What were we thinking?!

I've got to admit, I was very worried about the news Kasterborous released on Saturday concerning the casting of Paterson Joseph as the Eleventh Doctor.

Worried for a few reasons:

Firstly that other than a naughty leak from Philip Hinchcliffe at a convention concerning the likely release of a DVD some months later (before clearance had been acquired - we're sorry, Restoration Team) Kasterborous has not in almost 4 years been in a position to reveal "exclusive" news (although given the circumstances in which the story was released, we were under the impression that DoctorWhoNews.com (the OG of old) and DWO were all in possession of the same information).

Secondly, that despite all indications pointing to a tabloid release of the news on Sunday, there was nothing leaked early on Saturday evening (and in the event no news on Sunday...)

Thirdly, of course, that we might be wrong. Which would have resulted in a Daily Mail-like episode in which the world celebrates Bill Nighy as the Doctor while getting Christopher Eccleston. In this quite plausible online mirroring 5-odd years later, Paterson Joseph is heralded as the new Doctor while the part in fact goes to Richard Ayoade out of The IT Crowd, or some other unseen piece of casting.

(I should add at this point that in the remotest chance that this news should be incorrect, if Doctor Who fans have been mislead in any way, I will issue a full retraction and apology both here, on Kasterborous itself and on YouTube.)

Fourthly - over the last few days no one at all issued the news. "Gagging order!" was the first thing that came to mind. However nerves started to show on Monday, and at one point I did consider pulling the piece. Nipping over to the DoctorWhoForum.com (again, at the old OG) didn't help, either.

Of course, the news is still up, and has today been joined by more as speculation in the mainstream press steadily grows.

And it will keep on growing...

No One is Telling‏

Lips appear to be sealed across the country – certainly in Wales and London – as to the identity of the 11th Doctor Who.

Although assumptions can be made (based upon prior events and previously gained experience) it is difficult to say definitively that casting has taken place.

However, if it hasn’t then it certainly is taking place right now, with various sources indicating shortlists of various lengths and composition.

Suggestions ranging from Harry Hill to Jeremy Irons are dancing around the interwebnet, and interestingly there is little in David Morrissey’s IMDb profile that indicates that he would be unavailable during the expected production period from June/July 2009 through to March/April 2010.

However, the same goes for many actors linked with the role, with Kasterborous favourite Sean Pertwee – insultingly referred to in the sloppy Den of Geek as “a big treat for fans of his Dad” currently shooting a movie with James Purefoy and Natasha McElhone, with little else other than voiceover work on the horizon.

Even the Prof is bewildered with this – it’s looking very definitely like a case of wait and see!

Please: put us out of our miseries!

There has always been music.

In the 1990s in Britain, there was "Britpop" a rather lame description for a whole bunch of bands that normally wouldn't get signed and promoted, being as they were, talented.

You know, they could write songs and play instruments.  Most of them weren't perfect singers, but then who is?

Amongst all of this wonder was a group of cheeky lasses (and a brother) from the North East city of Sunderland, who called themselves Kenickie after character from Grease.  They had modest album success before splitting, leaving lead singer Lauren Lavern to begin a career in broadcasting.

Which brings us to Doctor Who.  And Den of Geek, who this week have used advanced (contrived) arithmetic in order to predict the identity of the new Doctor Who.

This ridiculous waste of time, posing as journalism and entertainment actually only works if you don't find Lauren Lavern to be smug and irritating.  At best she is vaguely attractive while possessing some Fraggle-like expressions.  At worst she is annoying.

One week into the whole Eleventh Doctor speculation and it's crap like that getting read that gives the whole process and Doctor Who a bad name.

(I won't launch into a rant about how Doctor Who fansites should be picked up by Google News instead of crap like Den of Geek.  That's for another day.)

So please, BBC, put us out of our miseries and just tell us who it is.

And the 11th Doctor is...

Already shortlisted, auditioned and cast - and I may well know who he is!

Oh yes, being a multimedia metrosexual kind of a guy, I've been hobknobbing and rubbing shoulders with all sorts of "in the know" types, and I can guarantee to you that the Eleventh Doctor Who will be played by an actor - or actress, natch - who has a superb ability to "learn lines".

That's right - in a piece of casting that is bound to blow the cobwebs out of the TARDIS and make Doctor Who fans have a right old discussion about it, I can now confirm that the new Doctor Who is...

