Redesign!

Let me let you into a little secret - Kasterborous has been redesigned! I know, it's amazing isn't it, you could barely tell. In fact I had to be told by text message by Messrs Dry and Lum pointing out the differences while I was away visiting London Village last weekend.

(Incidentally we stumbled across a small revue where something called Spamalot was playing. Very funny. Had that Jim Robinson off of Neighbours in it. But anyway...)

This isn't the first time Kasterborous has been redesigned, of course. Oh no. This on the right is Kasterborous v3.1 - a development of the very similar looking v3, but with added Torchwood goodness. This version premiered in 2006, and we've been pretty much stuck with it for quite some time - initial plans for a revision began around a year ago, but time constraints through work and all that other rubbish sadly got in the way.



Now on the right is Kasterborous v3 - very similar, but you can see where the differences are. Love that pic of Troughton and the Cybermen!

However before the sexy blue number there were others...





Kasterborous v2.1 - now there's a new one for many of you! In principle very similar to v3, it was very pale, but a good showcase for Anthony Dry's artwork. When Kasterborous started, we gave it a simple mission statement - "rant and draw". I would rant and Anthony would draw. It's worked pretty well over time with more ranting from me leading to a lack of drawing, but I digress.





Kasterborous v2 is when it all started happening, really - with a database-driven website we could achieve so much more. Excellent piece of work by Mr Dry in the top left there too - you don't get many Tom Baker pics out of him, let me tell you.





In late 2004, v1.2 was launched and already Anthony was working on v2. The reason? I was very dissatisfied with the way news was handled on the existing websites, all parrot-like repetition with very little - if any - opinion. I mean that approach is fine for a lot of people; after all, how many of us have a proper good look behind the news in any subject? So the brown became white. Of course before the brown...





...We had the green.

In these days I didn't know much about web design - it was all magic to me. As such I thought that green looked ace, and that Anthony Dry was the cleverest man in the world. It does look bloody awful though, looking at it again now.

Kasterborous v1, so the official story goes, came about following a chance meeting between Anthony Dry and me, Christian Cawley, in the Outpost Gallifrey forum. Of course, official stories are rarely true. Anthony, Terra and myself were of course there at the beginning of Doctor Who - in fact, you could say that we founded Doctor Who fandom, way back in 1964...

Pest Control Winners

Our Pest Control competition closed on Saturday, Midnight UK time, and I would first of all like to thank everyone who took part, and for all of your comments in support of Kasterborous - it means a lot to all of us!

The answer to the question "Who destroyed Gallifrey first - Russell T Davies or Peter Angelhides" was, of course, Peter Angelhides, who with Steve Cole wrote The Ancestor Cell in 2000 (which featured the Eighth Doctor resorting to the apparentaly permanent destruction of Gallifrey in order to thwart the Faction Paradox).

The whole competition was a very nice gift to us from a very charming lady at BBC Audiobooks, of course, so many thanks to them!

For the full list of winners, visit the Kasterborous forum

Thanks again to everyone who took part!

podKast 7

podKast 7, starring Christian Cawley and Brian A Terranova, is now available to listen to via The Fanzone, or the Forum.

Since the very first podKast, Christian and Brian have interview various characters from Doctor Who such as the Master, and Omega/Eldrad. They've spoken to the man who continued to deny that Daleks could fly (until one flew and EXTERMINATED him), and been waited on by a Slitheen butler named Gerald who later died in a freak fish n chip accident.

Recorded in the depths of Kasterborous Towers, the podKasts are strange, crazy and skewed looks at the world of Doctor Who fandom, peppered with some coherent chat about the show and recent episodes.

If you haven't tuned in yet, download your first podKast with a K today!

Pest Control

It's all go this week at Kasterborous - we have a new interview with Peter Anghelides, the writer of new Tenth Doctor Audio Book Pest Control, as well as 3 copies of the CD version to giveaway!

Pest Control is the first Doctor Who audio-exclusive story to be published by BBC Audiobooks and is released this week (8th May). The title, read by David Tennant, will be available on CD and on download and will not be published as a book.

In Pest Control, the Doctor and Donna face monstrous insects and a ruthless robot exterminator in this thrilling, exclusive audio story, read by David Tennant. The TARDIS is lost in battle on a distant planet.

Anghelides is a veteran of original Doctor Who drama, and co-wrote the classic Eighth Doctor novel The Ancestor Cell.

You can read the interview with Peter Anghelides now - stay tuned for the competition details!

Time Tots

If I had a daughter, I have to say that frankly I would be disgusted that she was wandering around with a gun shooting at things.

So how the Doctor is going to feel this week when he finds his daughter doing just that?

And how much continuity are we going to get? Any mentions of Susan and Gallifrey, for instance?

Family mentions in Doctor Who have been rare - we have to go back to the Troughton era for the last original run example, while Marc Platt's Ghost Light was originally going to be the story that became the novel Lungbarrow and set on Gallifrey in the Doctor's family home. Had it been made, genetically loomed Time Lords would have become series lore...

Similarly, it is now confirmed that the Master and the Doctor are not brothers; yet the Doctor has referred to other family several times since 2005's season 27.

Of course the main question about this weeks adventure is this: is Jenny really The Doctor's Daughter?

Spurious Morality

We've gone, we've seen, we've conquered.

We've been promised access all areas and been denied it at the last minute, and we've chatted with Richard Franklin about politics.

We've got bladdered at the bar, met a bird who bedded a popular Doctor Who cast member, as well as met up for the first time in one place with Prof Peach and Charlie Croker.

In fact while Anthony Dry and mine's weekend of booze, Whooze, and taking the wives out for dinner was punctuated by viewings of Return of the Saint and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Yet there's a bad taste left in the mouth. A hint of disappointment, of broken promises, of bad decisions, and a heavy whiff of sloppy organisation and self-serving masturbation when the punters have paid £25 a head.

Cattle markets are for the big events - the previous air of grace and intimacy that made the 2007 cavern event a success has been lost.

You can't use certain loaded statements in emails to individuals and then deny them or ignore them when the time comes. Certainly not when they're going to write about it later.

It's not on - its bad form, bad karma, and bad manners.

Doctor Who and the Cavern Monsters!

This week, I'm on the road again!

I'll be accompanied at Who at the Cavern by Mr Anthony Dry, designer of this parish, as well as swapping storied with one or two other members of the Kasterborous Forum!

Last year we had a great time, meeting Anneke Wills and Terrance Dicks, enjoying pots of beer and catching up with people such as Sebastian Brook from Doctor Who Online, and the lovely Carolyn Edwards, the rather super illustrator.

(Note to all/self: we have an interview with Carolyn to be published in the next few weeks.)

So if you're visiting one of the best - and certainly the most intimate - Doctor Who conventions in the calendar in Liverpool this Bank Holiday weekend, don't forget to say "Hi!" to me or Dryzer.

You'll be able to find us at the bar.

Super Sontarans!

This weeks Doctor Who is almost upon us, and I have to say I am almost wetting myself with excitement! (Actually I'm still laughing at the lunchtime football result, but I digress)

The trailers and build up features (particularly the space craft in the Radio Times) have been superb, and with the return of lovely Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones and the renamed UNIT (Unified Nations Taskforce), The Sontaran Stratagem has Doctor Who classic stamped all over it.

Of course it is easy to get carried away, but it is a better concept and setting than Daleks in Manhattan, the last two-parter by Helen Raynor, and with a villain that hasn't been seen in over 20 years - and was used sparingly before that - this is a dead cert to be a good episode, and certainly one to remember at the end of the run.

So prepare yourselves for clones aliens, running around, guns, spaceships, two companions and an "intruder window" - the Sontarans are back, and it's about time!

Revelations

I recently wrote this editorial on Kasterborous...

I'm out and about again this weekend, this time visiting Sheffield to attend a conference on Spirituality and Doctor Who.

The event will be held at Wilson Carlile Campus in Sheffield, organized and compèred by Andrew Wooding, with Barry Letts among the guests.

It's set to be a fascinating day, and I'm expecting to gain some rarely revealed insights into the use of religion and faith in Doctor Who, a subject that I've noticed becoming more prevalent recently, both in the series and in my own conclusions.

Anyway hopefully I won't be missing Doctor Who, as long as I can get from Sheffield to a handy TV between 4pm and Doctor Who O' clock.

Incidentally, if you're visiting the event and spot me, don't be shy to say hello!

Well - what a superb day, in which I met some very interesting and friendly people, not to mention had a lovely bit of pasta for lunch!

We were treated to a good deal of Barry Letts, who revealed that he was now in remission following chemotherapy for cancer. He's 83 years old and sharp as a knife, and you could quite easily sit and listen to him all day long.

Also talking was Peter S Williams and Anthony Thacker, but the hero of the day was Andrew Wooding whose organisation of the event had it running (to the audience, at least) very smoothly. The team at Wilson Carlile Campus also made everyone feel very welcome, so a very big thank you from me for a fascinating day.

Missing

Dare I say it?

I'm going to miss Doctor Who tomorrow.

Family day out takes precedence under the circumstances, and you know what? It's fine.

