Series 7 cast news

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Mark Williams
Actor Mark Williams has been spotted on set on the filming of Doctor Who Series 7. Williams, best known for his roles in comedy sketch programme The Fast Show and Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films, was filming with Arthur Darvill (Rory) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) for what is thought to be Episode Two of the next series.



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Georgia Moffett in White Van Man

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Thanks to BBC Pictures
The BBC have released a new promotional picture of actress Georgia Moffett (who played Jenny in The Doctor's Daughter and is also married to former Doctor Who, David Tennant) from Series 2 of White Van Man - click on the pic for a bigger version.

See more images of her in White Van Man HERE.

White Van Man S2 Ep 1 airs
Feb 23 on BBC Three at 9.30pm


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John Barrowman on Watson & Oliver

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Actor John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) was a guest on the new BBC Two comedy show Watson & Oliver earlier this evening. watch a clip of him in action singing a song which includes a Torchwood reference.

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Audio Adventures News

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AudioGO have announced news of three Doctor Who related releases in March, check out the details below.

Darkstar Academy
Read by Alexander Armstrong

When the TARDIS is buffeted by ‘time slippage’, the Doctor experiences a terrible vision of the end of everything. Tracking the source of the disruption, he takes Rory and Amy to what appears to be an English public school in the 1950s.

But as the friends are about to discover, there are some very unusual things about Darkstar Academy. For a start the prefects carry guns, and then there is the strange forcefield that surrounds the perimeter. Not to mention the foot-long, crab-like creatures with spiny, armoured bodies...

When the Doctor learns the truth about the Academy, he also discovers that the whole place is in terrible danger. But with a swarm of creatures on the loose, what can he, Amy and Rory do to help prevent a terrible disaster?

Download available March 1 £6.79 | CD available March 8 £10.20
Playing time: 1 hour approx

Shada
Read by Lalla Ward

Thirty-three years ago, the BBC started filming Douglas Adams’ six-part Doctor Who serial, Shada. But industrial action halted recording, and the story was left unfinished… until now. Written by acclaimed Doctor Who novelist and screenwriter Gareth Roberts, it is based on Douglas Adams’ original scripts and read by Lalla Ward (who played the Doctor’s companion Romana). John Leeson, the original K9, returns as the voice of the Doctor’s faithful robot dog. The reading is enhanced with music and sound design.

The Doctor’s old friend and fellow Time Lord Professor Chronotis has retired to Cambridge University – where nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. But now he needs help from the Doctor, Romana and K-9. When he left Gallifrey he took with him a few little souvenirs – most of them are harmless. But one of them is extremely dangerous.

The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey isn’t a book for Time Tots. It is one of the Artefacts, dating from the dark days of Rassilon. It must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. The sinister Skagra most definitely has the wrong hands. He wants the book. He wants to discover the truth behind Shada. And he wants the Doctor’s mind...

Available March 15: £19.69 (Download), £19.35 (10 CDs)
Playing time: 11 hrs 30 mins


Torchwood: Army Of One
Read by Kai Owen

Washington D.C., post-Miracle. The city has been hit by a spate of very unusual serial killings. The victims are different ages and genders and the locations vary, but each body has one thing in common – it has been reduced to a dried-up, desiccated husk. Special Agent Lucas Avery has dealt with some tricky puzzles in his time, but this is stranger than anything he has ever encountered. His one lead is a pair of names: ‘Gwen’ and ‘Rhys’...

For Gwen Cooper and Rhys Williams, still recovering from the recent, traumatic events that shook the world, life is about to get difficult and dangerous again. For it’s not just Homeland Security on their trail, but something else – something alien, terrifying and deadly...

Download available March 1, £6.79 | CD available March 8, £10.20
Playing time: 1 hour approx



REVIEW: The Face Of Evil DVD

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The Face Of Evil
Starring Tom Baker & Louise Jameson

1 Disc DVD

See HERE for Extras
UK March 5 (£20.42)
US March 13 ($24.98)
Canada March 13 ($30.98)


STORY
This mid~period Baker offering is an odd affair. Whilst never being cited as anyone's favourite of all time (not in polite company anyway), The Face Of Evil is also notable for never being poorly regarded. A journeyman of a story, perhaps. There is, in actual fact, much to admire about the four~parter, despite its slight unmemorableness. (Is that even a word?)


The film work on the story is an absolute treat and, as always with Doctor Who on film, makes you wish that the whole series had been captured this way and not just the odd scene here and there. Everything becomes alive and that more magical in the "jungle" scenes whilst Baker's features light up the screen with luscious cinematic luminosity. As does his new co~star Louise Jameson, the beautiful yet feisty "savage" Leela.


Indeed, matching the brilliance of the filmic visuals is the instant spark of the Time Lord and his new companion. Considering all the behind~the~scenes nonsense (and by that I mean Tom Baker's intransigence) the two hit their stride from the off; seeming like best friends who've just met. I'd also like to draw your attention to some delightful Tommy B posturing pre~meeting his new TARDIS traveller as he chats to the camera directly (or is he?) - classic Baker. The rest of the cast aren't quite as engaging and the mob mentality, unsurprisingly, rather blandisises (?? - Ed.) the supporting actors.