...coming your way at some point in 2010.

But don't worry - we've plenty of David Tennant before then, who I understand is thrilled to be handing over to his successor, whose name I know.

So ner ner ne ner nerrrr.

I am not Neil Wilkes

Doctor Who Limbo

Despite several weeks of rumours and conjecture, David Tennant still took me by surprise as I watched the National Television Awards, and he addressed the viewers directly and announced his departure.

And yet we've got him for another year.

5 more episodes of Tenth Doctor thrills, no doubt some returning companions and villains... Hopefully some sense of impending tragedy... But other than that business as usual.

When he does go, I'm sure I'll shed a tear, and I won't be alone. Eccleston may have been at the pit face of the series' revival, but Tennant's popularity has made it an enduring hit.

Whoever takes over has a hard act to follow.

As for the identity of his replacement, we will have to wait and see. Let's trust The Grand Moff on this one.

Vworp Vworp!

So the Vworp Vworp event at The Lass O'Gowrie in Manchester as part of Manchester Literary Festival has been and gone, and while I think of some words for a proper review of the day, a few things leap out at me.

First off though, apologies to all concerned - particularly Professor Peach himself Gareth Kavanagh - for getting to this so late. I fell asleep on the train back Saturday evening, halfway through jotting notes and woke up 5 miles outside of York with a drooly, inky face.

Minutes before I passed out, a very pretty girl had been looking over at me, and must have been so impressed with the snoring wreck I'm sure I became. If that was you, ma'am, I'm sorry. I'm also happily wed, so quit with the eyes!

Intimacy and common purpose, that was the secret of Vworp Vworp!'s
success. Chaps from DWM, Big Finish, some TV show in Wales, Torchwood comic strip and the fans that turned up were all there, clear as to what the day was about, and what they hoped to get out of it.

The pub venue is far better than the hotel function room, there's no herding of guests and fans from one room to another, and I'm sure no one asked for an autograph for anything other than the charity auction.

I was sat chatting on occasion coherently and on other occasions vaguely to people whose work I've admired for some time, while I looked over at Kasterborous' own Anthony Dry having a chat with other "fandom names".

It's hard to get the balance you know, but on the whole, larger than life or not, these people are exactly that, people. Just like you and me but with a different profession, that doesn't make them gods or geniuses or whatever superlative you want to throw. It's just that they're adept enough at their roles to be very good and make a name for themselves.

It was truly wonderful company at The Lass, from the foxy barstaff to the assembled guests, and if you didn't go, you should have done, and you definitely must make the effort next time.

Carolyn Edwards Interviewed

It's been a busy year, new Who, new websites - but OK I admit it: I forgot to run this interview with Carolyn Edwards from last year.

Carolyn, if you're reading this - I'm so sorry!  And please reply to my emails!

So, as the back end - in fact the crown jewel - of our Paul McGann/Eighth Doctor articles last Autumn, we were going to run this interview.  Sadly something happened, got inthe way, and this never occurred.

So to all of you out there and particularly the lovely Carolyn - sorry.  Now read it, its rather FAB!

No Who Zone

Well, that was really nice!

A few days in the Algarve, and your editor is fully refreshed and raring to go for another few months into and beyond Christmas.

A very massive thanks to Mr Simon Mills for his Kopic's Newsround news updates to keep the candle burning in my absence, and to Anthony Dry for keeping the ship afloat.

Also, thanks very much to all of our visitors over the past few weeks, who have confirmed that there's more to Doctor Who than just new news.

So - what did I learn while hanging around Albufeira?

Well, lots of things. For instance, soft Cornettos are rather nice, strawberries taste strawberrier on the continent and swordfish is a remarkable tasting fish.

More importantly though - I didn't see any single reference to Doctor Who anywhere.

Now I'm pretty certain I've read that Doctor Who has been dubbed into Portuguese, but it seems that it doesn't translate into the same sort of fanaticism over there that it does over here.

This wasn't just a television/book/magazine thing either. There wasn't even any poorly made replicas amongst the poorly made replica Transformers and Star Wars toys.

Quite literally, Portugal seems to be a No Who Zone.

In fact, I didn't even refer to David Tennant, Daleks or the TARDIS in conversation while on holiday, and nor did I dream about Freema Agyeman. 

(I've been having that dream for a while now, and I'm starting to miss it!)

