The Orb on Doctor Who

Friday, 15 April 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

A seven-minute reworking of the Doctor Who theme commissioned by the BBC and recorded by The Orb is to get its first public performance in Portsmouth (Hampshire, England) on Saturday 16 April. It is to be played at a gig by Portsmouth-based band The Autons, who took their name from the Doctor Who monsters. The three-piece band (website), who are well-known Doctor Who enthusiasts, will be performing at the Third Floor Arts Centre, in the city's Central Library, at 8pm (BST), using The Orb's rendition of the theme as their walk-on music. According to Autons band member Tony Rollinson,The Orbwere granted access to the original tapes from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. He added that The Autons were offered the debut airing through cult Portsmouth band Ronaldo And The Loaf, who are friends of Orb member Alex Paterson. He added that the Orb track was being biked down especially - and that security measures would be in place to stop anyone recording it. Tickets to the gig apparently cost ú4 (with eyeliner) and ú5 (without eyeliner). Call the box office on 023 9268 8070 (website). Portsmouth (plus the Isle of Wight and the Solent) was used extensively for the location filming of The Sea Devils in October 1971. (Thanks to John Bowman)




FILTER: - Music - Special Events

Who on Mastermind

Saturday, 19 June 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
UK viewers, tune into quiz show Mastermind this Tuesday at 9pm on BBC2 - according to MyDigiGuide one of the contestants is taking Doctor Who as his specialist subject.
(Thanks to Daniel O'Malley)




FILTER: - Special Events

Cummins Art Site

Thursday, 10 June 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Artist Jeff Cummins, whose many covers for the Target Doctor Who novelisation range includes "The Talons of Weng-Chiang," "Horror of Fang Rock," "The Three Doctors" and the exquisite painting for the cover of "The Face of Evil," has a new website in which he showcases his Target covers and other pieces of illustration including the sleeves for out of print records he designed. Visit the site at www.jeffcummins.com. (Thanks to Jeff Cummins)




FILTER: - Special Events

howe on daemos

Saturday, 24 April 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Writer David Howe tells the Alien Online site about the recent release in the UK of "Daemos Rising," the direct-to-video sequel to the Doctor Who serial "The Daemons" which stars Miles Richardson and Beverley Cressman. "I wanted to play with the characters a little," says Howe, "and to see what made them tick. I always loved The Daemons - it's simply so full of great themes and potential that just one television outing never seemed enough. The decision on the two main characters was given to me by the Producer/Director Keith Barnfather. He had worked with both actors previously, and wanted to continue with their characters from the Downtime video. The character of the 'Ghost' (played by Andrew Wisher) and the background to the story came from Telos Publishing's Time Hunter range of books, another spin off from Doctor Who. So it's all very Who influenced and referenced and certainly takes place in the same 'universe' as Who, but with more of a Sapphire and Steel spin on it perhaps. Keith and I both wanted to see how far we could go in both entertaining and unnerving the viewer ... and I hope we succeed on both counts."




FILTER: - Special Events - Blu-ray/DVD

Revolver

Sunday, 14 December 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
The Daleks will feature in a BBC comedy series called Revolver in January, a show that features actors in surreal situations. Actors taking part include Rodney Bewes ("Resurrection of the Daleks"), Honor Blackman ("Terror of the Vervoids") and actress Julie Goodyear, who plays a nosey neighbour who watches over the garden fence as Daleks attack the children next door. You can read more about it at an article today on BBC News by clicking here. (Thanks to Mark Murphy, Mark Oliver)




FILTER: - Special Events

levine collection for sale

Monday, 6 January 2003 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
Doctor Who fan & collector Ian Levine is currently making available several unique Doctor Who props and items, including: a Cyber Controller head (one of two made for the serial - fixed mouth); a Cyberman from "Tomb of the Cybermen" (Head only); a Cyberman from "Earthshock" (Head only); a TARDIS from "Curse of Peladon" (fell down mountainside); an original Sea-Devil head; two pieces of the Key to Time; the book from "Shada" (The Worshipful And Ancient Law Of Gallifrey); an original Ice Warrior claw (from "The Ice Warriors"); a Servo Robot (from "The Wheel in Space"); one of the fake Mona Lisa’s from "City of Death"; a black & white photographic background used for "Warriors' Gate" episode 4; a shrunken Xeraphin from "Time-Flight"; a wall panel from "Full Circle"; and Bellal's head from "Death to the Daleks" (latex has decayed). Interested parties can send enquiries to Paul Vanezis of the Doctor Who restoration team atpaulvanezis@blueyonder.co.uk. (Thanks to Paul for letting us know!)




FILTER: - Special Events