San Antonio Final

Great Time at the Convention.

Love Seeing The Alamo.

Loved the Hotel.

The Flights and the Airport Shuttle not so much.

Also, I was disappointed by David Tennant’s 1 day cash-and-go. But he’s a big star and he was very nice to the people in his lines.

He just didn’t do anything else other than the Autographs and The Photos.

But I’m still happy I got it.

I missed the Barrowman panel on Sunday running around doing my photo-ops with Sean Pertwee and Amy Jo Johnson. I’m sure he was John. 🙂

Will have to keep this one my radar for 2017.

I would also like to have saeen more of The Riverwalk.

This was a very short smash and grab (or stand in one line then stand in another line for 2 days) of my own.

Then I had a Bulk (literally) sitting next to me on the flight home (which was delayed, of course).

Onward…Power of the Daleks is on Nov 14th. If the universe hasn’t collapsed by then..

 

San Antonio Report

Yesterday was a good day. I got the autograph of Sean Pertwee, Jon’s Son. And I have a Photo Op with him at Noon today.

I got into the very packed Doctor Who panel.

But because of the acoustics (4th Balcony – 6 flights of stairs!) and not being VIP, by the time I got into the panel it was already going for 15  minutes AND No David!

NO DAVID TENNANT!

I like Billie, but I’ve seen her multiple times. And with the bad acoustics up in the nose-bleed section it was not the least bit exciting and hard to hear her anyhow.

Such a disappointment. And since I was late I have no idea why David wasn’t there or even if he ever was supposed to be (the Guide never said).

Then I got my Power Rangers VIP autographs (but found out just this morning I forgot Jason David Frank…) and went to a Comics panel where the speaker had an actual Action Comics #1 (Value, $600,000). Now that is being in the presence of greatness.

But that was quite a nice day of Lines, sit, eat, Lines, sit, eat. 🙂

 

The Day TV changed forever

Had a great Day in San Antonio. Got Autographs from David Tennant and Sean Pertwee.

But today is momentous for another reason.

It was fifty years ago today, on Saturday 29th October 1966, that we bid farewell to the First Doctor.

At exactly 50 minutes and 47 seconds past five, 7.5 million viewers tuned into BBC 1 to hear the theme music ring out and the last William Hartnell episode begin. 24 minutes later it was all over. We had a new Doctor.

William Hartnell had appeared in 127 episodes of Doctor Who, appearing in 29 stories. He would return to the series in 1972, in four episodes of The Three Doctors. To date only one actor, Tom Baker, has appeared in more Doctor Who episodes than Hartnell, whose episodes, if played sequentially, would last for 2 days. 5 hours and 38 minutes.

Fifty years on, William Hartnell’s influence is still felt in the series, and in the character he created. His final episode has been lost, but one sequence survives. It is perhaps the most important sequence in the series history. The regeneration. With that one scene, the programme’s future was guaranteed. The series could outlive its creators. Its immortality was assured.

 a gamble that enabled the show to still be with us today

Interviewed in 1986 for Fantasy Empire by John Peel, Troughton said: “I didn’t think it was a particularly good idea of the BBC to replace Billy. I thought it was pretty silly, really. I thought that the difficulties of selling it to the audience were enormous … almost insurmountable. However, in the end, I was persuaded over a week of negotiations, and I thought, ‘What the heck, let’s do this for a while and see what happens’.”

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Patrick Troughton as the second incarnation of the Doctor. Photograph: PA Archive/Press Association Ima

Troughton’s first story as the Doctor – The Power of the Daleks – is lost, but will soon be issued by the BBC in animated format.

Theatre showings in the US on November 14th and then on November 19th on BBC America.

 

San Antonio

I may not be on a Train bound for San Antone…But I will be flying there tonight.

Objectives: David Tennant autograph (Photo Ops sold out before I found out about it).

And my Photo Op with Sean Pertwee, son of Jon Pertwee.

Oh, and some Power Rangers along the way…

More Later.

 

Stain Glass Dalek

Hardcore Whovians know that the Big Finish audio plays are one of the best ways to enjoy new Doctor Who stories about classic Doctors. Now, Big Finish has given one of the Doctor’s deadliest adversaries one of its most striking incarnations to date: the stained-glass Dalek!