I'm delighted to say, however, that thanks to Mr Brian Terranova, I did get the Issue #1s of both of IDW's Doctor Who series, Doctor Who and Doctor Who: The Forgotten - both waiting for me on my doormat when I landed yesterday.

Cheers, Terra!

Paul McGann Back in the TARDIS!

OK - so there's no confirmation from the BBC as to whether this is true or not... but imagine it!

David Tennant's Tenth Doctor recalling in flashback the Time War... and in his flashbacks, the Doctor is as played by Paul McGann - more than likely (99% we reckon) without the curly wig.

Paul McGann, as the Doctor, fighting Daleks! Exactly how does this rumour get any better?

We Kasterborites have a lot of time for McGann - he's a bloody nice chap, for a start off, and as normal as the bloke in the pub. He just happens to be one of Britain's best character actors, certainly of his generation.

Even if McGann is in this particular special, and whatever its plot, for 5 minutes, it will be watched and rewatched over and over again here at K Towers.

"Why?" I hear you ask. "He only did one episode!"

It's simple - without McGann's Doctor, regardless of his limited screen time that will hopefully soon be doubled, many of us over say 25 wouldn't be Doctor Who fans anymore. We certainly wouldn't have stuck with the show during the downtime from 1996-2005 (see what I did there, anyone?).

McGann's portrayal was so distinct and engaging during his 50-odd minutes of screentime that a whole sub-industry of novelisations was launched on the back of it, and his popularity with fans was such that Big Finish launched a series of audio adventures for the Eighth Doctor, which continue to this day.

Even if this rumour turns out to be empty - we older Doctor Who fans who hoped for much more McGann in the TARDIS have had a magical day of mind-racing Whovian fantasy.

He's that good.

So I've got this new phone...

It's called a HTC Touch Diamond, and it's totally magic.

I haven't got hold of any Sonic Screwdriver-esque applications for it yet (although it does have a lightsaber), but it is jolly nifty for writing blog posts on.

That's how I'm writing this post.

And it's all part of the wonderful web of Doctor Who, that enables me to listen to (and conceivably record) podKasts with a K, send blog posts, view any Doctor Who website I care to on my Windows Mobile phone courtesy of the Opera browser, receive blog posts and news via a handy RSS reader and listen to Doctor Who audio adventures, view videos and even record footage of conventions and other wonderful Whoey stuff.

How the hell did we ever get by before all of this?

When I was a wee lad, it was all Doctor Who Weekly and Target novelisations, perhaps a vinyl audio adventure starring Tom Baker is you were lucky!

We have it luxurious these days, nothing like the age of transistor radios, televisions that had to "warm up", telephone boxes costing 2p and computers that took up entire rooms... in come cases buildings.

The world is marching on, and technologically speaking we're light years ahead of the mid 1990s... so it's a massive relief to see that while older, equally successful shows as Doctor Who are struggling to remain relevant or attract new fans that the Doctor is still with us, fighting injustice with the power of intelligence and ingenuity. He's gadget-mad, has the greatest vehicle in fiction and stands up for all that is right, true, and often the underdog.

Did I mention I have a new phone...?

Vworp Vworp!

Wahey! It's September - which means we're into the final stretch of the year, closer to a new Doctor Who episode and with lots of interesting stuff coming up.

Most importantly to us right now, however, is the upcoming comic appreciation event at The Lass O'Gowrie pub in Manchester.

Vworp Vworp! Comic Book Adventures in Time and Space is just 7 weeks away, taking place on Saturday October 18th - and your very own Christian Cawley (that's me, by the way) has been asked by organiser Gareth "Prof Peach" Kavanagh to look after one of the panels...

So - having not run anything like a panel or discussion in a good few years (since college) and not having sent anytime before an audience since by abortive stand-up days, I'm in the market for hints, tips, cheatsheets, reminders, encouragement and advice on how not to get too drunk before an event like this!

I can't wait to go, however - the event affords Ceri and me a weekend away for her to shop loads and me to meet up with lots of folk, new and old. And sample the wonders of draft bitter in a Manchester pub.

With a superb guest list, it's going to be a grand day!

Festival Prize

Once again, Doctor Who has been named as the top show of 2008. The highest profile industry event on the British calendar is of course the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

It was at that event that the series won Best Programme of 2008, for the second year running.