I don't actually need to watch it when everyone else watches it. I can watch it when I like.

There are of course the illegal options - someone somewhere will have saved the episode onto their PC and have it available via torrent by 9pm.

Following that, I would in theory be able to view it on my PC, PSP, or mobile phone.

Legally, I could watch The Fires of Pompeii on my PC via BBC iPlayer. Using the same system I could also view it on my Apple computer, iPhone or Nintendo Wii.

So despite a trip out of town, I won't miss Doctor Who - and that's something we should all remember. Sure, we can engage in that warm feeling of togetherness while watching it at 6.45pm, and that's certainly my preference. But I won't mind just this week letting my family take first place.

It will be the first episode of Doctor Who I haven't watched on broadcast since 1989.

Welcome Back Doctor Who!

It took us in a wonderful direction with an early curveball, but despite the light hearted tone of Partners in Crime Doctor Who is back for 2008.

I enjoyed watching Tate and Tennant on Jonathon Ross last Friday, and it did seem as though they would make a good team, watching them sat together - and thankfully this feeling was proved right on Saturday evening.

The episode might well go on to be remembered for something else entirely, but that doesn't matter - it brought the Doctor and Donna back together well, and Catherine Tate has certainly (so far) proved this viewer wrong.

Forum Tweaking

Just a brief note to let you all know that you may find the forum closed from time to time over he next few days as we run some upgrades and tweaks.

If you do see it is down, try back an hour later as it won't be unavailable for any more than 1 hour at any time.

You'll soon see the benefits...

Secrets

With theories of returning foes and companions hitting us left, right and centre, it's reassuring to have the feeling that something else is going on.

What is it? Well, I have my suspicions, but then I've been wrong since Doctor Who returned.

The thing is, if you look around and see exactly how, much promotion is taking place this year, and compare it with the previous two, well it's not up to par, is it?

Doctor Who now generates its own interest, plus with a season of Torchwood ending the night before, the adventures of the Doctor and his friend Donna get a helping hand by their fictional universe just being there for anyone to dip into before the ride begins.

I don't think we'll be quite ready for what happens in the new series, but I'm confident it's going to be fun all the way.

One More Thing

Massive thanks to Simon R. Mills of Kopics Doctor Who News Service who is running a semi-regular news round up for us during the opening weeks of this 30th season of Doctor Who.

He's doing such a good job, I might even ask him to stay on...

What are we waiting for?

Newspaper coverage, press launches, Radio Times cover announcements - we're just TEN DAYS away from the premier of Doctor Who Series 4 and I can't see any of the above anywhere.

All we have so far is a confirmation of the start time on April 5th - 6.20pm.

Of course, that's better than nothing, but we're just dying to get our teeth into it!

I've got Brian Terranova on standby to provide an interesting American angle to my Quintessential Comedy blog, while our esteemed forum member and all round top Sontaran Lord Kopic himself is Simon R Mills is preparing to provide in-depth news coverage with a return of Kopic's Doctor Who Newsround.

Meanwhile we've got some special features, reviews and interviews lined up throughout the next 14 weeks, plus one or two very special changes in store.

Incidentally If you're desperate for up to the minute Doctor Who News, Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News Network is a recommended stop, while conversation on Doctor Who Series 4 will be carrying on throughout the 13 episodes and beyond in theKasterborous Doctor Who Forum

So - what are we waiting for - let's get this party started!

It's that time of year again

EVERYONE is trying to ruin Doctor Who Series 4.

FACT.

If it's not rumours about companions, enemies and alien planets, its talk of what is planned for Torchwood, Doctor Who, Robert Carlyle and Steven Moffatt.

There comes a time when during the build up to a series of Doctor Who, we say "Enough spoilers!"

Somehow, with the launch date still to be confirmed by the BBC, we find ourselves in this position at least a month before airing.

So as with previous years, unless it is front page news, there will be no spoilers on the news pages of Kasterborous until Series 4 is over. We will endeavour to keep things as tight as possible, minimise speculation and more importantly, give you the choice of what you want.

You can stick with us, for intelligent, light-hearted and passionate discussion of Doctor Who.

Or you can fly away and check out one of our fellow Doctor Who sites who are all doing very well (see The Fanzone for more).

In fact, you can take a bigger step and visit one of those sites that collect all of the rumours and stick them in one place. Complete with insider photos and the like, revealing secrets the like of which you have not seen before!.

Alternatively, you could do all three. Or you could hide away from the web, the press, the television trailers.

None of them will be as entertaining as Kasterborous though!

Verity Tribute is Not Before Time

It always saddens me that we associate "tribute" with "death".

There really is little reason for the BBC to have left things so long with the announcement that BBC Four will broadcast an evening of programming devoted to the late first lady of British Television, who died in November.

I can't help thinking it would have been better to see her take part in it while she was still with us, however.

Nevertheless, a fine chance for some interesting and groundbreaking television shows to be seen, and I'm particularly hoping for a rare single episode of Doctor Who, possibly from an unreleased and incomplete story...

Davros is Back?

Well it had to happen.

After four years of nuWho the clues point strongly to a return for loony Dalek creator Davros, who by accounts should have been stranded on earth or nearabouts since 1963 and the events of Remembrance of the Daleks.

The question is though - when is nuWho going to give us some new classic monsters?

I want to see the Sycorax again for definite; the Judoon should also receive a good "fleshing out"; the Ood too have played their part.

So where are the new classic monsters going to come from?

Howabout real life?

Both Russia and the US are displaying some modern forms of facism; we live in a world of suicide bombers and ecological fears; as a race we are more supersticious.

Fear is rising.

Plenty to work with there, surely?

podKast number 6 is here!

And not before time!

The latest podKast (with a "K") from the Kasterborous team sees Brian Terranova and Christian Cawley discuss Voyage of the Damned as well as reveal the sad fate that befell their Slitheen butler, Gerald, on Christmas Day.

Added to that is a brand new feature, "Who Am I?" in which a lucky member of the Kasterborous Forum gets the chance for a tour around the fantastic Kasterborous Towers.

podKast is an irreverent look at Doctor Who, and is written and performed (to varying levels of success) by Christian Cawley and Brian Terranova. It is the sixth installment of a series that began late 2006, and has so far featured interviews with Doctor Who villains such as Omega, the Master and Eldrad, as well as interesting Doctor Who fans such as "The man who denies Daleks can fly".

podKast is available from the Kasterborous Fanzone, as well as the Kasterborous Forum.

The Doctor's Daughters

The recent report in The Sun that the Doctor and Donna will encounter a girl claiming to be his daughter has - shall we say - raised a few eyebrows in fandom.

If true, this would serve to reconcile the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan and the concept of the Doctor having a family; something raised for the first time in 38 years in Fear Her.

Of course it might be stuff and nonsense; Georgia Moffet - daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison - is said to be playing the part.

However this isn't the first time that the Doctor has been revealed to have a daughter...

In Lance Parkin's Father Time, the Doctor adopted a girl called Miranda, a descendant of his own people.

It would be wonderful to see this element from the novels brought to the fore as Human Nature so brilliantly was.

Everyone’s talking about it…

The Doctor Who cinema trailer for Series 4, of course – and wow, it looks good, doesn’t it?

You won’t be able to see it online just yet (although it is on Youtube, somewhere - and of course you could stop reading this and go to the cinema to see Jumpers!) but I’m pretty sure once you get to see it all memory of the dour and low key trailer that we got at the end of Voyage of the Damned will be lost! So to summarise:

Gasp - Sontarans marching!
Shock – that newspaper seller from Voyage of the Damned is Donna’s grandfather!
Awe – a giant insect thing!

But more importantly:

Martha!
Rose!

The Doctor on his knees…

What does it all mean? Why is Martha wet? Only a few weeks until the trip of a lifetime continues – and I don’t think anything will be quite the same again.

Doctorin' The TARDIS pt2

Doctor Who is unique in British culture as no other series - book, cinematic or televisual - has had the effect of inspiring a hit record.

And for the jury I think we can safely discount anything to do with stop-motion animation and people in suits; Anita Dobson singing the theme tune to EastEnders really doesn't help is here either.

Blending the siren wail of The Sweet's "Blockbuster", Dalek exclamations and a popular Gary Glitter tune "Rock n Roll (Part 2)" it is a triumphant classic, a blend of various elements of a 1970s childhood.

Yet to afford too much praise, or use the music to accompany any Doctor Who footage would be a step into the darkness.

Gary Glitter has been convicted on more than one occasion of various crimes against minors, including the incident that sparked his fall from grace, having images of paedophilia on his laptop.

So where does that leave the most popular Doctor Who related song?

And is it really the best?

Doctorin' The TARDIS...

22 years ago the fate of our favourite show hung in the balance. Some people who should have known better got together and recorded "Doctor In Distress".

Which didn't really help.

However months later a shock hit threw Doctor Who back into the public consciousness (albeit in a Tom Baker era nostalgic way).

The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu; the KLF; the Time Lords; call them what you will, their track Doctorin' The TARDIS could easily be one of the most culturally important pieces of music in British history.