Via Tor, the stained-glass Dalek is directly from Big Finish’s upcoming Sixth Doctor adventure, Order of the Daleks, which features a dogmatically Dalek that rocks a trident instead of a plunger, and it also has stained glass panels on its body that resemble religious iconography. Big Finish director Jamie Anderson commissioned Chris Thompson to design the new Dalek for the cover image, which you can see in its entirety below:

It’s oddly beautiful for a Dalek, isn’t it? On Anderson’s website, he noted that the Big Finish team has nicknamed it “Dalek Stainley.” Thompson also shared a few of his thoughts about the creation of this Dalek. “My main thought process was to create a ‘Gothic’ Dalek and replace all the flat surfaces with glass designs,” wrote Thompson. “My initial sketches had palisades, crowns, spikes and other Gothic elements, but we decided to dial a lot of these back for story reasons. In the episode itself these Dalek casings are made by very primitive monks so the focus needed to be on the stained glass and not the metal elements.”

Doctor Who: Order of the Daleks will be released in November, and it is available for pre-order at Big Finish’s website.

What do you think about Dalek Stainley? Should he make the jump to the Doctor Who TV series? Roll out your thoughts in the comment section below!

Class Reading

BBC Books have now released full details on the three novels published on Thursday that tie into new series Class:

Class: Joyride
Written by Guy Adams
Published by BBC Books on 27th October 2016 [order from Amazon UK]

‘So, you can just leap into other people’s bodies? Take them over? And while you’re in control, you can do whatever you want? Brilliant.’

Poppy is a quiet girl, right up until she steals a car and drives it through a shop window.

Max is a nice guy, but then he kills his whole family. Just for fun.

Amar always seems so happy, so why is he trying to jump to his death from the school roof?

Some of the students of Coal Hill School are not themselves. Some of them are dying. Ram has just woken up in a body he doesn’t recognise, and if he doesn’t figure out why he may well be next.

Class: The Stone House
Written by A.K. Benedict
Published by BBC Books on 27th October 2016 [order from Amazon UK]

If you get out, you’d think you’d be one of the lucky ones. But you’re not.
The house infects you.

There’s an old stone house near Coal Hill School. Most people hurry past it. They’ve heard the stories. But, if you stop, and look up, you’ll see the face of a girl, pressed up against a window. Screaming.

Tanya finds herself drawn to the stone house. There’s a mystery there, and she’s going to solve it. But the more she investigates, the more she realises that there’s a presence in the house. One that wants her.

Something is waiting for Tanya in the stone house. Something that has been trapping others in its web over the years. Something that is far worse than any ghost.

Class: What She Does Next Will Astound You
Written by James Goss
Published by BBC Books on 27th October 2016 [order from Amazon UK]

‘We want your stunts, your dares, your whatevs. There is only one rule. There is no such thing as oversharing.’

At Coal Hill School, things have started to get public. Kids have become obsessed with a website that demands you perform risky stunts, or tell it your most painful secrets. And Seraphin, everyone’s favourite vlogger, wants you to get involved. All in the name of charity.

At first people just get hurt. Then their lives are ruined. Finally, they disappear.

As April’s fragile group of friends starts to fracture, she decides she’s going to uncover the truth behind this site herself. Whatever it takes, whoever she hurts, April’s going to win. But then, to her horror, she wakes up and finds her whole world’s changed.

What she does next will astound you.

To be in with a chance to win a set of the novels courtesy of BBC Books, simply answer the following question:

What is the name the classmates have christened the rift in Coal Hill Academy?

Please send your answers along with your name, address and where you heard about the competition (news site, news app, other website, etc.) to comp-classnovels@doctorwhonews.net with the subject “A touch of Class”. The competition is open to UK readers only, closing date 13th November 2016. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Easter Eggs

For my Birthday.

Right above Clara’s name you can find her ex-boyfriend (and Coal Hill Maths teacher) Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson), while towards the left the Doctor’s own granddaughter Susan Foreman (who was a Coal Hill student in Doctor Who’s first ever episode An Unearthly Child back in 1963) can be spotted.

