RIP Elisabeth Sladen

Such sad news, Elisabeth Sladen, known and loved by millions as Sarah Jane Smith, has passed away aged 63. Reports from the BBC's Lizo Mzimba say that she had been suffering from cancer for a while. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this sad time.

She will be sorely missed.

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You can now follow Kopic's Doctor Who News on Facebook! Head on over here and then click the "Like" button. You can also use the box to the right of this page to follow us.

I've been a bad blogger...

Hello! I've been naughty - I hope Santa will forgive me! I haven't blogged since January and I feel very guilty. I have been very busy with work for the past six months but am now coming out of that heightened busy state to a more normal "business as usual" way of working so I want to get back to updating the blog and maintaining the news feed more regularly.

On the subject of Doctor Who, I just want to say how great Matt Smith is as the 11th Doctor. Quite easy to understand what the producers saw in him at the interview waaay back in the middle of 2008. Wasn't that a long time ago? And doesn't David Tennant seem like a distant memory now that Smith has stamped his personality all over the role?

The Sarah Jane Adventures continue to impress me more with each series. I am convinced that Clyde would make an excellent companion to The Doctor. Maybe when Amy and Rory move on, he should fill their shoes?

I have high hopes for Torchwood S4 with it being co-produced by Starz - who brought us the fabulously gory and rather rude Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Don't forget to check out the superb "Ultimate Regeneration" book from the nice folk at Kasterborous. It is a compilation of news, reviews and articles covering the first five years of the return of Doctor Who to encompass the RTD area. 50% of the book is new material to put all the varied articles into context - with some of those articles written by yours truly. Check it out here...

WhoNews iPhone App

Paul Gee has created a WhoNews app for the iPhone and included Kopic's blog feed as one of the sources. You can find it by searching for "WhoNews" on the app store or by using this link. Thanks Paul!

Ooh! Only a few more days!

Oh, boy! I can feel the excitement running down my legs, already. The teaser that is now being run that opens with the shot of the earth, I have already seen as I was lucky enough to have been invited to a party to celebrate the end of the run of the Darksmith Legacy books and it was shown as a sneaky exclusive to all the prize winning kids that were there. That reminds me, I owe Kasterborous an article to cover the event if it's not too late!

A brief interlude into my personal life now... I've been very busy with work and also contending with several bouts of flu and coughs and colds and I'm desperately hoping I'm well enough to enjoy the 1st episode of the Doctor Who 2-part special on Christmas Day at 6pm - after our family Christmas dinner at the local Harvester restaurant. None of that messing about with cookers and pots and pans for us since we discovered the delights of having someone else do it for you! So, in my rambling but hopefully endearing way, this explains why I've not been around here or on the Kasterborous forum much in the past month or two.

I am currently watching the Doctor Who special version of "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" for a second time. Jo Whiley was a revelation as a Doctor Who fan! Who'd have thought? Cribbins is still a comedy genius and Catherine Tate proves how much she doesn't know about Doctor Who... or anything else, actually! But I still love her anyway. Looking forward to "Nan's Christmas Carol" with guest shots from David Tennant, Ben Miller and Roger Lloyd-Pack.

I think the week between ep1 and ep2 of "The End of Time" is going to be the longest week of my life!

In case I don't post again before the big day, Kopic wishes you all...

...A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Waters of Mars

I don't know about Mars, but my waters are certainly flowing! Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow. Those of you listening in to the Christian O'Connell Breakfast show on Absolute radio this week would have heard guest host David Tennant reveal a little teaser about WOTM - he said that after a really big explosion The Doctor does or says something really out of character. We know The Doctor is aware of his impending doom and regeneration so this must be some of that angst working it's way out.

If you missed the shows, why not download the podcasts?

Enjoy!

P.S. NASA has announced that they HAVE found water on the Moon. I am unusually and rather strangely excited by this news!

Oops

Having technical difficulties with Kopic's news'bots right now so I will work on a workaround until it gets around to working. The problem is that the news feed isn't getting updated with the latest news on a regular basis. Sorry for the inconvenience!

In the meantime, you will see a different version of the news in a scrolling window thingy.

Apologies

Kopic sincerely apologises, especially to younger readers, for any unwholesome content that has been picked up by Kopic's news'bots recently. It seems that "Torchwood" is now a word that they use in their attempts to get past filters and to be picked up by otherwise innocent online searches.

