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...