We'll look at that last statement in more detail in the next post...

I'm not angry...

But I know a guy who is.

Thanks to the Doctor Who Webguide (links to the Kasterborous mirror) I've discovered the wit and wisdom of Angry Who Fan.

This angry, sarcastic and bloody funny blog takes issue with Doctor Who and Torchwood, and the most recent post is a good ripping of a very poor piece of the Torchwood websites "Torchwood wants YOU!" campaign, featuring a very satisfied (and slightly chubby) looking Ianto Jones talking directly to the viewer in what is a rather unnerving manner.

Of particular entertainment value is their deconstruction of Voyage of the Damned, the which features several highlights - but my favourite accompanies a photo of Kylie driving the forklift:

Kylie can give us a good ramming any time she likes.

Not 'arf

Torchwood Magazine?

Discovering a few months back that there would be a Torchwood magazine came as a bit of a shock.

With a maximum this year of 26 episodes to talk about, one has wonder exactly what publishers Titan are hoping to fill the pages with.

Not only that bit they seem to ignoring Doctor Who websites when it comes to promotion of the new periodical.

I discovered today that more than one individual had visited Kasterborous.com on the back of a google search term of "Eve Myles nude" - sadly I don't think even that can help Torchwood Magazine long term.

Series 4 Casting Thoughts

Over the months there has been some consternation concerning yhe names cast in series four of Doctor Who.

Many fans take issue with the casting of former soap actors such as Lyndsey Coulson and Sarah Lancashire simply because they appeared in soaps.

Yet Mary Tamm, Caroline John, Louise Jameson, Peter Purves and Freema Agyeman somehow get off scot-free.

Soap operas are the most popular form of television. FACT.

So soap snobs, what's your beef? They're actors and its not as if Doctor Who hasn't had its share of stinkers in the past who WEREN'T former residents of a fictional suberb. Even as recently as Gridlock.

Besides, it was Charles Dickens who popularised the serial drama format with Bleak House - the recent adaptation of course starred Torchwood's Burn Gorman.

Whatever Happened to Ianto Jones?

I very recently compared Torchwood's Ianto Jones to white paint.

Seemingly in response to this damning declaration, he spent the duration of Sleeper expressing pithy, macabre observations in a manner that suggested he had rather an autistic grasp of events; a far cry from the shy and reserved butler of series 1.

So I'm guessing he's joined the gays.

Nothing wrong with that, you might rightly point out, except that as a case of character development I find it:
A) obvious
B) dull

What exactly is being said here? Are dull, bland people in actual fact raving closet cases? If such look out boys, Brad Pitt wants YOU!

On the other hand it could just be very poor demonstration of that staple of modern drama - character development.

But with questionable character consistency amongst the useful members of the team, wouldn't it be better to let them develop fully before we learn more about "Dulux"?

Return to Sender?

Series 4s biggest news to date is the presence of companions Rose, Martha and Donna at various stages throughout the run.

So do we really need Captain Jack and Sarah Jane?

In the old days this many characters would appear only in a regeneration vision... So is this the end of Doctor number Ten?

Sandwiching Jack into Last of the Time Lords wasn't really a winner - so how are 5 characters going to work? And what about Mickey??

I am worried by this. However as with Torchwood Series 2 I await the highlights - Martha and the Sontarans (good name for a musical combo!) - with keenness.

Torching Hopes

I had been looking forward a great deal to Torchwood, expecting a show that had finally found its feet.

I was disappointed.

Despite all the big, positive noises made by Chris Chibnall, KISS KISS BANG BANG, was as poor as thwarted worst episodes from the first run.

But how??

Long term readers of this blog and Kasterborous.com will know that I shy away from personal attacks. I just don't see any instance in which they might be warranted.

Yet Chris Chibnall has proved himself utterly out of his depth on Torchwood, if the series' first episode of its second run is anything to judge.

Everything that should have been fixed is still there, naked on the floor while all the good stuff is tucked away mid series.

With a magazine released this month, it seems that Torchwood does have a long term future - a literary backwater once occupied by its parent show.

Yet unless Russell T Davies loses Chibnall, it won't even make it that far.

Kylie & David Sitting In A Tree, K I S S I N G

Well that David Tennant is a lucky so and so, isn't he? Not one but two potential lovers in a pretty young BBC staffer and the Queen of Pop herself, KYLIE.

To say that I'm jealous is putting it mildly.

The scrawny Time Lord has been far too fortunate with the ladies quite frankly, and as if lovely Billie marrying bland streak of piss Lawrence Fox wasn't bad enough it now looks as though her former (and future ) costar David is "having it large" with little Kylie.

Damn it, Doctor - I saw her first!

Unfolding Text...

Russell T Davies' recent declaration that Doctor Who is safe seems to confirm what we've long suspected about the semi-series of special Doctor Who adventures in 2009.

With furtive late night phonecalls and quiet nods, Doctor Who's future has been secured - and meanwhile Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson have been confirmed as moving on.

So when is Russell going?

If - as seems likely - he moves on after the three specials, one can foresee a "handover" period to the incoming production team who will then be busy mounting Series 5 for broadcast (hopefully late) 2010.

Any new names mentioned in the immediate future are only guaranteed to be working on the remainder of Series 4 and the series of specials - but keep your eyes open for new names.

As for a new executive producer? Well conventional wisdom says it's Steven "Grand Moff" Moffat and I suspect that after Series 4 - or perhaps in time for the first of the specials - we'll know for sure.

Clive Swift -Tells It Like It Is

Bit of a stir in Who fandom at the moment following the release of Doctor Who Magazine 391.

Put simply, actor Clive Swift wasn't too happy about being interviewed for DWM, and berated the "poor journalist" (who perhaps should have focussed a bit more on Swift's 42 year screen career) as follows:

DWM - "Right, one final question..."

Clive Swift - "I think that's more than enough isn't it? How many pages are you going to have on Mr. Copper?"
DWM - "Well, I was just going to ask....

CS - "There's no reason why I should talk to you at all, so you shouldn't push it. I'm sure you'll write something very nice (stony silence). I know that you all think that this is a big world, this Who business. But it isn't. There are much bigger things than this"

DWM - "Maybe, but it means a lot to a great many of us."

CS - "Yeah yeah. Goodbye"

Rude? Definitely.

Right? Yes. Completely and utterly right. There are much bigger things than Doctor Who, ranging from the works of JRR Tolkien or Led Zeppelin to the hellish state of geopolitics and the obscene ways in which so called democratic governments indulge in corruption and cronyism.

If we can't accept that Doctor Who is nothing more than (usually) very good, entertaining escapism, then we don't deserve to be part of anything other than a civilization that is trundling quickly towards hell in a very cramped handcart.

On the other hand, it could be useful to see that Clive Swift has a point - he has been around a long time, after all - and that Doctor Who is there for us once we've done the important things that need doing in the world.

Welcome to 2008!

Another year, another series of Doctor Who.

Strange to think, then, that this is the last time we'll get a regular series until 2010. And yes, I'm still angry about that, and still even more angry at the BBC's dreadful statement. We'll leave that behind now however, and wonder...

Reports suggest that the Doctor Who production team are after a new companion. This suggests that we'll not be seeing Martha for much longer beyond Series 4. Add to this the confirmed departure of Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, the much-expected moving on of Russell T Davies and a lack of any real answer regarding Tennant's longer term future with the series (2010 is two years away, I know - however recording for that would begin next year, so someone would know by now on a series that takes as long to produce as Doctor Who) and the only thing we can realistically predict is a change of production team.

Doctor Who's first real regeneration of the new era, and you know it's pretty exciting really. We could have new opening credits, a new TARDIS interior, a new way of storytelling, new enemies, new friends, new worlds - a darker tone, a lighter tone, a different approach.

All of these things we've seen in Doctor Who's 45 years (this year!) and it's only right to expect them in the future, and soon, lest the show dry up and die.

Here's to 45 Years, and here's to change - not a moment too soon!

Voyage of the Damned - Aftermath

Pity the Peth - poor Astrid (an excellent and very alluring Kylie Minogue) might have been atomised by an understrength transmat, but her spirit lives on, and perhaps one day she might even return.

But what of the anagram? With fandom expecting the Astrid/TARDIS play to be significant - a move that would hardly have excluded the general public - Russell T Davies seemed more intent on giving the viewing public a big, brash rollercoaster of a ride in which the Earth itself was once again threatened.

And yet... ever heard the phrase "less is more"? While the production values cannot be questioned, Voyage of the Damned left me feeling a little empty.

With a template of stock Christmas special items to cram in (iconic Christmas symbolism gone bad, OTT master villain dispatched far too easily...) Davies might well have given us a set of touching characters (in particular Clive Swift's aging faux-Earth historian) and set events in place for Series 4 (Bernard Cribbins, no less, appears in the trailer) but there was little warmth, with Astrid's death being a little meaningless now that she's floating around the universe as particles.

The Christmas Invasion might have been less ambitious, but it benefitted from a warm, family atmosphere that The Runaway Bride and Voyage of the Damned just couldn't achieve.

