Rose Returns!

News has broken (as you probably already know) that Rose Tyler (as played by the luvly Billie Piper) will be returning for a few episodes in S4.

So, with Jack back, we can now assume that for the series finale we will have Donna, Martha, Jack and Rose teamed up with the Doctor to defeat some menace so huge that it threatens multiple universes, not just our own, and the Doctor has to bridge the gap to involve Rose. Maybe she's needed to look into the heart of the Tardis again and become the Bad Wolf to save us all?

I reckon that this story arc will be Russell T. Davies' swan song and that he wants his reign as supremo to end with a bang. A good one. Pulling out all the stops and bringing back all the characters that he created and/or revived. Expect to see The Master teamed up with Davros, both using the Daleks to fight the Cybermen and lure the Doctor into a trap that involves the destruction of both universes. I expect it will be set on New Earth with a cameo from Cassandra. Capt Jack will meet The Face of Boe and there will be an innuendo overload resulting in massive disturbances (or "cracks", fnarr-fnarr) in the time/space continuum. The Toclafane will once more descend (or "go down") upon the population of the earth and wipe them all out, leaving a molten pile of radioactive space rock for the Slitheen to scavenge and sell off for a profit to the Sontarans to fund their space war with the Rutans who are in league with the Ood. And those robot santa things.

Highs and Lows

Mixed feelings today...

It started off on a high by celebrating Doctor Who's 44th Anniversary. Yay!

And then news broke that one of the creators of Doctor Who waaaaaay back in 1963, Verity Lambert, died yesterday at the age of 71. Add to this that Peter Haining, author of various Doctor Who reference works, died earlier this week, and we have a very confused day.

Kopic and friends send condolences to the families and friends of Verity and Peter.

The podKast Five!

Well, here it is... podKast (with a K) number five!. Filled with the usual eclectic mix of views delivered in the unique K style! Special guest this time is a larger than life visitor from another universe and someone is unwell...

This is an ideal time to thank Christian and the guys at Kasterborous.com for their support and encouragement over the last few years. Keep checking their site for more reviews and articles over the coming months, including a special something from yours truly... :-)

Time Crash

Gosh, wasn't that good? Peter Davison has always been one of my favourite Doctors and to see him back in his "crickety cricket" costume was... well... fantastic! I can see what people mean now when they compare the youthful energy of these two incarnations. Story was simple but effective and neatly slips into canon without upsetting anything or anyone. My inner fan boy got all tingly towards the end during the goodbye bit - nicely played by the pair of them. Some great lines, too. "Brave choice - stick of celery. But fair play to you, not many men can carry off a decorative vegetable!". In how many TV programs are you likely to hear dialogue like that, hmmm?

Not long now until the Feast of Kylie... I mean Christmas and the Voyage of the Damned! I can't wait...

Children in Need - Dr Who Scene

Don't forget to watch the special Dr Who scene written by Steven Moffat, entitled "Time Crash", on the BBC's Children in Need charity bash tonight!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/onthenight

Google / Hertford Museum Exibition

Google
Wow. Stunned. When I started collecting sundry Doctor Who News into one easily accessible portal type page I had the crazy ambition of getting my site listed in the top 10 results on Google when anyone searched for "doctor who news". Guess what? Today and totally at random, on the off-chance, I thought I'd check again and it's happened! I have achieved one of my goals after two and bit years. Feel free to go and check it for yourself and click the link :-)

One caveat that I'll add is that it's the blog version of Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News - I recently switched from hosting my own pages to moving the content full time over to my existing blog. This move may have had something to do with the move up the rankings - maybe Google reckons that content on blogspot is more worthy of higher rankings. Hmmm... don't Google own blogspot....? :-D

Hertford Museum
I also want to point out that a local (local to me, anyway!) museum in Hertford is running a Doctor Who exhibition from 28th November to 12th April to celebrate "local people's passion for all things Doctor Who". Jeff Cummins' (Target book illustrator) artwork is featured as he lives nearby in Ware and will be judging the results of a drawing contest when the exhibition finishes in April. Go and have a look!

podKast (with a K) Goes Fourth!

If you've never been to the Kasterborous.com site or the forum and not heard the PodKast (with a K) then you're missing a rare treat in Dr Who fan circles - it's informative AND funny!

"It's all here girls and boys featuring:
Our special guest Scaroth the Jagaroth reviewing Series 3 episodes 42, Human Nature/Family of Blood and Blink
A few thoughts and opinions on the return of Catherine Tate in series 4 as Donna Noble..."

