"Deep Breath" - UK and Ireland Cinema Screening Details

The BBC have released more details regarding the "Deep Breath" cinema showings.  There will be a special event at Leicester Square which will feature a ‘never seen before’ five minute video from an upcoming Doctor Who DVD release and a special ten minute behind-the-scenes of episode 1 feature, followed by a Q&A with the guest stars that will be streamed live into participating cinemas across the UK and Ireland.  The Leicester Square tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am from Odeon.com whilst tickets for other participating cinemas go on sale from 11am.

As part of BBC Worldwide’s global event celebrations to mark Peter Capaldi’s debut series of Doctor Who, UK fans will have the opportunity to see the first episode of series 8 in cinemas in the UK and Ireland, as well as on BBC One, on 23 August 2014.  

To celebrate the launch of series 8, an exclusive cinema event will take place at London's Odeon Leicester Square on August 23 with some very special guests in attendance. 

This one-off event will feature a ‘never seen before’ five minute video from an upcoming Doctor Who DVD release and a special ten minute behind-the-scenes of episode 1 feature*, followed by a Q&A with the guest stars that will be streamed live into participating cinemas across the UK and Ireland. 

A limited number of tickets for the Leicester Square Cinema Event will be available to the public and can be purchased via Odeon.com, on Friday 1 August at 10am.Cinema tickets for other participating cinemas will go on sale Friday 1 August from 11am. 

More information regarding cinemas screening the episode and showing the live stream of the Q&A from the Leicester Square Cinema Event will be made available ondoctorwho.tv soon.This year’s screenings follow the huge success of the global cinema screenings for the show’s record-breaking 50th anniversary episode – The Day of the Doctor – in November 2013. In addition to the episode being simulcast on TV in 98 territories, fans were also able to enjoy the episode on the big screen in over 1500 cinemas around the world. 

Stephen Davies, Director for Live Events, said “Following the tremendous success of the 50th anniversary screenings, this is another wonderful opportunities for fans to get together to celebrate another major milestone and enjoy the amazing opening episode of the Peter Capaldi era on the big screen”. 

*The behind-the-scenes content will also available on BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer.

Series 8 - Entertainment Weekly Feature and Photoshoot

Peter Capaldi features on the front cover of the new issue of US magazine Entertainment Weekly.  There are interviews with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin together with a new photoshoot.  

Peter Capaldi thought he'd never be at the helm of the Tardis: “I wouldn’t have thought I would be the guy,” Capaldi says. “I wouldn’t have thought it would be me.” Why not? “Because of my age. I would have thought they were automatically heading younger.”  Steven Moffat, however, had other ideas:  “I did say, ‘No, we probably won’t end up with another quirky young man,'” says Moffat. “I didn’t think there was any space around Matt to have another Doctor of that kind, because he sort of sums up what you could do with that. I very very quickly, veryquickly just thought about Peter. There is no right age to be the Doctor.”

"Deep Breath" - 4 New Promo Images

The BBC have released 4 new images from "Deep Breath" - at the moment, the full size images are unavailable however I will replace this with the large versions as soon as possible.  Update: have replaced the BBC America logo'd versions with the BBC non-logo'd large size versions in the Coppermine Gallery.

Empire Magazine - New Issue Peter Capaldi Article and Photoshoot

The new issue of Empire Magazine - available on Thursday 31 July 2014 (I know the article on the Empire website states Thursday 31 August 2014 but that's actually a Saturday so I'm taking a punt on this Thursday!) - will feature an article about the new series of "Doctor Who" together with an exclusive photoshoot.  You can preview the article below - plus there's a pretty cool new photo:

Showrunner Steven Moffat and his new star are promising to take the show into little darker realms, paring it down to its key essence and stripping it of frippery and flirting. "It can become a kind of franchise where it's not a real character at all", cautioned Capaldi, "but just an amalgam of elements that people think are Doctor Who: a scarf, a bow tie... I wanted to be the actual Doctor Who."

Elaborating on the kind of man this new Doctor will be, Capaldi stressed his enigmatic qualities. "He's more alien than he's been for a while," he explained. "He doesn't quite understand human beings or really care very much about their approval." His co-star agreed. "With Matt's Doctor [Clara] felt quite safe, really," said Coleman. "She knew she'd be caught if she was in danger, but this guy is a lot less human-friendly and a lot less patient. He's more removed and inaccessible. You can't quite access him in the same way."

