The Who-Philes

John Barrowman to Release Third Album…

Richard Kirsch — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:58:47 +0000

Torchwood and Doctor Who star, John Barrowman is set to release his third solo album next week, March 1st. Simply titled John Barrowman the album is comprised of various showtunes that reflect the actor’s life. Among the tracks are songs from The Boy from Oz, Carousel, Cats, Mama Mia! and more. However… if you buy the album from Apple’s iTunes, you get a BONUS TRACK. It is a parody of the song The Wizard and I from the show Wicked. Barrowman’s version is aptly called The Doctor and I and is about Jack’s relationship with the Doctor.

[UPDATE] Apparently this is for iTunes UK only. Try to search for John Barrowman on iTunes in the US and you only get his previous releases. Guess we’ll have to wait for it in the US…

The Doctor & I - 1′30” by lucidonline

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My Doctor Who Scarf…

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:52:52 +0000

My scarf so far at about eight feet in length…

I don’t know about you guys but since I’ve become a Doctor Who fan I’ve always wanted the Tom Baker scarf. Mainly because it looks cool but also because it’s not very warm where I work. So it’s practical as well. Well I looked up some scarves online and a lot of them sell for around $120-$175. Now I won’t say I’m cheap, but I figured, heck I’ll learn how to knit and I’ll make one of my own! So thanks to my grandma, I learned the basics of knitting. And because a scarf is usually always the first knitting project to work on, it’s perfect! For additional help though I went to Doctor Who Scarf. There he has patterns and color schemes of the different scarves Baker wore in his run. A lot of useful information. I just reached the halfway point on my scarf. So far I average about four to four and a half hours a day working on it. And of course I’ve been watching a lot of old Who while doing it. I’ve gotten through all of Leela’s adventures with the Doctor and most of The Key of TIme serials. Just have the last one to go. It really has been a fun project and I know I’m hoping to expand my skills because there really are a lot of neat knitting crafts out there for Who fans. Well unless you want to make an Adipose doll…

Paradise Towers Review…

Richard Kirsch — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:35:50 +0000

Since I have recently acquired the whole of Sylvester McCoy’s first season on Doctor Who, I thought I’d do a review of his second serial, Paradise Towers. Mel wants to go swimming, but the TARDIS pool had sprung a leak and had to be jettisoned. So the Doctor decides to take Mel to a swank, 21st century resort called Paradise Towers. Upon arriving all is not well. The building is dilapidated and overrun by gangs of teenage girls. The Doctor and Mel are captured by one of these gangs, the Red Kangs. They learn that people are mysteriously disappearing. They become separated when the Caretakers, a group of overly officious security guards, capture the Doctor themselves. Mel is taken in by two kindly elderly ladies who seem to have ulterior motives themselves. The Doctor meanwhile manages to escape from his captors and falls back in with the Red Kangs. Mel in the meantime has left the old ladies with the only young man in the whole building, the overzealous Pex. Pex it turns out is actually a cowardly soldier who went AWOL and hid away on a transport ship to Paradise Towers. He’s now trying to make up for his cowardice by helping Mel. The Doctor in the meantime has discovered that the buildings architect is actually living inside a machine and has been using his cleaning robots to wipe out the citizens of the tower. The architect is extremely egotistic and believes that no one deserves to live in his creations but himself. The Doctor and Mel must convince the various rivla factions to trust each other and team up to rid the tower of this evil.

I know among older Who fans than myself the Johnathan Nathan Turner years are sometimes looked at as a bit of a joke. I can see why. This episode was rather silly in it’s premise and it’s acting. Pex would look right at home on The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers while the Chief Caretaker seems to be doing an impression of John Cleese doing an impression of Hitler. And this is BEFORE he becomes the bad guy! The sets looked nice though and even though low budget had a kind of Judge Dredd feel. You also really have to suspend your disbelief so as not to think why don’t they go some place else? Though they do mention that apparently there is a war on, but no one knows for sure as everyone’s been locked up in the towers for so long. This episode would seem to be a close cousin to the revival series’ Gridlock. But it was all good fun which in the end is the important thing. This serial is currently not available on DVD.

Bit of trivia: Julie Brennon who played the strangely named Fire Escape, was married to former companion Mark Strickson (Turlough). Also be on the lookout for Nisha Nayar as a Red Kang. Nayar would be more easily remembered as the woman programmer in the Ninth Doctor stories Bad Wolf/ The Parting of Ways.

Neil Gaiman Pens for Doctor Who…

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:23:26 +0000

Yes! Neil “Freakin’” Gaiman! My favorite movie of 2009 was Coraline. I’ve read the book as well as The Graveyard Book. I can just about quote MirrorMask verbatim (even made a little music video). I had my favorite comics shop, Local Heroes order Gaiman’s The Tragical Comedy of Mr. Punch which is probably one of the most powerful comics I have ever read. Oddly, it’s also the only one of Gaiman’s comics I have read. Okay, I’m totally geeking out about Neil Gaiman now. So you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Neil Gaiman is actually doing an episode of Doctor Who! Now, Gaiman hinted about this at one time but confirmed it when he was accepting an award for one of his Batman stories. Sadly though we’ll have to wait until next year to see the story. Yep, it’s for the 2011 season. Moffat, Gaiman, what team could bring a better episode of Doctor Who than those two?