And Christmas is a time for warmth and families.

Still, 13.8 million viewers tuned in - Doctor Who's highest viewing figures since its return, and since 1979's City of Death...

Forum Back Online!

Following a brief Christmas hiatus, the Kasterborous Forum is now back online!

We've changed webhosts for the Forum following the frankly unacceptably poor level of support I received from the old hosts. Another bonus is that both Kasterborous and the Kasterborous Forum are now hosted in the UK.

Some of you may have a few teething issues opening the Forum - this will be down to your ISPs DNS, and should resolve over the next few days as soon as we get "www.doctorwhoforum.org.uk" moved over to the new hosting.

Emailing support staff who don't seem to understand that the problem is at their end is not the best way to spend Christmas, and even an apologetic email admitting culpability wasn't enough to put that right.

However let's look to the future - the Forum should experience far fewer issues, better support and there's more space to host podkasts!

Ready when you are, Brian!

Forum Offline

Well chaps, this may seem pretty poor form for Christmas Day, but I'm afraid the forum is again out of action.

At the moment I don't know the precise cause of this, but rest assured I am doing everything I can to resolve the issue, which is kind of mucking up Christmas Day for me...

Also at this point in time, I wouldn't like to apportion blame; however I will be making huge efforts to avoid this situation in future. As such this may result in some scheduled downtime over the coming days.

So if you've come online to chat about Voyage of the Damned and how wonderful it was, please accept our apologies. Feel free to contact me on MSN (atomickarma@hotmail.com) if you're desperate for some Christmas Doctor Who-themes interaction.

Other than that, I hope you're enjoying Christmas Day in the best way possible.

Come On!

Well that was a strange few days, with David Tennant leaving, then staying, then not being asked yet to stay for Series 5... And all down to Catherine Tate saying too much to overpaide celebrity kiss ass Jonathan Woss.

I'm delighted that Tennant has confirmed that he is staying on for the 2009 quartet of specials, for many reasons.

Main amongst these however is the way in which he plays the Doctor, illuminating every scene with his presence. Having rewatched Human Nature this week and re-evaluated his turn as Dr John Smith, I can't help but be impressed by the differemces between Tennant's two characters in that story.

When the time really does come for him to leave, I suspect mischief makers like Catherine Tate will see a real reaction of fan upset and sadness. Tennant has done stirling work in doctor Who both audio and television, and long may he continue to do so.

We're Jammin'...

Ohhh I hope you like a-jammin' too...

Welcome indeed to the Kasterbaraoke Evening, our annual get together with drinks, food, song - and not a mention of Doctor Who to be heard!

Next up is your friend and mine, Brian Atticus Terranvova with his very own version of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer", which has to be beter than Anthony Horatio Dry's earlier attempt at "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.

Later on, we'll be taking a tour of Kasterborous Towers and unveiling a new vidkast that we've been planning for months now... It's set for a release on Kasterborous in due course, so you lucky, lucky guests, enjoy the rest of the evening.

Brian - take it away!

Here it comes...

There's a storm brewing... Can you feel it?

Something in the air.

Perhaps it's the impending excitement that is Doctor Who, and the next thrilling installment that we'll be watching (says Ms Perceived Wisdom of Brighon) in just 25 day time.

Being a big fan of Kylie (more looks than musically, of course) and Doctor Who (!) as well being an admirer of many of the cast, I can only expect the following from Voyage of te Damned:

Excellent guest turns
Kylie
Monsters
Some series-long theme or undercurrent being established
Kylie
Inexplicable andoids
Christmas fluff
Kylie

How can it go wrong?

Strange Old Week

It's strange talking about people who have given you such enjoyment, or affected you life in a huge way, with such affection that you feel that you might personally know them to some degree - when of course you don't.

The loss of Verity Lambert this week however at such an untimely point really knocked the wind out of my sails.

It seems strange as to why, and the only reason I can think of is that perhaps a part of Doctor Who itself died. I've never been a huge fan of the Hartnell era in the way that I enjoy the Tom Baker years - although I appreciate the wonderous experimentation and development of the show in the early days, it's rarely an era I revisit on DVD,

Funny too, that Doctor Who fandom might be witness to two passings that have affected the show in such strong fashion, yet at completely opposite ends.

Peter Haining's great Doctor Who - A Celebration was written to celebrate 20 years of adventures in time and space. It contains the odd era, but in the days of Peter Davison and little Doctor Who on VHS it was a vital addition to any fans' collection of knowledge.

It wasn't until recently that I acquired my own copy, having utilised the local library's copy almost constantly throughout the mid 1980s. The book opened up an insane world of regeneration, Time Lords, Daleks and companions in such detail, and it brings a tear to my thinking about the way I used to pour over it on a weekend before and after Doctor Who.

Both sad losses, and both will be missed.

Time Crash Bang Wallop!

Ah you can't beat a bit of Children in Need, newsreaders making complete pratts of themselves, cheesey musical numbers (thank you John Barrowman) and the cast of soap opera's murdering classic Beatles standards.

And of course this year we got Time Crash, a semi-canonical 7 minutes in which a TARDIS malfunction caused the Fifth and Tenth Doctors to share some time together, and break the laws of time (and the plot, folks) in fixing said Time Crash.

Other than the lovely Fearne Cotton and Kylie Minogue's presence in the evening, Time Crash was pretty much the highlight (other than the excellent fundraising figure of £19m - well done all concerned!) of a fast paced evening whose best moments are invariably those points when the West End saunters over to BBC Television Centre to do their thing for free.

And of course Doctor Who's relationship with Children in Need continues, and rightly so.

One other thing:

Massive congratulations to Lord Kopic of Kopic's Doctor Who News Service - this excellent blog-cum-RSS-linkfest pulls all of the Doctor Who news from around the web, from Kasterborous, Doctor Who Online, Outpost Gallifrey and all of the Torchwood and Sarah Jane blogs, as well as media outlets and Google News.

So why the congrats? Well, Kopic's site has moved on to page one of Google for the search term "Doctor Who News". Sure, he pushed Kasterborous off the front page on his way to greatness, but we'll be back up there soon.

Well done Simon.

Gahhh! Technology - I hate it!

Sunday night - happily typing away on developing my wife's website (www.fairytalemail.co.uk - for all you personalised Santa letter needs) when :
"DUUUNnnnnnnnn" The power went off.

All night. Despite an hour hunting around the house with my niece's pumpkin lantern torch I found neither the culprit appliance or the trip switch that would have let me put the power back on...

And then on Monday my wireless routr decided that it didn't like transmitting wifi anymore and would on accept a physical cable connection.

So apologies to all of you for the sparsity of news this week when there is so much to talk about. Normal service will be renewed as soon as Professor Solon repairs the lightning harness above the south parapet of Kasterborous Towers...

Mastering the Myth

You know this thing called "stardom"?

It's all about egos, backslapping, bitching, snorting, fornicating... Or so the press, PR and entourages would have you believe.

And yet here we are, a little Doctor Who website at the center of the cosmos, running an interview with a man regarded as being "difficult".

So who do you believe?

As with so many things, I think the path to truth is to read between the lines. Eric Roberts is real, proud of his work, his family and his part in Doctor Who.

I'm really proud of this website, of the work Nick Brown did in bringing you the interview, and the interview itself, and to discover that Eric Roberts is just a normal guy with respect for his profession and his audience, and not the character of myth that had developed over the years.

Our TV Movie articles continue later this week with a new article from Brian A. Terranova... keep'em peeled!

The TV Movie - Reappraised

In 1996, the culmination of years of development finally hit our screens, as an American production of Doctor Who starring Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook, Yee Jee Tso and Sylvester McCoy was broadcast.

Since then, and despite its disappointing reaction, the TV Movie became a template for Doctor Who novels, audio adventures and Doctor Who Magazine comic strips. The Eighth Doctor has had more adventures than any other incarnation, and he's still going strong.

To celebrate the TV Movie, (unofficially titled The Enemy Within), we're going to spend the run up to Christmas looking at what many people consider a failed attempt to bring Doctor Who back; and we will all see by the end that while it was a relative failure on television (despite UK audiences of 9 million) these 90 minutes reinvigorated the franchise for an amazing 9 years, to such an extent that eventually, Doctor Who came back to our screens with a ready made audience.

We kick off this series of articles with our biggest ever interview with the Master himself, Eric Roberts.

Editorial Change...

Due to a variety of reasons, regular readers will notice a change to the Kasterborous news pages - indeed the changes have already occurred.

While not something that will cause a major shift, it is worth reporting to our readers as something that will impact on Kasterborous' performance, and hopefully improve our positioning with the search engines still further.

Traditionally, news items have comprised of one (on occasions two) main items, to be followed by a pile of other less important news items. Of course, this isn't perfect...

Readers miss information, and to get it all they need to make an effort to read a whole page of text... not a perfect way to dig out the relevant details, is it?

We've also used this approach until now in order to even out the page layout, but thanks to the upcoming Kasterborous redesign, we don't need to worry about this fact too much.

So from now on (well, for a few days, in fact), news items are about what they headline reports (unless otherwise titled as "Roundup", etc).