Kopic is attempting to improve his filtering mechanisms to compensate.

Sarah Jane Adventures!

Tomorrow (Thu 15th Oct) sees the return to our screens of the fabulous Sarah Jane Adventures - and with two episodes per week shown on Thursdays and Fridays that means you can record them both and sit down to watch them in on sitting. Preferably on a Saturday tea time surrounded by the family with the cold winds blowing outside and curtains shut to keep out the dreary real world. In other words, the traditional time and place for Doctor Who! Not on a sunny summer's day when you've all been out for the day or are round at a friend's house having a barbecue.

"Prisoner of the Judoon" this week. Should be interesting, but I can't wait for "The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith" where we get to see HIMSELF take part in the story, not just a cameo. Read more about this at Kasterborous

Wicked!

For a chance to see a BIG SCREEN preview go to Liverpool ONE cinema which is hosting a Sarah Jane Adventures themed weekend event as reported by Whoviannet and SarahJane.tv

BARRY LETTS (1925-2009)

How incredibly sad that the great man should die at the time his autobiography is published. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends at this time.

Update: And now Stephen Gately has been found dead in Majorca. As well as being a member of the hugely popular boy band Boyzone, he appeared in the 8th Doctor audio adventure, "The Horror of Glam Rock". He was only 33. Again, thoughts and prayers go to his friends and family.

New era - new logo! New Kopic!

It's here! The all new shiny logo! Love it, retro and just the way it should be. Hooray!

Kopic has also taken this opportunity to launch the all-new looking Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News site! Enjoy!

Too! Many! Exclamation! Marks!!!

Change my dear...

Kopic's Doctor Who and Torchwood News blog/news site is about to regenerate! With the relationship between Kopic's news'bots and the good folk at Kasterborous developing and maturing into a thing of beauty we came to the conclusion that we should move closer together and explore our synergies in a more intimate way. So to speak.

Basically, this site is going to be refreshed soon to look like a close relative of Kasterborous. After that, Kopic's news'bots will move in to Kasterborous Towers and start rearranging the furniture and making themselves at home.

Simples!

The Eleventh Hour Approaches

Wow! Four months since my last blog. How time flies!

Speaking of Time, with a capital T, I've just seen the trailer (as premiered at Comic Con) for "The End of Time" - this year's two-part Christmas special and... David Tennant's last regular outing as The Doctor! And man, does it rock! Even through the shaky-vision camera style and the muffled sound it looked fab. It was sooo good it almost made me stop thinking about Series 5 next year with Matt Smith and the delectable Karen Gillan.

The Eleventh Doctor's costume was a bit of a surprise at first and, I must say, I am hugely disappointed that the Beeb didn't release a proper publicity shot ahead of the papparazzi shots we got on the day of filming. A nice shot of Matt and Karen in costume standing in front of the newly redesigned TARDIS exterior wouldn't have gone amiss. However, that candid first picture of the two of them sharing a laugh whilst sat on the steps of a trailer IS very good - it captures the chemistry between the two nicely. So good in fact that a close up of their faces now adorns my computer desktop, and accompanies this post.

Critique-wise, the Doc's costume grew on me rapidly - it reminds me of a cross between Patrick Troughton and Indiana Jones' professorial outfit. It also reminds me of how a friend of mine used to dress twenty years ago - yes, he was a big Dr Who fan!

So, it's all looking good for the future of Dr Who with some excellent looking specials coming up to cap the Tennant/Davies years and some good casting and design decisions for Series 5 and beyond!

Noooo! Not again!

News (unsubstantiated rumour?) leaked today by the bastion of truth and justice that is The Sun, reveals that not only is The Master returning (again played by John Simm - yay!) but La Piper will return and will be accompanied by Catherine Tate and Freema Agyeman.

So, what was all that tosh about the boundaries between universes not being traversable and never again will Rose and The Doc meet??? Never let the established facts or a previously good story stand in the way of another wacky idea, eh, Russell? Doomsday had a corker of an ending which is increasingly watered down by repeated returns of the one who could never return.

Anyway, it'll be great to see John Simm return as The Master, maybe toned down a notch from the manic megalomaniac madman of Last of The Timelords. And it will be wonderful to see Donna return one way or another - the only new series companion that I actually DO want to see again. Freema was fab as Martha, but I think her story really has been played out and she voluntarily left - several times!