Time and the Rani Review…

Richard Kirsch — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:00:50 +0000

Out of all the Doctors, the Seventh is the one I am least familiar. I’ve only ever seen two of his serials, Remembrance of the Daleks and the completely bizarre Ghost Light. Oh, and his cameo in The Enemy Within. Can’t forget that! So I thought I’d check out some more of his adventures.
This brings us to his first adventure, Time and the Rani. In a pre-title sequence the Doctor and Mel are shot down by the Rani. During the resulting crash the Doctor is fatally injured and regenerates to his seventh persona. Apparently he hits his head on the TARDIS console. I guess this is why the Tenth Doctor was so worried about hitting his head on a brick and regenerating. The Rani it appears is collecting various geniuses from previous eras of time. The last one she needs is the Doctor. She has also subjugated a whole civilization in order to do her bidding in some unknown experiment. When the Doctor awakens he has no memory of who he is or where he is. The Rani though has disguised herself as the Doctor’s companion, Mel. And I must say she does a dead on impersonation. The real Mel however has come to and is taken prisoner by one of the locals. However he soon realizes she is not like the Rani. The disguised Rani convinces the Doctor they were iin the middle of an experiment that they must finish. The Doctor goes along with it though he has some hesitation. Mel in the meantime has infiltrated the Rani’s base and after a bit of initial confusion, the Doctor regains his memory. With the help of the local people the Doctor and Mel must stop the Rani from completing her experiment which could allow her to alter the course of evolution itself.
Not a great way to start off the new Doctor. Though I did find the special effects rather effective. This episode also debuted the first CGI TARDIS. And this was with 1987 technology. And of course most of the episode was filmed in a rock quarry. Though right off the bat you can tell that Sylvester McCoy is having a blast. And no matter how many pipes and hills Mel has to climb though or over, her pants stay amazingly clean. My mom would KILL to be able to do that. But most of these are just technical squabbles. I try not to let that interfere with my enjoyment of the story which I did enjoy for the most part. I thought the overall plot was just a bit weak. It felt like they were stretching a two-parter into a four-parter. I really do seem to be of two minds on this don’t I? I liked it, but it wasn’t all that great. I guess knowing that Ghost Light is in the Doctor’s future helps me a bit.
Time and the Rani is slated to be released on DVD on March 10th. So check it out and tell me what you guys think.

Doctor Who Costumes Up for Auction…

Richard Kirsch — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:17:10 +0000

A number of Doctor Who costumes are going under the auction block at the end of February. If ever you wanted to own a piece of Who memorabilia now is the time. Up for auction are a number of t-shirts worn during the second series as well as a lot of costumes worn by the various companions. Also up is the Tenth Doctor’s unlucky tuxedo as featured in the Series Two Cybermen two-parter, Voyage of the Damned and The Lazarus Experiment. The tux itself is expected to fetch somewhere between $3,100 to $4,700. A number of props are also slated to be ationed as well. Proceeds from the sale are going to be used to help produce new episodes of the Doctor Who series. So you know it’s for a good cause!

Go to Bonhams for more information.

[EDIT]
You have to pay when you sign up for the auction. The money collect for the sale of the catalogs goes to the Children in Need charity. Link has also been fixed…

Carey Mulligan Nominated for an Oscar…

Richard Kirsch — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:56:18 +0000

Actress Carey Mulligan was nominated today for a Best Actress Award for this year’s Oscars. Mulligan is best known amongst us Whovians as the best non-companion on Doctor Who. For those of you who are new, she played Sally Sparrow in the Steven Moffat written episode Blink. Mulligan was nominated for her role in the film An Education. In the film Mulligan plays Jenny, a girl growing up in 1960’s London who starts dating a much older man and gets involved in his playboy lifestyle. The film is based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Lynn Barber. Mulligan is in heavy company as other nominees include Oscar favorite, Meryl Streep, Helen Mirrien, Sandra Bullock and Gabourey Sidibe.

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Bill Nighy to be on Doctor Who…

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:52:20 +0000

Ok, for the two of you who said, “Who?” I will slap you with a fish. So there. Most mainstream audiences will know him as Davey Jones in the second and third “Pirates of the Caribbean” films. He’s also Slartibartfast n the film version of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and Shaun’s step-dad in “Shaun of the Dead” (which is my personal favorite performance. He’s even played Frodo Baggins’ hetero life-partner, Sam in the BBC’s radio adaptation of “The Lord of the Rings” back in the early 1980s. Oddly enough, Frodo was played by Ian Holm who wold later play Bllbo in the Peter Jackson films.
So, what am I getting at? Well, Neil Wilkes of Digital Spy has reported that Nighy will be on the tenth episode of the new season of Doctor Who. This will also make Nighy the fourth actor form “Shaun of the Dead” to make an appearnce on the show. What does that have to do with anything? Absolutely nothing. The episode was filmed over the Christmas holidays in Croatia and Cardiff. I won’t spoil anything by revealing who he plays. If you really want to know, head on over to the site itself.