I and the rest of the Kasterborous triumverate are sure this will improve your experience of our news page, and hope you have a nice weekend.

podKast 4 is available to download if you haven't heard it yet, with podKast 5 due very, very soon... Forum members can listen here, or visit our FanZone

podKast 4 Is HERE!

That's right, Brian Terranova and Christian Cawley are back for the fourth Kasterborous podKast (with a "K")!

The fourth podkast is clad in a pair of checked trousers, a shirt, scarf and brown jacket, and the whoel ensemble is completed with a soft brown hat and unfeasibly long scarf.

It has big, mad, bulging eyes.

Starring in podKast 4 are:

Christian Cawley & Brian Terranova - podKasting from a creepy dark castle near you
Their trusty butler, Gerald Slitheen
And this week's very special guest star...

Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth!

That's right! Scaroth will be in the studio casting his eye over Series 3 episodes 42, Human Nature/Family of Blood and Blink, as well as revealing his hand in the making of some of Doctor Who's greatest ever stories!

You can download the fourth Kasterborous podKast (with a "K")! here, or visit our Fanzone for older podKasts!

Sarah... Is that really you?

And so one wonders after two episodes of Sarah Jane Adventures - it's definitely for kids, you know - exactly who this new Sarah Jane is...

Such character development on television is rare. The only place that comes close is Soapland, in which people swing from alcoholics to vicars that sleep with call girls and then decide they'd rather cruise public lavatories (ok I'm exagerrating; but if I ever see that storyline on TV we'll know where I came from...)

The point is, although different - radically different in some ways - she is still Sarah. This has only been mde possible however by 30 years of cultural memory, reappreciation of classic Who and of course her appearance in School Reunion, as well as the vrious audio plays Lis Sladen has appeared in giving the character a new leqase of life.

Frankly, you couldn't have done "Leela Adventures", anymore tan you could have done "Rose Tyler: Earth Defender."

I want Billie!

Yep you guessed it - I changed my mind.

As I have a thing for Billie Piper - a very successful young actress who is set to marry later this year - I've decided that I can't wait to see her back in Doctor Who.

Let's face it, it's a year for returns, with Donna and Martha confirmed along with the Sontarans, so why not go the whole hog and bring back Rose, Mickey (as hinted by Noel Clarke in the summer), Jackie and Pete?

We could also bring back Captain Jack, Sarah Jane and K9.

I wouldn't be surprised either to find out that the Master, Daleks and Cybermen are all returning as well as the Fifth Doctor.

In fact, why don't we just get Terrance Dicks to write the whole lot...?

Eternal War!

With the news that Doctor Who fan are set to welcome a return to the Whoniverse by the Sontarans, it has to be said that this really is a case of "Not before time".

Robert Holmes' finest creation found themselves underused and slightly underwhelming, particularly in their last 2 (of 4) appearances in the clssoc series.

For me, the Sontarans are the only alien race that comes close to the Daleks in terms of culture, single-mindedness an design, and it's a shame the Doctor didn't come up againt more of them and more often.

In fact I'd even go so far as to say that had the Daleks not made it in S1 and we'd got the Toclafane instead, then we would hve been sold short.

The Sontarans would have been a better option.

Tamm-tastic 2

Oh yesh, if there was som sort of duel for the top rated Doctor Who actress, it would be settled with a jelly fight between the two finalists, Mary Tamm and Nicola Bryant.

Bonkers fantasies aside, Mary Tamm is a smashing looking (Time) ladyand I for one am looking forward to the upcoming Key To Time season boxset, which features commentaries from Ms Tamm and he costar (some bloke called Tom).

She's had a varied and diverse career, surprisingly successful compared to most Doctor Who actresses, and of course she still looks fantastic. And she's got huge following among straight Doctor Who fans (there's more of us you know, we're just not as noisy as the other lot), headed by Kasterborous' own Anthony Dry, who even has a Mary Tamm tattoo!

Oh and visit www.marytamm.com, you know you want to.

Sarah Who

So - a result of the Time War was that the Doctor was left without any other Time Lords to talk to other than the Master, the Daleks somehow survived (three cases so far) and Sarah Jane Smith (or Sarah as we used to call her, regardless of her Sunday name) turned into a female version of the Doctor.

Sarah Jane Adventures is with us from Monday 24th September, and it's interesting to see how the series is being marketed. First off, let's look at the obvious bit - Lis Sladen returns to play Sarah Jane Smith, who has gone from companion of days of yore to a female microcipher of the Doctor. How has this happened? Why does she need a "Sonic Lipstick"?

Then we've got "Mr Smith" the battle computer which plays such a part in the BBC's Sarah Jane Adventures website. That must have been like a dream come true at first for the website designers, until they realised that the site would have to be redesigned as a web based Mr Smith is just too unwieldy.

SJA is part of the CBBC imprint of BBC One, which also has it's own channel, so don't expect to miss any of it - although the CBBC budget may well begin to tell by episode 3.

Of course, placing the Slitheen into their rightful home is a masterstroke by Gareth Roberts and RTD, who seems to be having better luck in measuring the tone of this series than he did Serioes 1 of Doctor Who.

Try to ignore the fact that a 57 year old lady playing what is basically a female version of the Doctor completely laughs in the face of Davies' assertion that an over 40 male couldn't lead Doctor Who in this day and age...

The Doctor's Rocket

Since Doctor Who returned, it has been repeatedly suggested that he had a "thing" for Rose Tyler.

Without stepping on the toes of the chaps who debunked the asexual nature of the Doctor following the TVM, the Time Lord has ben a long term fan of nookie.

Exhibit A - his granddaughter, Susan
Exhibit B - his reaction at Jo Grant leavinghim for a "younger version". She'd hardly be so hot for Clifford if the Doctor had no idea how to set himself to vibrate, would she?
Exhibit C - Sarah Jane Smith and the Fouth Doctor were best friends - but she would hardly have hung about on busy busy Earth for 3 decades if he wasn't givn her regular tours of his fluid links.
Exhibit D - Romana II and the Fourth Doctor were clearly at it, as evidenced in Warriors Gate, and going all the way back to City of Death.
Exhibit E - we jump forward to the Eighth Doctor, the dashing, girly poet looking one who just wanted that pretty blonde Doctor to hold his hand. And his neutron ram.

Rose wasn't the first, and she won"t be the last...

The 11th Doctor

It's that time of year again - guess the 11th Doctor!

With no confirmation of David Tennant appearing in Series 5 coming from the BBC, the press have been tossing names around.

But what do they know? That's right! Nothing!

We on the other hand are a Doctor Who website so we can answer all of the important questions - and this is one of he biggest. So hold on to your hats for our Top 10 choices for the 11th Doctor...

10. Roland Rat - already has a trademark pink Ford Anglia, his catchphrase "Yeaaaahhh!" would be preferable to "That's IMPOSSIBLE!"

9. Edward Scissorhands - early screen tests revealed that the stainless steel fingered one had difficulty with the TARDIS door, the TARDIS controls, the sonic screwdriver...

8. Lis Sladen - appears to be playing a female Doctor in Sarah Jane Adventures...

7. Paul Daniels - only joking.

6. David Beckham - his posh sidekick would be a major diversion for a companion since... well, Rose.

5. Jeremy Vine - the BBC news man would be excellent in the TARDIS, with his strong opinions and complete lack of technical nuance the time machine could end up anywhere

4. Tony Blair - unfortunately, the former PM has a date with history/destiny/bible prophecy, and is thus too busy.

3. Benny Hill - sadly now deceased, if ever there was a time for more naked lady flesh in the TARDIS, it was now. That closing titles speeded-up chase around the TARDIS console would be the highlight of the week.

2. Jon Bon Jovi - the gobsh*ting rock singer with the crap hair, I don't know why the two-faced, lying little nob is in this list. Bed of Roses my arse - you take girls firmly up the rear.

1. Sean Connery - the former James Bond has already played an immortal in Highlander, and his aging take on the ancient Time Lord would be the stuff of legends.

So there you have it. Sean Connery for Doctor Who!

Well we got our wish...

That's right, the BBC have finally come clean and although I'm desperately unhappy about 2009, at the moment it isn't disastrous.

However how fans can claim to be "happy" is beyond the pale. 10 episodes short in 2009 and you claim to be satisfied. What the hell is wrong with you people?

It's nothing to be happy about. Having the show back from the abyss is great, sure, but that doesn't mean Russell T Davies and the BBC are necessarily serving us and Doctor Who well. The very notion of reducing the series to 3 specials in 2009 is ridiculous. It places the subsequent series in jeopardy before scripts are even written.

So have a bloody word with yourselves. Wake up and smell the coffee, open your eyes and stop living in the insane, blinkered world where TV execs are gods and you are their blind followers.

The world doesn't work like that, it works on a foundation of power and money, and with three episodes of Doctor Who in 2009, how is a high media profile going to drive merchandise sales?

If no one is buying the toys, then the core audience has evidently stopped watching - do we want that?

