broadcasting

A Christmas Carol at the BFI

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Last night saw a special preview of the forthcoming Christmas special A Christmas Carol take place at the British Film Institute. The episode was then followed by a Q&A session with Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor), Katherine Jenkins (Abigail Pettigrew), and lead writer/executive producer Steven Moffat; Karen Gillan (Amy) was also at the event, but remained in the audience.

When asked about some of the elements and emotion displayed in the episode, Stephen Moffat replied:
Well, the base line of Doctor Who is a man who lives in a telephone box and saves the universe in a bow tie. So you have to go some to up that. And if you’re going to do a Christmas Day episode, which is basically the principle that the audience have had a selection box for breakfast and are probably drunk, then you actually have to sort of move it on a bit. Because, actually, a normal episode of Doctor Who wouldn’t be enough at that point.

I think you have to be emotional. I think you have to go on the whole journey, don’t you? You have to laugh and cry a bit. A Christmas Carol, oddly enough, the original, is sort of the whole package. It’s A Wonderful Life, which is kind of in a way a variant of A Christmas Carol, is the same. Yes, I think you should be…as I say, you’re full of sugar and alcohol, you’re going to be tripped off into any place at any time.
Matt Smith also responded to Katherine Jenkins on this being her first acting role:
I have to say all I was struck by was…it never seemed for a moment that you hadn’t acted before. You were completely well prepared. Because on the one hand, you’ve got Katherine being very diligent and accessing real emotion and really getting in there. Then me and Michael (Gambon) just sort of dossing down. And so I was utterly impressed and she was thoroughly prepared and I’m convinced that she’ll go on and do other parts.

As one might expect, a number of plot points have been discussed and since reported in the media, but we will not be reproducing them due to their spoiler potential for the Christmas Day episode; however, you can read a comprehensive review of both the story and the Q&A from journalist Ian Wylie's blog, Life of Wylie.

Other reviews may be found at Radio Times, The Guardian, Daily Mail, BBC News, SFX and Den of Geek.




FILTER: - Specials - Special Events

First images from Shadows of the Vashta Nerada revealed

Tuesday, 14 December 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The BBC have now released a few images from the next story in the their PC/Mac game series Doctor Who Adventures, Shadows of the Vashta Nerada:



The images form part of today's Adventure Calendar on the BBC's Doctor Who site; for Day 14 you can also download the Vashta Nerada as wallpaper (4:3 and 16:9 sizes), and a screensaver that showcases images from throughout the Doctor Who Adventures series.

As reported at the beginning of the month, the new game will be available for download (PC/Mac format) in the United Kingdom from the BBC's Doctor Who site on Christmas Day.




FILTER: - Online - Games