It’s like a big textual reunion – and we wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple of other Who references among these names that fans will uncover as the weeks go on.

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The Wright stuff

Speaking of An Unearthly Child, another character from that episode also gets a namecheck in the new series – though perhaps not one you would have spotted.

Back in the 1963 Doctor Who story, two teachers called Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton (Jacqueline Hill and William Russell with Susan Foreman actress Carole Ann Ford, above) joined the Doctor as companions, remaining with the Time Lord for various adventures before returning to their own time in 1965’s The Chase.

Since then the pair have been mentioned sporadically in the series, including a nod in 2013 anniversary special The Day of the Doctor which saw them credited as Coal Hill School governers.

In Class, though, only one (as of yet) gets the Easter Egg treatment, as RadioTimes.com discovered on the new series’ main school set as we stood in…The Barbara Wright building. Here’s hoping Ian gets his own building soon.

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Miracle of the Hudson

 

And if you thought we were done with classic Who moments in the opening episode you’re dead wrong, because as we’ve noted elsewhere another figure from the original series made a reappearance – Tom Baker’s costume designer Laura June Hudson, who played the old lady Tanya (Vivian Oparah) runs into in a shop.

Fingers crossed for more such crossovers in episodes to come.

Article Day

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2016/10/22/class-this-young-adult-doctor-who-spin-off-doesnt-shy-away-from/

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-10-22/behind-the-scenes-on-patrick-troughtons-first-doctor-who-episode-shot-fifty-years-ago-today

Class- 1 & 2 Reviewed

High school is hell.

Buffy said this 20 years ago.

It’s still true, even if its an Academy (upgraded from a School now) in Shoreditch in West London.

But this school dates back in the Doctor Who universe to the very beginning.

Coal Hill School. Now Coal Hill Academy.

All that temporal energy over the years has made it a rift in time & space.

So what we have is more YAF (Young Adult Fiction) Torchwood than Doctor Who.

Dark broody, mysterious and deadly, and definitely, brutal.

Some of this may be Spoilers So Be Warned.

“You Might Die Tonight” is an ironic title for a School Prom that is attacked by Shadowy Dimensional Creatures.

You do have the stereotypes, but they are also somewhat subverted.

The Shy girl. The New Girl. The Jock. The Weirdo. Oh, and a Teacher, who is most definitely NOT even remotely Giles. She is far more dangerous than that.

Oh, and one other thing is different. Blood & Gore. Lots of it!

The Jock has people killed right in front of him , and splattered by their blood in both of the first 2 episodes. So much so, he starts to have a bit of PTSD.

They aren’t the Scooby Gang that Buffy was.

They get rid of the bad guy in the 2nd episode (and the Monster who was killing people) but suggesting that the Monster eat the bad guy.

And it worked.

Not exactly a normal ending.

Oh, and the robot… 🙂

Peter Capaldi’s Doctor makes an appearance towards the end of the first episode. Very cryptic. Very mysterious. Stops the Monster, for now, and announces that they are now the protectors of this rip in space/time.

It’s a bit awkwardly done.  It’s almost as if Capt. Jack would have a been a better fit for the nastiness and the darkness. The death and mayhem is more reminiscent of Torchwood.

The Doctor’s unable to close the Hellmouth (yes, someone actually said that at one point) which got a much cruder name later on. This is not your mother’s Buffy.

It is more like Torchwood for youngsters.

Very raw. Nasty. Scary. Creepy. And unapologetic for it.

And it’s premiere was exactly 10 years to the day of Torchwood. So far it has more in common with it, than WHO.

Props to Greg Austin (Charlie), Sophie Hopkins (April), Fady Elsayed (Ram) and Vivian Oparah (Tanya) and to Katherine Kelly as the menacing Ms. Quill who is not a good person and much more an anti-hero/suppressed villainess.

The Doctor and The King of The ShadowKin.