I suspect it is too late to ask for a rethink, but I can at least ask all you half-full fans who insansely label this as "good news" to actually try thinking about it, what the news actually means and be honest with yourselves instead of pretending it is A Good Thing.

It is A Bad Thing.

Rusl? I that you?

As you might have seen in the news section, we've found a letter in an old copy of DWM that appears to have been written by Russell T Davies back in 1981. He signs it "Rusl Davies, Glamorgan" - evidently a shortform or Welsh spelling of the name.

So in effect Russell T Davies uses a pseudonym - as we know the T is made up to distinguish him from the radio presenter Russell davies - but how many other Doctor Who personalities over the years have used nom de plumes?

Most obvious would be current Doctor David Tennant, who is of course really called David McDonald, and Fifth Doctr Peter Davison, known to his family as Peter Moffett.

Conversely, Lalla Ward (Romana II) was of course a Lady, and used her family name rather than title on stage and televsion.

And of course my real name is Bigby Marilyn...

I need your help...

Kasterborous has had its current look for over 18 months now, and we've decided that it is time for a change.

As such, Anthony Dry will be embarking on a redesign when the series 4 boxset is out of the way, and redesigning Kasterborous. I've also got a very tsty forum redesign in mind...

However, Kasterborous needs to continue growing and developing which is why we're asking you, our readers, for your suggestions to make te site more relevant.

You might think a brief preview of the forum on the front page of K would be better, or a greater focus on news. Whatever you think of drop int the forum and let us know, and if we like it (and we're liking them all at the moment) we'll use it!

Spiders from Mars?

Excellent news – the latest Doctor Who rumour from The Scum claims that Thin White Duke and supermodel husband David Bowie is being lined up to play a villain in Series 4.

 

Will he be playing an alien prince who steals Agatha Christie?

 

Is it even true?

 

And how seriously should we take rumours printed in a “news”paper as ridiculous as The Sun?  Should we even bother repeating them, let alone believing them?

 

We all seem to want something newsworthy where Doctor Who is concerned, more information in order to attempt to satiate our information lust. This way, every topic can be pulled, twisted, turned inside out, and thoroughly digested and discussed.

 

I wonder where this leaves our descendants, knowing that we were fed on a diet of misinformation?  Will they know – will they even care?

 

And will they be watching lost episodes of Doctor Who starring David Bowie?

 

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If it keeps on raining...

Funny old weekend. A Bank Holiday without rain, it nevertheless seemed that if the amount of work that I had given myself to complete didn't start to go down, the levee might just break.

It seems that I'm not the only one. Just one year on from relenting to the voice of fans, Shaun Lyon has finally decided the time has come to radically change Outpost Gallifrey, and minimise his input to the most famous of Doctor Who fansites.

Without OG there would be no Kasterborous, and very little else that was visually appealing for Doctr Who fans online. It is at the very hub of Doctor Who fandom, and is tus a very important entity.

Best of luck to the chaps looking after the surviving parts of Outpost Gallifrey, and to Shaun in everything he has planned for the future.

Totty

You know I get amazed that we don't come in for any flack with Kasterborous' "bordering on the sexist" attitude to women.

Taking a step back from my own insanse creation, it would seem on first impression that Kasterborous is "that Doctor Who site with the nice art, news and opinion pieces and totty".

I would feel that it was a mixed opportunity however to report about Kylie Minogue or Nicola Bryant without slipping in a picture of their lovely faces. Similarly, you don't get many chick pics on Outpost Gallifrey or unitnews.co.uk because the site owners aren't interested in doing that.

You could say then that we're fulfilling a niche which strangely hasn't been touched by anyone else.

Come on DWM! You did an interview with McFly - let's have a burlesque Kylie centre pages pullout!

Modded World

As I posted in the Kasterborous Forum today, I discovered some mods for various popular games to give them a Doctor Who theme.

For instance years ago someone made a Doom 2 DW mod, complete with sound effects, which was pretty cool. There have also been Quake mods, Jedi knight and Star Trek mods (go figure) but nothing that really, trulycaptures the spirit of Doctor Who.

I can't help thinking that a Civ 3 based mod might offer a plyable time war, but at the end of the day these mods are done BECAUSE THERE IS NO COMMERCIAL ALTERNATIVE!

So come on BBC, give us the Doctor Who video game we want, NOT "Snap in Space"!

Board

The weather recently has turned bizarrely wintery, leading kids to start playing indoors and spend time preparing their Christms lists (or is that just me?)

One thing I always used to love receiving at Christmas was a good board game. Not your MONOPOLY or CLUEDO but a good one, like Game of Life... Something with depth.

This year however it seems that despite my protestations I am going to be the otherwise willing recipent of DALEK OPERATION !

It's not quite RISK, you'll agree.

Back In Time(Lords)

One of the great things about a more regular blog is that I can squeeze in stuff I wouldn't say in the news items; they can be difficult to angle in the right way when there is lots to get through.

The touted return of the Fifth Doctor and the Rani, however, is another mattr entirely. I have loads to say on the matter, more than I could squeeze into a news report. For instance, are they related castings, if both true? If the Rani story is false, who in the press is sad enough to want to see a retun of the big shouldered one? Who is this 'Peter Jackson' Sylvester McCoy referred to? The director? The writer? The rugby player?

Peter Davison might look good for mid fifties, but how is the Fifth Doctor's aging going to be explained? Perhaps the tale will take inspiration from The Dark Dimension?

As for the Rani, well, Doctor Who was never camper than when Kate O'Mara appeared. I had reservations about the return of the Master... The Rani in comparison is such a non-entity that I don't want to even entertain the idea.

The Meddling Monk would be preferable...

Farewell WhoCentral...

There seems to be loads more Doctor Who websites around these days, but the departure from the web of www.whocentral.co.uk Is a sad one.

Whocentral was one of the fledgling Kasterborous' reference points back in 2005, being as it was the only source of interesting, well written opinion pieces and articles.

Updates had been fantastically rare in the meantime, however, and even an offer from Ksterborous to republish and link back to the originals was met with wall of silence.

So farewell WhoCentral. You may have gone largely unnoticed, but Kasterborous will always remember you.

Who knows, they might come back one day...

Game of the Summer

Charlie Croker in the Kasterborous Forum has unearthed the very first Doctor Who computer game thanks to http://www.justyce.org/atari.html.

I'm proposing a mass download of the game, with reports back and assistance posted in the forum.

Maybe it *is* 26 years old... It will still be better than a videogame Top Trumps...

Is Fanfic Dead?

Doctor Who in the 21st century is, it's fair to say, built on both the fandom and the potential of the original run.

These two things were developed and maintained to an extent from 1991 to 2003 by two long-running series of original adventures from Virgin Books and later BBC Books.

They took the Doctor and companions to places new and old, in both physical, mental and emotional terms, and many of the authors were first time writers.

With the arrival of twenty first century Who, however, I find that the current run of novels that accompany the series lack spark and imagination. In fact they're a pretty turgid and disappointing companion to the Doctor's on-screen adventures.

My attempts to find anything of interest online have also proved unsuccessful as I have no interest in reading about the return of the Ninth Doctor or what happened when the Doctor met Rose again.

So in time-honoured manner, I'm planning my own series of spin off stories set in the Doctor Who universe.

Stay tuned...

Doctor Tube

Exactly how much rubbish is there on YouTube? I was watching a selection of "classic" adverts the other day, before stumbling into a Harry Sullivan-starring fan edited video to The Village People's "In The Navy." Camp doesn't cover it.

It is reassuring to know however that fans love the show so much that they spend time and effort creating such work, desperately editing clip selections to fit the chosen tune. Or not, as the case may be.

There are also countless fan movies/adventures on YouTube, as well as the first Kasterborous vidKast. Brian and I are currently developing a follow up, you might be interested to know - stay tuned...

What on Earth is Happening?!

Back in the real world, it seems that things aren’t what they seem.

Apparently, Ben Kingsley is to appear in Doctor Who Series 4 (30). Ben, who prefers “Sir Ben”, is touted as a potential Davros, creator of the Daleks, although at the moment it is unclear whether this would be a pre-disfigurement or post-desperate escape from the mothership in 1963 Davros. The former would avoid messy prosthetics work for the Oscar winner, currently on his third wife. (When I say “currently on”, I don’t mean… oh forget it…)

Meanwhile, we’ve got good word that the Doctor and Donna and perhaps Martha (hey why not get Rose back too?) are set to visit both Agatha Christie and ancient Rome. Which era of Rome isn’t clear, but as a fire has recently devastated the HBO/BBC set for the series Rome in Italy, which is used for many a Roman visual (Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, CBBC’s The Fall of Rome…) we suspect it might be the age of the Emperor Nero.

So far, despite the Tate announcement, Series 4 is looking interesting. Perhaps we’ll get a slick combination of Series 2 (28) and Series 3 (29).

Actually, on this matter, you might see fewer references to “Series 1, Series 2” etc in Kasterborous.com from now on. Let’s face it, it is the same show. If the series is still going in 15 years time, a fiver says they retroactively rename the series/seasons in line with the classic format.

So let’s start now.