The Return of The Sontarans

The Sun is reporting today that Christopher Ryan (most famous as Mike from The Young Ones) will be playing a Sontaran in Series 4 of Doctor Who. I think this is fantastic news - I've always liked the Sontarans and their simple militaristic view of the universe and I'd like to see them get a makeover much like the Klingons did in Star Trek: The Next Generation and onwards. Let's have an insight into what makes them tick, let's see Sontar (their homeworld) itself. Let's have some story and not just some gimmicky inclusion for the sake of it (like the Macra suffered in Gridlock).

So, bearing in mind this is a Sun story, let's hope it's true. It has the ring of truth as they are actually quoting Christopher Ryan himself, and they wouldn't make that up. If it was made up they'd be quoting "sources at the BBC".

Check out some video clips to get some background on the Sontarans.

Fingers crossed!

Sarah Jane Adventures: Ep 1

Considering it was squarely aimed at the schoolboy humour segment of society I think Revenge of The Slitheen showed promise for what could be quite an entertaining series that the whole family can site down and watch together (once it's been recorded on your Sky+ box for viewing at a sensible time when mum and dad are home from work!). Lis Sladen was as good as ever as Sarah Jane and the child stars show great promise. The story itself was fairly simple (not seen part two yet...), but it was good to see the Slitheen where they belong, on kid's telly! Maria's mum is going to annoy me, I know she is... Overall I'd give it 7/10

Visual Previews of External Links

As I'm always looking at ways to improve your news reading experiences I just installed a nice little tool called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Enjoy!

Series 5 Delayed...

OMG

My first reaction to the BBC's announcement that S5 would be delayed until 2010 and we would only get three "specials" in 2009 was "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

...and then I started to think about it while reading more commentary here on the Kasterborous forum. This blog post of mine is an expansion of my own comments on that thread.

There's a number of considerations and almost certainly at least four factors coming into play with this decision.

1. I think RTD is probably ready to move on soon but wants to make the handover a gradual process.

2. Maybe whoever he wants to hand over to has other commitments until 2009/10? I know Steven Moffat is a busy man and needs to plan well in advance...

3. DT wants to stay on a bit longer but feels the need for a break. Don't we all at some time or other? I enjoy my job but would love to take a month out to do other things and generally chill...

4. Spring 2010? Maybe this is a way for the BBC to move DW to it's rightful place over the winter months whilst not leaving us fans/viewers out in the cold with an enforced sabbatical for over a year? Maybe it will return in January/Feb 2010? I hope so! I'm a fervent believer that DW belongs on cold dark Saturday evenings, when there are no distracting barbecues or other holiday type things around. This would BOOST RATINGS in my opinion.

I do agree that the announcement from the beeb is insulting, though. Treating us like idiots and thinking that telling us we'll be happy will actually make us so. I am disappointed that we won't get a full season in 2009, but at least the beeb are committed to keeping it going with the full S5 returning in 2010. Maybe the specials could be a set of two-parters shown on Sat/Sun evenings. This could keep people in front of BBC1 for two nights in a row instead of just one.

One thing to remember. The announcement says that RTD will be on board as Head Writer - it doesn't say that he will be writing all the specials or even that he will be exec producer. This could be an excellent opportunity for him to gracefully bow out, helping to lay the foundations for the next five years. I think the standout episodes of new-who have been written by others (count the Hugo Awards, for starters...), but there's no denying the huge debt of gratitude we owe to this man. So full of ideas, drive and ambition. You can't please all the people all the time, as they say!

Time will tell...

Kopic's News Round

A bit late, I know, but did you notice that I was writing news round-ups for Kasterborous.com for the past two weeks? No? Oh, well. Maybe I should have blogged about it sooner rather than later! Keep watching, I may be doing it again sometime later this year...

Anyway, the series came to a climactic end since my last post here and I can't help feeling that although it was great, visually exciting entertainment with some squee-worthy fanboy moments they somehow dropped the quality ball in a murky puddle. Don't get me wrong, "Utopia" was brilliant (well, the last 15 minutes anyway) and it was mind-blowingly fantastic to see John Simm as a mad psychopathic Master, but what was all that add-100-years-to-The-Doctor stuff about? He's a Time Lord for heaven's sake! Surely he should have just gone a bit grey at the temples (and put on a few pounds) and not turned into Dobby the House Elf. Something else that jarred with me was the bomb in Martha's flat - funny that it should be timed to go off just as they are there and Mr Saxon makes his broadcast. Right on cue. Looked good, though. Oh, and were the armed police trained by the A-Team? Martha's car should have been a sieve within seconds.