And of course, the award adds to the ridiculous tally of trophies that Doctor Who has received since 2005.

I
doubt whether anyone outside of BBC Wales is keeping a tally, but on an
average of 12 a year (which includes the rather vulgar ceremonies of
rags like TV Quick) we reckon Doctor Who has chocked up between 45 and
50 awards for acting, writing and various aspects of production as well
as being the nation's most loved show.

That's a pretty good comeback, but also testament to how the show is part of the British cultural fabric.

I Don't Have Sci Fi

This Bank Holiday weekend hasn't exactly been boring for me... but if it had, I would have been kicking myself that I don't have the Sci Fi Channel.

With hours of Doctor Who - including some real classics - padding out the regular programming, I would have been made up for the weekend, with pizza and beer and vodka all on the menu.

As it turned out, a few minor disasters from the middle of last week overspilled onto this weekend, leaving me to bemoan minor disasters and a lack of the Sci Fi Channel in my wing of Kasterborous Towers.

Now I don't want this to turn into one of those "isn't it wonderful" gushes, but how far have we come now that Doctor Who can make up a weekend of programming on Sci Fi, and a comic and actor can appear on a popular Friday night comedy panel show dressed as the Fifth Doctor without anyone batting an eyelid?

The whole Russell T Davies era has been like a parole, a reintegration back into society for Doctor Who.

I've recently been researching my family tree, and was astounded to discover that there was very few diagnoses for the myriad of now-identified mental disabilities and conditions in Victorian times. As a result pariahs were commonly identified and cast into workhouses or Bedlam.

This is in many ways what happened to Doctor Who between 1989 and 2005, give or take a few weeks for compassionate leave in 1996. Dismissed as unsound of mind and character, the show was carted off to asylum, from where it was soundly mocked and derided. It's purpose was lost.

Yet the show never really changed that much; several key themes from season 26 were continued 16 years later in season 27, notably the notion of the companion being such an important character.

So next time when we see a weekend of Doctor Who, or young children wandering around conventions with their parents, we should avoid thinking along the lines of "remember when..."; instead celebrate a 16 year moment of national lunacy being swept under the carpet in much the same way as 1980s Doctor Who was.

Oh and realise - as I now have - that having Sci Fi isn't that important.

Who On Demand

Sat watching The X Factor this evening (wiping away the tears of laughter inspired by some of the hopefuls), I realised that here we are, in the middle of the year and there's no Doctor Who until Christmas.

Saturday nights are of the light variety type until then, and there isn't even a series in 2009 to look forward to!

This got me thinking to exactly how we organise our lives around Doctor Who. For instance one Friday every month I venture into town to buy Doctor Who Magazine. I also spend a lot of time collating news for Kasterborous as well as planning articles and reviews.

Many of us of course spend 13 weeks a year looking forward to Saturdays. Suddenly however there is nothing to look forward to for at least 18 months - short of some specials - and the whole dynamic of Saturday night and in fact the calendar year is going to be unrecognisable until season 31.

So what is the solution?

As angry as I was at the news of a "gap year", it's a good time to take stock, and sit back. There's a universe of Doctor Who out there that doesn't exist solely on television - books, audios, toys, fan productions and of course Doctor Who Adventures and Doctor Who Magazine.

It doesn't have to be a gap year - make it a Who On Demand year.

Hi Lo Silver Lining

The Times Literary Supplement - bastion of what is good and what is not and if you disagree you're some sort of imbecilic pleb - has deemed a review of the Tennant-starring Hamlet necessary.

This is the Times' fourth review of Hamlet. It's also the one that would most likely put you on the back foot:

Tennant’s
television role as the Time Lord Doctor Who and as Hamlet has dominated
media coverage – and ticket sales – as an irresistibly unlikely coupling of
high and low culture.

That's right - the day after a report declares the north of England as worthless, the Times then tells us that if you don't do Shakespeare you're a proponent of what they call "low culture".

That they also include Doctor Who in this description is particularly bewildering. That there is a high and a low is also rather puzzling.

Dismissing a universe of alien foes and friends and wonder and deceit and redemption is, however, nothing more than snobbery. Small minded, self-absorbed demeaning snobbery and frankly in this day and age, with a fractured society and increasingly remote elite, the Times have done an injustice not only to one of the most successful fictional worlds ever created, but to their own credibility.