How to Make Avatar Better

Richard Kirsch — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:51:50 +0000

I saw Avatar in 3D and all. I like Cameron’s films, I really do (even though I’ve only seen Aliens once…), but I was not really all that impressed. Looked like I was watching a video game. However, my best friend sent me this pic that woulda made Avatar a million times better had they gone with this!

Torchwood: US Branch…

Richard Kirsch — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:08:42 +0000

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Fox is looking to bring Torchwood to US audiences. Now after our little April Fool’s Day joke it may look like I’m just crying wolf, but I assure you, this one I did not make up. However, unlike most US versions of British shows, Torchwood will be retaining it’s original creative team. RTD, Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter are all said to be on board to produce the show in conjunction with BBC Worldwide Prods. And it may seem like John Barrowman might be joining the cast.
Not brought up in the article though is whether this show will be a total adaptation or will it be more of a spin-off, much like CSI: Miami, NCIS: Los Angeles, or Law & Order: Your Mom’s Room. My feeling is that Torchwood was a mandate brought up by Queen Victoria to protect the British Empire from extra terrestrial threats. So why would there be a US branch? But then again we have seen that Torchwood is very much active in the 41st century, so who knows. Personally I hope it’s more like a spin-off. I’m not sure it would work really well on it’s own. Not without Doctor Who’s history behind it. Another thing that worries me is how Hollywood handles the project. We’ve seen their take at before. But with RTD on board that kind of disaster might be avoided. My only other concern the show getting too watered down like ABC’s Life on Mars remake. If you have seen the original but have not seen the remake let me tell ya, it was awful. Though if you get the chance to see the original pilot that took place in Los Angeles and had Star Trek’s Colm Meaney, you can see what could have been. Another concern I have is the fact that in the US they want about twenty-two to twenty-four episodes per season. Would RTD and his creative team keep that up? That’s another thing that killed Life on Mars: USA. When the writers had gone through all the original scripts, they were on their own and they were awful. Well I guess right now we’ll just have to wait and see right?

I should also point out that there is a little blurb at the end of the article mentioning that Jane Tranter might try to reboot Doctor Who for the US market. Hey, maybe they’ll use my transforming dalek idea…

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Not Just the Doctor’s Companion…

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:51:31 +0000

After seeing the new trailer for Doctor Who I got to thought, “Ah, the new companion is a cop.” Made sense why in one scene the Doctor is holding a gun. But one thing that got me was a pic of the character Amy Pond wearing the uniform but with a miniskirt! Well Digital Spy reports that she is not in fact a cop, but a kissogram. Kind of like a singing telegram, but with kisses. Will this upset the Who fan base?

How about one more picture… just because.

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The Judoon Song…

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:24:00 +0000

I accidentally came across this on Youtube today. I found it amusing, maybe you will too. Though it’s stuck in my head now…

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David Tennant Pilot May Be Picked Up…

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:16:23 +0000

The NBC prime time schedule is going t be shaken up quite a bit after the Winter Olympics. Jay Leno couldn’t go into retirement quietly and his massively failed 10pm show is now going to be shortened and moved to his previous time slot when he was host of The Tonight Show. This means Conan O’Brien has been shoved back to midnight. That leads a big void in NBC’s schedule to fill.
For those who haven’t seen the previous report, Tennant filmed a pilot for a show called Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. He plays the title character who suffers from panic attacks when having to speak in the courtroom. So instead he acts as a coach to clients who wish to represent themselves. He costars with Heroes Sendhil Ramamurthy (Dr. Suresh), SNL’s and Conheads star, Jane Curtain, the fat kid from Stand By Me who is now married to X-Men’s Mystique, Jerry O’Connell and the awesome Jeffery Tambor. While NBC still has not commented officially on which shows will be picked up, Rex’s chances look awfully good.
For more info, go here: The Celebrity Cafe

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MarsCon, Next Weekend…

Richard Kirsch — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:53:31 +0000

Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Williamsburg, Virginia is MarsCon. It’s a sci-fi convention held every year up there. Friday night they will be having a Doctor Who panel at nine o’clock. I’ll be one of the guests on the panel. So if you can make it to MarsCon we’d love to see ya there!

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Eleventh Doctor Trailer….

Richard Kirsch — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:00:49 +0000

Well one thing missing from the final episode of David Tennant’s run on Doctor Who was a trailer so we can see what to expect in the upcoming series. You’ll get a look at the new TARDIS, new Console Room, new companion, and new, new, new, Doctor. And in totally unrelated news, I found this by way of Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion, both of whom I follow on Twitter. At the bottom you can vote as to who is the best gay/bi man of the decade. Right now it looks like Torchwood’s Captain Jack, John Barrowman is number one. Also on the list is Dr. Horrible’s NPH, LOTR’s Gandalf and the original Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu, George Takei.

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