And Martha? Why oh why have they shipped her off to Torchwood?!?!? She turned out to be a great companion and what's her reward? Send her off to a show with lower ratings that can't be watched by the massive fan-base of children that she's acquired? I know she'll be back, but why couldn't we have 13 more weeks of Martha instead of the dubious Donna Noble as played by Catherine Tate? Unlike some, I don't think the return of Donna is such a bad piece of news - towards the end of The Runaway Bride she showed definite potential for the emotional range needed of a new series companion and I'd much rather see some continuity rather than introduce ANOTHER new character, BUT (and this is the point I'm getting too) this should only have been done if Freema had wanted to leave the series. However, we're not privvy to production team discussions and for all we know Freema requested a sabbatical to catch her breath. As for the new dynamic towards the end of next series - I can't really see Donna and Martha getting along. Maybe the Doctor's role will be as peacekeeper... Could be good. Finger's crossed, eh?!?!

Blink...and you're dead

Wow, wasn't that fantastic? Trying to find fault with it but I can't, as everything worked so well. This was so scary that my 7yo daughter hasn't slept since she saw it. We have now had to ban her from rewatching it (after third viewing yesterday!) until she's a bit older. So, finally, (New) Dr Who delivers on it's promise to make children watch from behind the sofa (or raised cushions in our case because there's no room behind the sofa!). It didn't help with a song in "Any Dream Will Do..." afterwards containing the line "Walk like an angel..." - thanks Elvis. ;-) For sheer creeps, the weeping angels easily beat the scarecrows this series.

I still can't believe how good this series has been. A fast paced opener with Smith, Jones and Judoon on the Moon followed by a spook-fest of Shakespearean witchery topped off with layers and layers of smog-bound cars locked into a grid with a bad dose of crabs. Muppets (sorry, "Daleks") in Manhattan playing the DNA strings accompanied by Professor Lazarus on the sonic wave manipulator who was drowned out by The Doctor's power-boosted organ before we plunged headlong into boiling plasma. We then discussed the nature of being human whilst twisting more DNA into strings and have ended up here, where the angels weep for their loneliness... Next week we travel further into the future than even the Time Lords travelled and yet again discover the remnants of humanity clinging to life - more Dystopia than Utopia, methinks. And then the finale. A crescendo of drums to herald the arrival of "The Last Time Lord." Last? I think not!

Lies, Darned Lies and Headlines!

I'm starting to think we should be boycotting The Sun newspaper. For the simple reason that this week it has printed two blatant lies about the show. The first was that Freema Agyeman had been sacked and the second, today, that the show itself would be cancelled after series 4. Neither of these stories are true. In my opinion the second story is a reaction to the rebuttal by the BBC and various fansites - a purely spiteful jibe at the program. The second story about cancellation probably has the tiniest grain of truth at the centre (like all good lies) in that it's quite possible that Russell T Davies could/would be leaving then but there's almost certainly no truth in the cancellation of the show - it's a ratings/earnings hit for the BBC that they haven't seen the like of for ages and they'd be completely barking mad to cancel it while it brings in the revenue and viewers that it does.

The Sun is quite clearly not interested in reporting the truth and are merely looking to sell newspapers based on sensationalist lies. The real problem with reporting lies like this is that a lot of people will believe them based purely on the false premise that "if it's in the papers then it must be true".

This is all somewhat of a shock to me because The Sun has always been a big supporter of the show through the years with various populist campaigns to save the show itself, K9, daleks, etc.

So, let's join the fabulous fansite freemaagyeman.com in boycotting The Sun, shall we?

See also Freema NOT Sacked for an excellent round-up of reaction to the earlier story.

Daleks In Manhattan

Why do I keep thinking about Muppets when I hear that title?
This was not bad. Not bad at all. Nice to see a little more exposition and plot development that the 2 part format allows. Really enjoyed the romantic balcony scene between Diagoras and the Dalek. It was refreshing to hear a dalek holding a conversation for a change rather than the usual shrieking back and forth. Tallulah could've made a good companion in the traditional running-around-screaming-and-asking-questions mould, she was quite interesting and I actually cared about what happened to her, along with her unfortunate pig-faced boyfriend... Who then got turned into a half-pig/half-human hybrid ;-)

Looking forward to part two. Hope it lives up to the promise of part 1!

