Category: Doctor Who

Karen Gillan to appear at ECCC 2014!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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Emerald City Comicon announced today that Karen Gillan will be at this year’s show on Sunday. That’s great for a busy actress whose next big role will be Nebula in Marvel Entertainment’s Guardians of the Galaxy, due in theatres August. But for the rest of the world, she is best known for playing Amy Pond in Doctor Who.

As for what she will be available for during the convention — panels, photo ops or autographs — no official word is given. The best advice is to check out the ECCC 2014 webpage when schedules get posted. That’s usually a week before the event. But as for tickets, the best plan is to have pick up tickets sooner than later since they have been selling out through online sales fast.

Getting Spun Around with Time of the Doctor

By Otaku no Culture

Time of the Doctor Poster

* Spoiler Alert *

E: I’m divided over whether I should like the finale of what was a stellar year for Doctor Who. The build up to the Anniversary Special was great. The two different plots that would lead up to reveal what happened in the final moments of the Great Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords melded together.

The Christmas episode, on the other hand, suggests the Time Lords found a way to come back to this reality, but it all depends on the Doctor (Matt Smith) to utter his name. Should he unlock the cosmic rift that’s formed on a planet that was mistakingly identified as Gallifrey, then another war will break out. But Mother Superious Tasha Lem (Orla Brady) of the Church of the Papal Mainframe can not have that. When the Doctor makes planetfall, he learns the planet is actually Trenzalore and he realizes his fate is sealed.

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Blast to the Past with An Adventure in Time & Space, A Review!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Poster

* Spoiler alert

Not every new fan of Doctor Who will know the full story behind the creation of popular culture’s greatest icon from Great Britain. Thankfully, the BBC has taken it upon themselves to create An Adventure in Space and Time to look at the years when this series became a success in a somewhat historical but yet fictional form. In the final day leading up to the 50th Anniversary special, this fascinating docu-drama will get further broadcasts throughout the world as it looks at how the series started.

But this movie also chronicles Verity Lambert’s (Jessica Raine) rise to being a prominent creative force behind the scenes. She helped William Hartnell (excellently played by David Bradley) become an enduring figure that later actors could not even come close to mimicking. Try as these actors might, the goal is to not be what the First Doctor or Bill represented. Instead, it was to make the Doctor Who character their own so that each’s actor’s contribution will be remembered.

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“The Night of the Doctor” Release by BBC Fills in the Gaps

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

DoctorwhoDoctor Who fans may not want all the answers now, but today BBC has released a short mini-episode, “The Night of the Doctor” which answers one huge question concerning The Doctor’s 8th incarnation — Paul McGann — role in the grand scheme of things. He’s part of the canon despite having only one movie made featuring him and many audio radio plays created by Big Finish. But there’s more to him than the meets the eye. His importance comes into play in this short.

As for how he fits between the “Americanization” of the product to its eventual “reboot” with Christopher Eccleston leading the way, or rather always on the run — that needs to be addressed.

I’ve always followed the principle of Occam’s razor and since this video’s release is official, all I can really say is that I knew it. I even wrote about it, by saying ‘All those dark impulses that makes up the Doctor’s psyche will have to resurface at some point.’

And it makes for anticipation of “The Day of the Doctor” all the more exciting. Fans can check this Doctor Who mini-episode out:

 

Note: Readers can also review James’ article “John Hurt Is the Eighth Doctor?” and see that his prediction was also correct.

Is John Hurt the Eighth Doctor?

DoctorwhoWe are just over a month away from the Doctor Who 50th anniversary and Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, has given us a whooper of a problem. He’s hinted that fans have miscalculated the regenerations of the good Doctor and that means he has not used his 12 lives.

On October 13th Moffat confirmed in the Radio Times, “He can only regenerate 12 times”, which leaves us with the question, just who is John Hurt portraying and what is his place in the Doctor Who canon?

It appears my brother John came up with a simple solution this morning, that so far, few have voiced. John Hurt is playing the part of the eighth Doctor. You may ask how is this possible and my he gives a few reasons (backed with my own observations):

1. Hurt is attired in what appears to be the ninth Doctor’s leather jacket.

2. Hurt is wearing a vest similar in style to that worn by the eighth Doctor. Included is what is a chain to perhaps a pocket watch used by both the seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and the eighth regeneration (Paul McGann).

3. We never did see visually at what age the eighth Doctor regenerated into his ninth life.

Take it with a grain of salt Whovians but I’m backing my brother on his opinion. So what is yours?

Source(s): Radio Times.

Whovians should Celebrate! Happy Birthday Sylvester McCoy & Sophie Aldred!

Sylvester McCioyYou got to love time zones because no matter where in the universe the party is happening, Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, turns 70.

Happy Birthday Sylvester!

The classic Doctor Who series ended its run in 1989, with hints of McCoy’s version of the title character saying he will live to a ripe old age. After all, The Doctor will become Merlin. For some fans of this actor’s work, he has when he appeared in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as Radagast the Brown. In Arthurian lore, Merlin has sometimes been depicted as the Wild Man of the Woods. McCoy is certainly living up to everything that is Doctor Who! Older fans like me can see certain connections being made in the work this fine actor has been doing lately.

Sophie Aldred

What’s even cooler is that Sophie Aldred could party it up with her former co-star. She celebrates her birthday on the same day!

Aldred will always be a fan favourite in this author’s universe. To see her beauty, her roles (and the character of Ace evolve) on the telly is fascinating. But her character development did not end there. The Timewyrm and Cat’s Cradle series are amongst my favourite books in the “New Doctor Who Adventures” (Virgin Publishing) to own.

Readers curious in what she has done lately can tune in to Tree Fu Tom, a children’s comedy animated series airing in the UK that’s set in fairy-land. Past works includes Dennis & Gnasher and Noddy in Toyland.

Happy Birthday Sophie! I’m glad to see that you are continuing to be busy, doing what you enjoy the most and that is to entertain children with your beautiful voice!