Anyhoo... bring it on, this fan boy can't wait to see how 10 meets his end and how 11 will pick the weighty mantle of Britain's most popular icon! :-)

Reactions to the casting of Matt Smith

Kopic is happy. Its not some piece of stunt casting. Its not a woman (nothing against women - its just supposed to be a male character!).

Its "relative unknown" Matt Smith. With expressive hands and face. And weird hair. Ideal! Under the tutelage of Steven Moffat with tips from David Tennant this young lad could go far. I can't wait!

Go see what other people make of this casting announcement

Matt Smith IS the new Doctor!

Announced during the special edition of Doctor Who Confidential tonight, Matt Smith, most notably from Party Animals and the Philip Pullman Sally Lockhart mysteries (Ruby in The Smoke, Shadow in The North), IS THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR!

http://www.kasterborous.com/news.asp?ac=11&id=2028

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Doctor Who Day!

Doctor Who @45 Competition!

23rd November sees the 45th anniversary of the first showing of Doctor Who and to celebrate this wondrous event the nice people at Kasterborous.com are offering a few choice items as free giveaways to those people lucky enough to have their names drawn from a proverbial hat. I say "hat" because I don't know yet what the actual receptacle will be for collecting the names that are sent in via email. Head on over to Kasterborous.com for your chance to win a copy of "The Time Traveller's Almanac" and/or Lance Parkins' "History of the Universe" and/or some pretty exclusive art prints from Anthony Dry - Kasterborous' own art director whose work has also adorned the pages of Doctor Who Monthly, the Complete 3rd Series box set and numerous Big Finish productions.

Good luck!

The Darksmith Legacy

Yours truly was privileged last week to be invited to the press launch of this new series of Doctor Who books from Penguin. The Darksmith Legacy will be a series of ten books (the first two to be published in January) accompanied by a website providing many opportunities to explore this new saga in print and online. The books will have puzzles and clues that enable the reader to unlock different locations on the website in order to help them complete a quest... The graphics on the website are superb and the preview of the first book, "The Dust of Ages" by Justin Richards, leads me to believe this will be a big hit.

You can read my full account of the launch event over at Kasterborous...

Musings...

The Sarah Jane Adventures have got off to a flying start with a story about the last surviving Sontaran from the doomed invasion fleet from the two-part Doctor Who S4 story "The Sontaran Strategem". Commander Kaargh demonstrated some new tricks from the tactical armoury of the Glorious Sontaran Empire, including a rather cool Predator-style invisibility shield and a not-so-cool foldaway helmet which looked rather lame and was rather unconvincing. Story-wise, we had a simple plot with Kaargh wanting revenge on the human race and using a remote radio telescope observatory as a base to try and take over the world's satellites to launch all out nuclear war. He is thwarted in the end by a stiletto shoe. I think that sort of resolution only really works on British kid's TV - and work it does, due to the character of Chrissie being given something to do for a change and relishing the chance. Where else in the world would you find a finale like that, eh???

Rumours abound on the Doctor Who front, with David Morrisey playing "the other Doctor" in this year's christmas special, entitled "The Next Doctor". Make of it what you will, but this "other Doctor" has a companion named "Rosita". My theory is that David Morrisey is in fact playing an alternate universe version of the 11th Doctor that David Tennant would have regenerated into during "Journey's End" if he hadn't aborted the process early.

More rumours have Patrick Stewart (I think he played someone in a Star Trek series, or something...) playing The Meddling Monk in a two part Dalek story next year. The Monk is another Time Lord, last seen in the 60's era of the show as played by Peter Butterworth. So, it seems that there's another Time Lord that escaped the Time War. So much for it being time locked. Thanks to Dalek Caan for messing that up! :-)

What else is on Kopic's radar at the moment? In non-Who stuff we have the excellent Fringe which started on Sky1 this weekend. Most enjoyable modern take on The X-Files, from the very talented JJ Abrams. Which reminds me... only a few more months (alright seven...) until we get JJ Abrams' version of Star Trek with the superb Zachary Quinto as Spock. Which further reminds me of a renewed and rejuvenated Heroes which has also just started airing on the BBC. Straight back in with a bang, new characters and some intriguing glimpses of heroes-turned-villains and maybe villains-turned-heroes? Who knows? Can't wait to see how this unfolds!