Radio Times:

Meanwhile Class, unlike any Who spin-off thus far goes full pelt in the other direction, making the Doctor (Peter Capaldi, above) actually appear and play a crucial part in the first story, eventually setting up the premise for the whole series (by giving the kids the mission of fighting off aliens) before departing to presumably return at some point in a future episode. 

The reason for this more hands-on connection is obvious – without an actual Doctor Who character to build itself around like Torchwood or the Sarah-Jane Adventures had, Class needs to set out its stall as a show for Who fans in a more direct way. Basing it in a school that’s appeared sporadically over five decades and looked different every time is a weak link, with the majority of modern Doctor Who fans probably unaware of what Coal Hill even is. So it makes perfect sense that the series would be “blessed” by the Doctor in this way, and the fact that he sets up the premise is a neat, almost meta twist – Doctor Who believes in these kids, and so should you.

The call backs to Barbara Wright, 1st Doctor Companion & school teacher in 1963 at Coal Hill and the “late” Clara Oswald are inevitable though. But the anchor that stamps down and says this is still The Whoniverse is required.

Perhaps in the end watching Class WILL be a vivid flashback for many of what watching Torchwood exactly 10 years ago today was like. Enjoying a decent hour of television, sure – but vaguely wishing we could all just watch Doctor Who instead.

So we’ll see how it goes…Not a bad start for what is so far a Teen Horror show more than anything.

 

 

 

Torchwood at 10

Yikes! how the years go by…

 

10 Years ago today.

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-torchwood-archive-1470?utm_source=dwtv&utm_campaign=dwtv_twarchive&utm_medium=post

This new story from Big Finish reunites some familiar names… Check out the full details of the 2 CD set below.

The Torchwood Archive

“Welcome, visitor. The Torchwood Archive provides a complete history of our Institute from its distant beginnings to the present day. When we founded our great enterprise in the year of our Lord 1879, we decreed that there should be a record of this achievement, stored at the very furthest limits of the British Empire. By visiting you are spreading that legacy, perhaps out through the skies. For now, I shall bid you a good day and welcome you to the Torchwood Archive. Do, please look around.”

The Torchwood Archive is a forgotten asteroid in the centre of a great war. Jeremiah is its first visitor in many centuries. He’s come to learn something very important. And the ghosts of Torchwood are waiting for him.

 ****************

This month’s Doctor Who Magazine celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Doctor Who’s first ongoing spin-off series, when John Barrowman talks Torchwood…

Following Barrowman’s comment at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con that he was “working very hard” to return Torchwood to our TV screens”, DWM asks he what that was all about…

Every production company I go into, I’m not kidding, they say, Is there any way we could get Torchwood back up and running?. I’ve heard this so many times that I thought, I’m going to find out if we can do it.

I started planting seeds, dropping a few hints, and it did exactly what I wanted it to: it blew up and everyone was like, Oh my God, Barrowman wants to bring back Torchwood! Which, I’ve got to be honest with you, I really do. Because I travel around the world, I go to all these conventions, I see all these people – and I speak to all these production companies – who are desperate for it to come back.

ALSO INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

• ASK STEVEN

Showrunner

Steven Moffat

answers readers’ questions, and reveals that the Doctor’s favourite alcoholic drink is lemonade.
• THE POWER OF THE DALEKS

A first look at the brand-new animation of the lost Second Doctor classic adventure

The Power of the Daleks

.
• CLASS PREVIEW

DWM asks writer

Patrick Ness

to reveal what he’s got in store for us in new Doctor Who spin-off,

Class

.
• THE ART OF THE DIRECTOR

DWM celebrates a century of Doctor Who directors by tracking down four of the class of 2015 and interrogating them – in Part One of this in-depth feature.

• BLOODSPORT

Part One of a brand new comic strip adventure, written by Mark Wright and illustrated by Staz Johnson.

• TIME TEAM

The Time Team stock up on pizza, booze and telly for this month’s episode, The Lodger.

• THE SAVAGES

The TARDIS lands on a planet which offers ‘a golden age of peace and prosperity’… But this apparent utopia comes at a terrible price, as this issue’s Fact of Fiction features 1966’s

The Savages

.
• COMING SOON

Previews of all the latest Doctor Who CD and book releases.