Shakespeare's Stamp

There seems to be much to-do about the potential casting of Sir Ben Kingsley in a possibly prominent role in Doctor Who Series 4.

Some fans think it's highly unlikely that the Oscar winner would trouble himself to portray the insane geneticist Davros after delighting us all with his perfect interpretation of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. However, despite other successes (Schindler's List, for example) it's worth pointing out that Kingsley enjoys his work, and needs to earn money.

I would refer you all to exhibits a, b and c: BloodRayne, Species and Thunderbirds.

So now we've established why Sir Ben would bother his arse appearing in Doctor Who without mentioning Sir Derek Jacobi.

Of course I could have gone on to mention Kenneth Branagh, a man once heralded as the "New Olivier". A role for this particular thesp could be even more interesting for the young'uns watching Doctor Who as none of them will know Sir Ben, or Gandhi - but they all know Harry Potter...

Aha! I caught you looking!

A colleague pointed out that the previous post was rather near the knuckle.

It was meant to be - there is no excuse for resting on your laurels, and accepting hand-fed scraps when the real meaty stuff is published elsewhere.

A case in point - Mr Dry and myself were involved in a proposal to produce an unlicensed Doctor Who calendar and magazine (I can hear eyebrows raising around the web. This would have been completely legal, let me assure you, pay no heed to those that say the BBC has a firm grip on everything Doctor Who. No logo, no Doctor Who in the title, no grief. It's UK law, look it up.)

Anyway, the product would have been heavily based on Kasterborous tonally and visually, and things looked pretty tasty. Except that time scales were being cut, promises being forgotten, questions being ignored, that kind of thing.

So you see, we dumped the idea, and got out while we could, and soon discovered that it was probably best that we did so.

The point? Well, we were offered what seemed perfect, but what's being thrown at you isn't always what you want or need...

Extra Time!

I've been meaning to start these extra posts for some time now, squeezing in stuff that I wouldn't normally brooch on Kasterborous.

First off (and I might well derive a Kasterborous article from this at some point in the future) I'm going to talk about Doctor Who Magazine.

Or what's left of it, anyway.

If you don't buy DWM, you won't know what I'm talking about here, but that's OK. You can hang fire until further notice, because frankly the magazine Isn't What It Was.

You see, annoying cliqueyness of the editorial team aside, DWM fails on a regular basis to reach the heights it scaled between 1996 and 2004 - the period between the failed TVM and the launch of the new incarnation.

In those days, articles would draw you in, teach you something new, with honesty, passion and a friendly tone that meant you, the reader, were part of the team. We had wonderful (classic, in fact) comic strips, thought-provoking articles and a nice focus on the novels and audios that wasn't in-your-face, nor too reserved.

It was, in fact, the model that Kasterborous adopted in 2005 (I'm still waiting for the comic strip, although there may be something in the offing). As such, it is a shame to see the magazine now dancing with adjectives such as "cliquey", "smug", "sychophantic" and "lazy".

Save a recent issue that featured a Pixley special picking through the bones of the much vaunted (but in the end probably best taht it was never produced) Tom Baker and Ian Marter-penned "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman", there is nothing to talk about in DWM. The strip has seen better days, RTD's column is getting samey (the following three words will appear in the next Kasterborous news item: "the", "a" and "Doctor" - can't you feel the excitement? Brrr, I'm bristling with it!) and the letters page is weighed heavily towards new, "squeee" or equally sychophantic fans (and if I have to type "squeee!" ever again I will never watch the series again). As for Time Team - are we nearly there yet?

Sadly for DWM, it has seen better days. Currently however it is dancing in a kind of mire of unrivalled love of the current series that embarrassed many fans in the 1980s...

Who Do YOU Want?

If - and as yet there is no confirmation of ANYTHING - we were to get a new Doctor at the end of Series 4 (and I'm more than happy with David Tennant), there's quite a lot of choice out there.

I'm not a personal fan of James Nesbitt, and while I'm happy about that particular theory being debunked, it would have been quite a piece of casting.

But, if RTD is to leave, and Steven Moffat is to take over, there are certain things that need to be addressed to maintain the series' long term survival and elevate it from the spot-the-celeb-fest that RTD likes to turn it into when really, I feel, it's those moments that need to make real statements about our lives in a way only the very best fiction can.

Foremost, no more Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson camping their way through Doctor Who Confidential. It grates big time, and detracts from an otherwise interesting show.
We should also have a long think about how Doctor Who refreshed itself in the past, and hope for a new title sequence. It's about to see its fourth series, more than any sequence in the shows history save the Tom Baker era.

We should also - if David Tennant is to leave, and he's never said how long we will stay in the role (and why should he?) then we need a Doctor who is radically different. He must be different in order to further the character and underline the risk of regeneration. I'm not suggesting that the 11th Doctor should be manipulative or slightly psychotic, traits that severely hampered the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, but he should definitely play to the strengths of the actor concerned - whoever he may be.

Thankfully we don't have to worry about the next Doctor being The Hoff or Paul Daniels - but let's have some fun speculating, eh?

My personal favourites:
Richard E Grant - there was something quite wonderful about the original Ninth Doctor as seen in Paul Cornell's Scream of the Shalka, and he deserves another chance
Kris Marshall - best known as My Family's bonkers Nick, Marshall has quite a reputation on stage, and wouldn't look out of place with his Tom Bakerish eyes. Oh and he's ginger (ish).
John Nettles - completely a long shot as I'm not convinced about the younger actors claim, Nettles carries episodes of the wonderful Midsomer Murders with an air of tranquil calm, and could provide the same influence on Doctor Who if teamed with a dynamic younger pairing.

Howabout we carry this on elsewhere, such as in the Kasterborous Doctor Who Forum?

Keep 'em Peeled

Oooh, nice cuppa Gerald, thanks… so how have things been, I wonder? Let’s have a look at this editorial Brian wrote last week.

“Football”, eh?… “full bloom”?... “Ant”?... he’s taken leave of his senses, surely? It hasn’t stopped raining! As for the Dryzer… well, less said the better, but I find an image of the K Towers crew playing football in the forecourt with Gerald Slitheen in goal to be a bridge too far, to be honest.

Anyway, I’m back, and it’s been a very busy two weeks, despite my lack of activity here. Massive thanks go to Simon R. Mills for his News Round, a successful down-time filler that I think we might well use again…

In the meantime we’re back in the business of preparing, scheduling and writing articles for your delectation, and coming soon is another piece from the almost-prodigious Nick Brown, as well as some new article threads.

We might even manage a redesign over the next few months, but I don’t know why I’m rambling on about that. I know what you want.

You want another podKast.

With a “K”.

Well, keep your eyes open…

Dear Diary...

This is the second Saturday without Doctor Who. I feel cold, so very cold. I can still hear the TARDIS engines wheezing as it leaves me behind. I know it is a space time machine, but I fancy myself a bit of a clairvoyant and I know it won’t be back until December 25, of 2007. But what am I to do until then?

Kasterborous Towers is still in full bloom. Writers writing away while happy thoughts of companions old and new dance in their heads. (But Christian just reminded me that this is a clean site so we’ll move on from those thoughts.)

Anthony has got the gang to head out to the Kasterborous grounds for a round of Football, so we’re all gearing up for that and it should help take our minds off of the void that Doctor Who left. But still I sit here looking at my rather blank and dull TV screen wondering what it is about this show that has us so captivated that we miss it like a long lost friend when it’s gone.

And then it hits me. It is like a long lost friend. It’s always there to cheer us up or entertain us when we need it. Even now we have 40 odd years of it to enjoy and in many ways catch up with.

Sure it’s not on the TV right now, but it is in a book, a comic strip, an audio, or even a DVD.

Suddenly I feel warm again. No not with happy thoughts, I just stepped outside and Ant must be mad to have us play football on a day like today! Still the gangs all here and we need to be entertained. But don’t worry Doctor Who, we’ll be there for you when you need us.

See you Soon.

Brian Terranova

Slitheen Airwick

Suddenly Saturdays have become boring.

The week is spent with all the usual thoughts minus one: “What will happen in Doctor Who on Saturday?”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like our lives revolve around Doctor Who, we do have lives out side of this show. But from March to June Doctor Who is a major part of our Saturdays and when it’s gone it’s time for the team to take break. The “Doctor Who Sugar Rush”, as it were, is over for a few months and we can all focus our attention on some of the things we’ve been neglecting just a bit.

With that said, Christian is taking a much deserved break. He has to focus on tearing down the equipment for his zany time experiments he’s been tinkering with in his back yard for the past few months, as we’ve discovered that our Toy Dalek infestation has gotten worse. It would seem that they use this equipment to travel back to the sixties and recruited some of the original Dalek toys to join in an attack sometime in the coming week.

We’re watching our backs!

Anthony is a bit tied up with real Doctor Who work (Sorry Christian, but he gets paid!). Apparently the real Doctor has him designing new desktop wallpapers for his TARDIS scanner.