In part this is due to the complexity of the story itself, which is more concerned the merging of sci~fi and savagery than background characters. The notion of the Doctor coming across a problem, that he inadvertently caused in the past, is first class (though, even better if he'd done it in the future) and the use of the immense Baker face carved in stone is certainly one of the most remarkable images in the series' history.


Likewise the "computer~generated" face of Baker screaming whilst the real one collapses on the floor also lingers in the mind (particularly when the child's voice comes into play). It's not hard to see why a generation of kids were just as scared of Tom as they were of any of his foes (I include myself in that group) and just as equally easy to see him as The Doctor who could go "bad".

The Face of Evil is remarkable is some facets but doesn't live up to its fantastic premise; though with Baker and Jameson on screen you'll hardly notice/care.

EXTRAS
The special features for this four~parter, and, as discussed, an unremarkable one at that, are a very handsome bunch indeed. And most generous too. First up is the making~of documentary, Into The Wild, a very stylish affair that makes full use of the wonderful model of Tommy B'[s huuuuugggeee heeeeeed. Jameson makes up for the lack of Tom Baker by referring to her, wait for it, "huge arse" (I would like to point out that her derriere was far form large, but hey, that's just me).


It focuses, for the most part, on the actress's introduction to the show (including the odd reference to her and Baker's "difficult" relationship) with the always VFM Philip Hinchcliffe and Mat Irvine. The docco ends on a sad note, however, with a number of moving tributes to director Pennant Roberts (who is also featured in some archival footage). Accompanying this tremendous film are further instalments of Doctor Who Stories (featuring Louise Jameson talking about her time in the TARDIS) and Tomorrow’s Times (looking at press coverage of the Tom Baker era). The latter is always a fascinating watch and none more so here, studying the contemporaneous reaction to the man that many still refer to as THE Doctor.


And yet, there's even more fun to be had on the disc: in From the Cutting Room Floor, you'll find some intriguing (and hilarious behind~the~scenes footage (all on film); there's a Louise Jameson interview from Saturday morning BBC children's show Swap Shop; and the all too brief television advert for the Denys Fisher Doctor Who toy range. Look a little further on the disc and you'll be rewarded with the most welcome inclusion of a PDF with all sorts of materials from the 1976 Typhoo Tea Doctor Who promotion.


The commentary, like The Face of Evil, is a pedestrian affair but does its best to entertain (the overlapping of anecdotes, as always, gets a bit wearing - note the "Janice Thorn" gag). It features Louise Jameson, Leslie Schofield, David Garfield, Michael Elles, Harry H Fielder, Philip Hinchcliffe and film cameraman John McGlashan (with various people popping in from episode to episode). Points are definitely taken off moderator Toby Hadoke for stating that Star Wars (being discussed as two of the cast starred in the George Lucas film) was released in the UK in 1979. (December 1977, fact fans!*)


The unsung heroes, if you like, of the classic DVD range are, for me, always worth giving a "shout out" to, if I may use such a disgustingly urban phrase. Here the Production Notes will inform and raise a smile (I didn't realise the re~appropriation of Colonel Bogey March was a "anti Nazi" song, for example. Anti Hitler, yes...) whilst the Photo Gallery will really question the tastes of the day with those promotional images of actress Jameson with a tad too much tan (pictured here).


This is almost the perfect release; with numerous brilliant extras and a most satisfactory story but one can't help but feel that some Tom Baker involvement would have only enhanced this disc. (I realise that many factors could have prohibited this.) There's plenty of archival footage of the man chatting about the story and it would have been a boon to have his voice and opinion somewhere on the DVD. Other than that, The Face of Evil is another must buy from the "classic" range.
BLOGTOR RATING 9/10

Thanks to BBC Worldwide Consumer Products
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* Pedantry: Star Wars did, however, receive a theatrical re~release in 1979.

Series 7 Starts Filming

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Filming on Doctor Who Series 7 begins today and included below are links to various bits of news regarding the episodes, due to air in Autumn 2012. At the launch of the 2011 Christmas Special the current showrunner announced that The Ponds are leaving and there'll be a new companion (a "he/she/it") whilst Karen Gillan added she is filming a few episodes for the series.

In Doctor Who Magazine 441, producer Marcus Wilson stated there will be two monsters from the "classic" series making an appearance. Steven Moffat stated in DWM 442 there won't be any two~parters and also told the Radio Times that there would be "at least" 14 episodes in Series 7.

Mark Gatiss has confirmed he is writing a story (DWM 443), and it includes the words, "meat", "klaxon" and "Vienna". Other writers, revealed in DWM 444, include Toby Whithouse (The God Complex) with a "blockbuster of a genre piece" and Chris Chibnall (Cold Blood/The Hungry Earth) whose story features the "biggest set Doctor Who has ever had".

Alex Kingston is reprising her role as River Song and Murray Gold remains the composer.

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McCoy talks 50th Anniversary

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Former Doctor Who Sylvester McCoy was interviewed by Janice Forysth earlier today on BBC Radio Scotland. During it they chatted about Doctor Who, the 50th Anniversary whilst McCoy also refers to Matt Smith as a "twelve year old child". Listen to it in the player above.

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Barrowman Torchwood novel title

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In an interview with Graham Norton on BBC Radio 2 earlier today, actor John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) revealed the title of the Torchwood novel that he and his sister Carole Barrowman are writing. It is called Exodus Code, and will be out September 2012. The pair also worked on the 2009 comic strip, Captain Jack and the Selkie.

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