Want to be the envy of all your Who Fan friends?
Try this nice little auction on ebay for a unique number plate - WH05 A DR - it's my birthday next week in case anyone was looking for the ideal present to buy me!

Wowser! S3 so far...

I can honestly say that, IMHO, S3 is shaping up to be the best of New-Who so far. Our return visit to New Earth this week knocks spots off the previous visits. Anyway, down to business...

3.1 Smith and Jones
The Judoon were pretty cool and the FX were fantastic. One quibble is about the H2O scoop thing... How did the electricity keep running when the hospital was disconnected from the mains? Maybe it had a generator, but aren't they usually in separate buildings? Freema shone as the new companion and showed excellent promise for being able to keep the doctor in check.

3.2 The Shakespeare Code
Another great outing for Mr Smith and Miss Jones. Loved Shakespeare's "Hey nonny nonny!" exclamation when he first saw Martha. Made me laugh out loud! Anyone remember Blackadder? The witches were pretty good in a classic hook-nose cackling sort of way as you would expect from 16th century england. The "you can use that line" joke wore a bit thin after a while but recovered well with the "that's one of mine" punchline. Medieval london was stunning to look at even if the populace were a bit nonchalant about the strangely attired visitors.

3.3 Gridlock
Interesting look at how our traffic problems will evolve... and how a classic series monster will devolve ;-) The production team certainly seem to have got to grips with new Who now and know how to write for DT's doctor who has given a slightly toned down performance from the last series and is more believable for it. I won't spoil what happens with Boe or the message he gives, but I think we're in for some cool stuff in the rest of the series. Daleks next week, and I can't wait...

Other News
Check out episode 2 of The podKast (with a K) from Kasterborous.com and while you're at it, join us over there in the forums for some lively but friendly debate.

Nearly there...

Only one more day and I'm fit to burst in an explosion of gooey excitement! The news is just flooding in... mainly interviews and pics of Freema and the rumour mill abounds with wild stories of returning old enemies (and friends). I'm sure that the fantastic FreemaAgyeman.com is going to go into overdrive now trying to keep up. Head on over there and have a good look around at the comprehensive news coverage, as well as background info on the good lady herself.

Speaking of the fabulous Freema, Kopic wishes her all the best for her future with Doctor Who and looks forward to maybe meeting her one day at a convention! :-)

Seen the extended trailer on the BBCi red button, yet? You can also watch a tiny, jumpy, blurry version on the BBC Dr Who web site. Go check it out and marvel at the sheer creepiness of John Simm's biiig smile at the end. Spooky. Getting him involved in Doctor Who was a masterstroke.

I might not have time to post again before the first episode has aired... so enjoy!

Finally, for now, if you like to also have a chuckle whilst listening to podcasts about Doctor Who then check out the very first podKast (with a K) from Kasterborous.com

4 Days To Go!

Dr Who
In the news today we have the final story title announced, "Last Of The Time Lords". This is the second part of the season finale begun with "The Sound of Drums". This two part story will also star John Simm as the mysterious Mr Saxon. Now, what could "Last Of The Time Lords" mean? Do we think it will mean The Doctor finally finds proof once and for all that he is not the last of his people? If so, who could this mysterious other Time Lord be? A truly masterful question. For my money I reckon The Face of Boe will deliver his four word message to The Doctor in Episode 3,"Gridlock", and the message will be "You Are Not Alone", and then we wait until the season finale to find out what Old Facey Boy was on about.

BAFTA for Neill Gorton's Millennium FX?
Good luck to Neil and the gang having just been nominated for a BAFTA for their work on The Catherine Tate Show! :-) For those who don't know, Millennium FX have been heavily involved in the resurrection of Doctor Who supplying such fantastic prosthetics/make-up as the new cybermen, the clockwork androids and the ood and won a "Welsh BAFTA" last year for their work on the series. Neill is a multi-award winning prosthetic make-up artist who has been in the business for over 20 years. Go Neill!

Feedback
As ever, I really do appreciate any comments or suggestions you have on Kopic's DWTN, so feel free to email me anytime and I promise to reply to all emails that I receive.

