Kaldor City and Faction Paradox

Monday, 23 August 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

According to Magic Bullet Productions, Philip Madoc ("The Brain of Morbius") and John Leeson (K9) have both signed on to play roles in the forthcoming sixth Kaldor City audio, "Storm Mine" by Daniel O'Mahony, and that the part of Uvanov -- originally played by the late Russell Hunter -- will not be recast. "Kaldor City" is, of course, the audio series set in the universe of "The Robots of Death"; Hunter reprised the role of Uvanov from that Doctor Who serial until his death early this year. Meanwhile, as for Magic Bullet's recent acquisition of Faction Paradox audios from BBV, they've confirmed that author Lawrence Miles is currently writing the next two installments; Steve Johnson will continue to do the covers, and Alistair Lock will be taking over the sound design. At least one of these two stories will feature Gabriel Woolf reprising his role of Sutekh (from "Pyramids of Mars"). (Thanks to Fiona Moore)

FILTER: - Audio

Barrowman on Who

Monday, 23 August 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

John Barrowman, confirmed as one of the actors in the new Doctor Who series, spent time on Richard Bacon's late-night chat show on BBC Radio Five over the weekend and was asked about his pending appearance on the show. Barrowman was initially very cautious when being quizzed by Bacon, refusing to say even what length his hair would be, but he did finally relate that he wouldn't start filming until November and that his character was "something of an intergalactic rogue" who would become a companion to the Doctor. We should add that this isn't confirmation that his role -- known only as Captain Jack -- will be a traditional "companion" but will certainly have time with the Doctor and Rose late in the season. (Thanks to Mark Gardiner)

FILTER: - Guest Stars - Series 1/27

Ghost Light Delay

Sunday, 22 August 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

As reported elsewhere, the DVD release of Ghost Light has been moved back one week, and will now take place on September 20. According to Steve Roberts of the Restoration Team, this is just due to "technical reasons," likely something to do with the pressing of the DVDs, and nothing to be concerned about; the extra week is just to give time to make sure they're done before release.

FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Screaming Into Oblivion

Sunday, 22 August 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

While not specifically Doctor Who related, Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" has been stolen... something postulated in the Big Finish audio story Dust Breeding. Coincidence....?

FILTER: - Audio

Return to Cardiff

Sunday, 22 August 2004 - Reported by Shaun Lyon

Outpost Gallifrey has learned that the new series production is now back in Cardiff, having taken a trip to London early in the month to do some location photography, and then (we presume) into the studio. There are signs that the production will be filming in public areas of Cardiff this coming week; we have a set report from Jez Connolly who was in Cardiff today (click on the spoiler tag for more details).

I spotted Christopher and Billie preparing for filiming in St. David's Hall in central Cardiff at around 3pm today. Christopher was wearing a burgundy coloured long sleeved T-shirt, black trousers and what looked like ankle length black boots with some silver detail. Billie was dressed in the burgundy and grey hooded top previously seen. I saw Christopher reading the script sat on a bench a few yards from the outside of the building. He looked deep in thought most of the time; it's a great testament to the people of Cardiff that even though it was a fairly busy street and filming was occurring nobody was interfering or pestering the production team. I sat at a nearby outside cafe for a while to observe proceedings; the filming was clearly going on inside the building as it had been closed to the public. Round the side of the building I saw 3 or 4 vans carrying lighting equipment. Most exciting of all though was one van containing the top section of the TARDIS. The crew looked pretty relaxed; at one point Christopher appeared out of a people-carrier car and gave the driver a broad grin.
- Jez Connolly

FILTER: - Production - Series 1/27

Hitchhikers CD!