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.