9 Days To Go!

Dr Who Series 3
Wow! I don't remember feeling this excited about the start of series 2. Maybe I have new enthusiasm due to a new companion and the possibility we might see more of other planets apart from the Earth (or New New New New New New Earth....). Well, the moon is a step in the right direction, I suppose. Maybe in series 4 (yes, it HAS been confirmed) we'll get as far as Mars (Ice Warriors, anyone?) or as far out as Pluto (Sun Makers, anyone?). We know the Beeb can do alien planets - I just luuurve the opening shots of Doomsday (or Army of Ghosts - whichever episode it was) with Rose and the Doc on that planet with the alien birdy things in the distance. Here's hoping...

There's a whole shedload of coverage for series 3 in the media now following yesterday's press launch. Be very careful out there on the web if you want to avoid spoilers. Most of the regular Dr Who sites will hide spoilers so that you have to actively do something to read them, but the same can't be said about other news sites - particularly the tabloids. So you have been warned!

Life On Mars
Changing subject now. Isn't "Life on Mars" just getting better and better? The opening scenes of this week's episode with the Camberwick Green sequence were sheer genius. "Where's DCI Hunt? Oh, there he is. Kicking in a nonce." Brilliant! Isn't John Simm a fine actor, eh? Wonder what he'll be doing once LOM is finished...?

Red Nose Day / New Content

You probably noticed the addition to the site of a little feature offering you the opportunity to buy a choccie picture of Doctor Who with a portion of the proceeds going towards Comic Relief's Red Nose Day appeal. So go buy some chocolate, stuff your face and feel content in the knowledge that you helped to improve the quality of life for some poor unfortunates while at the same time wishing you hadn't eaten so much chocolate...

I've also added some BBC regional sites (Wales, Norfolk and Somerset) into my news gathering because they have regularly updated features on Doctor Who where it relates to their region, e.g. filming locations, local celebrities, etc.

20 Days and Counting!

Doctor Who
Hoping for more consistent high quality stuff this year. Cut the Boomtown and Love 'n' Monsters type stories out and I'm sure the average perceived quality of the show will go up! Of course, this is subjective and purely my own humble opinion. :-)

On another note, RTD was interviewed in The Telegraph and hinted that S4 might be his last as show runner. Whilst I applaud everything that he has done for the show I do think that some fresh blood at the helm would be a "good thing". I hope that means we can get away from Earth a little more often. Really away... not just visiting different times or New Earths. The TARDIS can travel in time AND space, after all. So, let's have a bit more of the latter, eh?

Web Awards
...and if you haven't already voted for Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News in the Herts24 Web Awards, then I would be eternally grateful if you could! Please? Pretty please? :-)

Vote 4 Kopic!

Expansion

I'm expanding my blog to cover all my news sites. You've probably noticed that line at the top of each page which links to them all. This is part of my efforts to bring it all under the one umbrella of "Kopic's News Network"

Not Dr Who

Nothing to do with Dr Who. I just wanted to post this picture!

VOTE AND WIN!

Vote for Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News in the Herts24 web awards and you could be in with a chance of winning balloon flights or a "website in a wallet"!

What does Kopic get out of your vote? The biggest reward I could get is publicity. The shortlist of the most popular in each category will be published in all the local newspapers in Hertfordshire. Money can't buy that sort of publicity. Actually, it can... but not the tiddly amount of money I have to spend! :-)

So... please vote, dear reader, and I would be eternally grateful!

Kopic thanks you.

--Simon.

Some Random Thoughts

Wow! Two months (near enough) since my last post. Only ten more months until next Christmas! :-D

Well, it's looking quite promising for a March start for the new series, a break from the new recent tradition of starting at Easter. However, I'd be more than willing to wait 6 more months so that we could watch it over the winter months... as it should be watched. With lights burning low, fierce winds howling through the trees and cups of hot choccie steaming on the coffee table. None of this "summer" nonsense for me!

Some random thoughts...

I sure hope the rumours of John Simm appearing as The Master turn out to be true. I'm sure he could turn his quality acting talents towards a peerless portrayal of the maestro of malevolent mischief. Derek Jaboi, as well! The talent ratio keeps going up! I'm hoping that the habit of casting ex soap stars doesn't bring the ratio crashing back down.

Daleks in Manhattan, eh? Why do I keep hearing the Muppet theme tune in my head when I think about that wonderful title? Hope it changes before broadcast.

Don't forget to VOTE for Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News in the Herts24 Web Awards! This is a new award for websites owned and operated by people who live in Hertfordshire. I would be eternally grateful for your support!

Anyway, enough for now. Please don't forget that I will read and respond to all emails you send me, so don't be afraid to let me know what you think of the site!

TTFN