Village Green

News of The Sarah Jane Adventures second series conclusion - which features Sarah Jane and Luke thrown back in time to a 1950s village fete - reminded me of an interesting point.

Since nuWho returned, we've had fat green aliens, fat green aliens and Catherine Tate providing frivolous, and at times unnecessary comedy. We've had space opera, base under siege, TARDIS acrobatics and regenerations, returning friends, foes, future companions and whispers...

...but we haven't had a mysterious English village as seen in The Daemons or The Android Invasion.

Nice to see then that The Sarah Jane Adventures is attempting to level things out. We haven't even had a real village in Torchwood, just a small town or that bizarre cannibal episode that is better off forgotten.

So there's one thing on the list of stuff to look out for under The Grand Moff. Scary villages.

Opinions? Everyone has one...

Scottish comedian and comedy actress Elaine C Smith has a column in The Sunday Mail. She doesn't use the space very wisely.

Why?

Here, let's see:

I'VE never watched Dr Who since I was 10 and was petrified by the Cybermen.

I
don't really get the obsession but I am a big fan of David Tennant and
I understand why he is refusing to sign Dr Who memorabilia while
playing Hamlet for the RSC.

He knows most of it will end up on eBay and making money for professional autograph hunters.

Ewan
McGregor did the same when he was in Guys And Dolls but the stage door
was queued out with Star Wars geeks. What is it with sci-fi fans? Why
do they get so obsessive about it?

I suppose the truth is out there.

By her own admission, she doesn't "get it" - so why waste her and the paper's readers' time writing about it?

As for Mr Tennant refusing autographs - well I haven't seen it printed anywhere that he was behind the decision. Ms Smith would do well to note that his co-star is the face of two major US sci fi franchises over the last 20 years, and it's more than likely that both stars agreed with the RSC that this decision should be made and announced.

Jeez, would someone pay me to ponce in front of a keyboard for five minutes to fill a bit of space in their Sunday rag? Looks p*ss easy from here...

I Love Summer

As a child, summer was a time for playing in the garden, creating fantasy space adventures in my silver PVC inflatable landing capsule (Marshall Ward were out of Police Boxes…) or having a kickabout with my mates.

In later years, the summer months meant booze, birds and blasting rock music, and it was during one such summer that I and three college friends embarked upon a journey to the south of France to a resort known as Canet.

In preparation for this jaunt I picked up various reading material from the local newsagents – and happened upon Doctor Who Magazine.

The 1994 Summer Special was the first edition of the magazine in several years whose cover appealed to me, and wasn’t an awful publicity photo such as those seen on the cover of the monthly releases.

With a feature on the Seventh Doctor Cyberman adventure Silver Nemesis piquing my interest, I found myself hooked once more into the world of the Doctor, Time Lords, TARDISes and Daleks, after five years in the wilderness.

I’ve never looked back, and still get the warm shiver of excitement when I look at that 1994 Summer Special…

Time for a new Theme Tune?

We've been saddled with Murray Gold for 4 seasons of Doctor Who now, and with the incoming Grand Moff likely to stamp his own mark upon the series as much as RTD did, an easy cosmetic change is the Doctor Who theme tune.

The current version is nothing more than a facelift for the arrangement introduced in 2005, and it is long overdue a revamp.

Get rid of the strings - which are frankly sooo 1990s - and get back to the bassy, mysterious sounds of the 1960s and 1970s.

Recent BBC dramas like Life on Mars prove that while the use of pop music is important to place scenes in context, so commissioned incidental music is vital in developing tension and suspense. It's no coincidence that some of Murray Gold's best work on Doctor Who has bee in the Steven Moffat stories.

Whoever comes in to replace Gold - one of the series' greatest servants - needs to have a good look at where the series is in terms of incidental music and the use of pop tracks, as well.

Plus, they will need to be careful with their sound levels!

Musical Who

The use of popular music in Doctor Who has been pretty limited over the years, and it has only been since The End of the World that we've seen contemporary pop in the show (Britney Spears' Toxic and Soft Cell's Tainted Love)... although this wasn't the case in 1970.

In the first episode of the Jon Pertwee debut Spearhead from Space, we were lucky enough to get a passage of Fleetwood Mac's Oh Well playing on a radio in the plastics factory. As far as quality music goes, this is top notch.

Fingers are crossed for more quality blues rock in future - as well as a new arrangement of the theme tune, which I'll cover next time...