And me? Well I’m here writing this. That and I have the fun job of teaching Gerald (our Slitheen butler) why it’s so important not to under order the air freshener.
Kasterberous Towers is empty for a week or so. It’s just me and Gerald. But the Forum is still in full swing, Doctor may be off the air, but the fever never stops. Donna is back. Kylie really is a part of Who lore and Dennis Hopper may or may not be part of it as well. What do you think?

Suddenly Saturdays aren’t so boring anymore.

Brian A. Terranova

Good Luck In Your Exams

And as swiftly as I was arrested, I was released.

I can barely remember it, in fact, it went so quickly, almost as if it had never happened at all.

So Mr Saxon is no more, shot by his bonkers wife we’re told, who no doubt planned the whole think from the start. And sadly the US President really was on board the cloudbase or whatever that white elephant was really called.

So that’s it for another year – Doctor Who is over and leaves us hanging on for more. It also leaves us chatting in quite bewildered tones, too, for the first time since Love & Monsters. I for one wasn’t really expecting a Doctor-lite episode for the Finale, but it was of course executed in the most astonishing way. Conversation on this matter continues in our ever-expanding Forum, where registration is required to view.

With no Doctor Who to keep us occupied until Christmas, newcomers might think we’ve got nothing else to talk about. Oh how wrong can you be! A break in the series once more affords opportunities to expand the fanfic section and knuckle down to what Kasterborous does best – providing you with interesting, thought-provoking discussion pieces on anything and everything from the past 44 years of Doctor Who. We might even give you one or two more podKasts, too...

I’m just finishing off the plans for the next 6 months, which should take us onto Christmas, stopping by Sarah Jane Adventures on the way. Torchwood is due to return in the New Year, no doubt leading us up to Doctor Who Series 4.


While we’re on the subject – well done Martha Jones! You saved us all and we don’t even know it, and you were strong enough to stop travelling with old blind-as-a-bat.

Good luck in your exams.

Cellular Orbit

I'm writing this editorial from a police cell after having being arrested at the behest of Mr Saxon's supporters.

At the very least, I am being fed, although I suspect that there is something in the food to make me more open to "suggestion" - I even smiled at a photo of Mr Saxon in yesterdays reappraisal.

Anyway, a big "Hi" to all of you out there, especially Ant and Terra. There are loads of big globey things flying around outside, I hope they aren't causing anyone too much distress. I used to get angry about this kind of political interference in our lives, but now I can see that it realy is for our own good.

I'll have to stop soon, anyway, as I'm not feeling that well. The drumming in my head has started again. I don't know where it came from - perhaps they'll get me a Doctor?

In the meantime, there's a brand new interview with Terrance Dicks from the Black Scrolls team for you to peruse, plus Terra and I did the first vidKast before I was installed here (you can also view it in the Forum).

I'm hoping to avoid any extraordinary rendition, or even ordinary rendition, although exactly what they expect me to admit too I don't know.

I long for the days of Tony Blair...

Master Who

Well it’s been a funny old weekend, with prominent Doctor Who fans up in arms about the return of Captain Jack and the Master – and whether or not the “viewing public” would know or care who the Master is.

There’s some “names” here, too, voicing their “concern”. Concern at what, though? The Master is an integral element of Doctor Who’s success, and has been since his introduction in 1971. He’s the perfect antidote to the Doctor – the Roger Delgado version was a superbly urbane counter to Jon Pertwee’s establishment-friendly Doctor; the Tony Ainley version was similarly designed to pose a threat to both the superior intellect of the Fourth Doctor and the reluctant Fifth Doctor of Peter Davison. Fast forward 16 years and the Eric Roberts incarnation of the Master was the diametric opposite of the 8^th Doctor.

Key period in Doctor Who’s history there – the UNIT era, the end of the long-running Fourth Doctor and the attempt at a US produced series – all relying on the presence of the Master to present the Doctor with a clearly equal rival, as evil and malevolent as the Doctor is benevolent.

I am baffled, really, at why anyone should think the Master is an unknown element from the past, relying on too much backstory that the casual audience is excluded. As Utopia showed us, only two things are necessary – that the Master is a rival Time Lord, and that he is terribly evil.

That’s all that any new viewer needs to know – he’s a rogue Time Lord with a line in arch plots to usurp power and use it to his own ends. He’s an archetype, and he’s (debatably) the last instantly recognisable emblem from classic Doctor Who.

So welcome back, Master. Enjoy your theft of the Doctor’s TARDIS, enjoy your political life, and enjoy your brief moment of glory…

Get Back Jack

He’s back – Captain Jack Harkness is on the scene again, with a long coat, backpack and an inconvenient case of immortality.

But does the Doctor actually want him back?

The trailer broadcast on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - which Jack Harkness actor John Barrowman guested on a few weeks ago - suggests otherwise. A glance at the TARDIS viewscreen while parked on the Cardiff rift, a quick pull of a lever, and off the time ship goes, into the vortex – with a very determined Captain Jack hanging on to the facia.

Why would the Doctor not want to see Jack, however? What did Jack do wrong? And who exactly is Captain Jack Harkness, really?

Perhaps the Doctor wants to avoid any further mentions of Rose Tyler; perhaps he wants to avoid any mentions of Torchwood in front of Martha, whose cousin died at the hands of the Cybermen; perhaps something else is going on, something which we don’t know about yet...

One thing is for sure – whatever happens in Utopia, the Doctor is going to need all the help he can get to overcome the dark forces of Mr Harold Saxon and the Toclafane.

It’s going to be a fascinating close to Series 3, one which I’m sure we’ll remember for years to come – and one which the Doctor himself will never, ever forget...

SUN EXTINGUISHED!

Bonkers UK rag THE SUN is set to be glanced at for the last time, report insiders.

The comic, bastion of white van men across the UK and Spain, is set to be pensioned off as its editor can’t think up any more rubbish.

A close confidante of owner Rupert Murdoch told us
“They just can’t keep to the standard. Years of revealing soap and drama plots, living up to the plot of a James Bond movie, following Billie Piper, the Royals and Skeletor have started to take their toll.”

It seems editor Rebekah Madely and senior staff have hatched a plan to make the last issue – Friday June 1st – the greatest yet, with the following insane stories:

• England Manager Steve McClaren to remain coach for next 10 years
• Wayne Rooney to appear as a SONTARAN in series 8 of Doctor Who
• War on Terror admitted to be a HOAX as US forces hire terrorists to fight for them on Iranian soil
• Nadine from Knaresborough has 3 breasts, ALL OF THEM 36DD!

TYPE PHWOARTY!

Mr Doctor, sir!

Ah... Human Nature - I've been looking forward to this one, with its rich colours, lush sets and David Tennant apparently in his element (and native accent).

And then I look at the episode count - this is Episode 10! Where have the last 10 weeks gone?!

Still, it could be worse - we could be about to see the last episode of Series 3... a series which has trounced the two previous ones in terms of consistency and quality of stories. A series which has seen David Tennant shrug off the shadow of his predecessor's relationship with the Companion Who Should Remain From This Moment Onwards Nameless, a series which has seen a dark conspiracy (well, dark for Doctor Who) interwoven into several stories creating an atmosphere... a new layer... n almost tangible semblance of fear.

Mr Saxon's presence seems to hang there in every episode, and was particularly well executed in last week's 42, as shady agents attempted to trace Martha's call. The phonecall itself was an interesting parallel to the one made by The Companion Who Should Remain From This Moment Onwards Nameless in The End of the World - with very different reactions from the individual mothers, despite their initial similarities.

Of course, this parallel can also be drawn with real life. Two years ago there were soldiers descending on the Powell Estate to grab the Doctor and utilise his skills. Now we see shady agents and machiavellian intrigue. All very post 9/11, and all very true of the current geo-political climate...

So thank goodness for some post-Edwardian escapism this weekend!

And Relax...

...as there’ s no Doctor Who this weekend, we can enjoy the weather, our gardens, online games, cleaning the car, taking the kids to the pool, walks in the country, knocking through walls in new houses, looking for someone (anyone?) who believes Gordon Brown should be Prime Minister and rocking out to some monster riffs.

Or perhaps that’s just me.

It does offer us several opportunities to judge the series so far, with this halfway stage of an exciting season posing questions about Mr Saxon, the Face of Boe’s legendary last words, whether Mrs Jones deserved her husband to leave her for a younger model as well as whether a sexy female twosome might be better than just Martha – why not let lovely Tish into the TARDIS too?

I'd like to close this news item with a mention of the Who at the Cavern event which I attended on Saturday. While there were several events - also of note was the Forbidden Planet signing attended by Justin Richards and Steve Cole - Who at the Cavern is an event that possesses a certain feeling of optimism.

After the pushme-pullyou of Dimensions (a wholesale event with huge swathes of consumers being pushed fom one room to another and then back into queues for autographs) Who at the Cavern was a total breath of fresh air. A lovely atmosphere, 20something totty, a bar and a sense of history made this an event not to forget. Add the fact that I spent an hour in the immediate presence of Anneke Wills then this is possibly the best few hours I've spent away from home, worth the 36 hours away from Ceri (she's coming next time!) and the 9 hours on National Express (I'll be driving next time!).

If they can get Daphne Ashbrook next time, it would be perfect...