Cold fish or not, fans should feel in safe hands, because Capaldi has solid Whovian bona fides. "Doctor Who was a part of being a kid in the '60s with The Beatles and Sunday Night At The London Palladium and smog and bronchitis and all that stuff," he enthused in Empire. "I think it's part of my DNA."

Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular - UK Tour Dates 2015

The BBC have announced that the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular will tour the UK in 2015.  There will be a limited run of 12 performances in six major cities: London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow.

It features over 100 performers and is conducted by Ben Foster, who conducts and orchestrates the musical scores for the TV series. Music will be performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and members of the BBC National Chorus of Wales.

The show features a host of the Doctor’s famous adversaries including the iconic Daleks and Cybermen, the spine-chilling Silence and many more fan favourites. The live monsters provide a dramatic contrast to the evocative and thrilling music written by Murray Gold, who has been responsible for composing music for the series over the last eight years, including the record-breaking (and BAFTA award-winning) 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor.

The show will also feature Murray’s latest score and footage from the forthcoming series 8, which will be broadcast around the world later this summer. The live music will be accompanied by a big screen presentation of key moments and specially edited sequences from the past 50 years of Doctor Who.

Guest Presenters will be revealed early in 2015.

There will be two performances a day - 3pm and 7.30pm - at these venues:

SSE Arena, Wembley, London - 23 May 2015
Motorpoint Area, Cardiff - 25 May 2015
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham - 26 May 2015
First Direct Arena, Leeds - 27 May 2015
Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle - 28 May 2015
SSE Hydro, Glasgow - 29 May 2015

Tickets will go on general sale via the event and box office websites at 9am on Friday 1 August 2014, with prices starting at £20 per person.

Fans will be able to book early - from 10am on Wednesday 30 July 2014 - at the SeeTickets website. Special Merchandise Packs will also be available:

Platinum Edition - £50 + £6.50 UK Shipping (signed for) - limited to 3000 units includes tshirt (limited edition, not available on tour), Souvenir Programme with variant cover, Tour Poster Lithograph (limited, numbered edition not available at venues), Souvenir Ticket (not available at venues) and Limited Edition Tour Laminate and Lanyard (not available at venues).

Standard Edition - £30 + £4.00 UK Shipping (signed for available for £6.50) - TShirt (different to platinum edition package and not available at venues), Souvenir Programme (identical to version sold at venues).

Peter Capaldi Interview and Photoshoot - Sunday Times

Peter Capaldi is interviewed in today's Sunday Times and below you will find scans of the photoshoot accompanying the article.  Larger versions are in the Coppermine Gallery.

In his first interview since being revealed as the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi discusses growing up with the show, his feelings about accepting the role, the evolution of his costume and his rock and roll years with Craig Ferguson.  Highlights include:

On the Cybermen:

"There is a conflict among fans but I'm trying to get the Mondasians back."

About receiving scripts from the producers when he sent them fan mail in his youth:

"It was like being allowed inside the Magic Circle, the point I knew I wanted to be part of this world."

Regarding his Doctor:

"There'll be no flirting, that's for sure.  It's not what this Doctor is concerned with.  It's quite a fun relationship, but no, I did call and say 'I want no Papa-Nicole moments'.  I think there was a bit of tension with that at first, but I was absolutely adamant."

"One thing the show does well is balance the epic and the domestic.  You can go from the edge of the universe to a pedestrian precinct.  This Doctor loves watching stars being born in Andromeda; he's also thrilled to see litter blowing across the supermarket at dawn."

And what about Series 8?

"We still blow a lot of shit up.  That's very important, but it's going to be a bit different from what we've seen over recent years.  A bit more gravity.  Some situations are more sombre and I think there are more rooted dramatic scenes.  Over the past two or three years, which I've loved, there has often been a breathless vigour; we still have that attack but we have another level of drama, another tone.  And the scenes are longer."

The Sunday Times is available from most supermarkets and newsagents priced £2.50.

Video - New Series 8 Teaser Trailer

The BBC have released another teaser trailer for Series 8 - it's called "Listen"...

"Deep Breath" to be screened globally in cinemas

Try as they might, it seems nigh on impossible for BBC Worldwide to keep anything a secret.  Confirming the widespread rumours, BBC Worldwide today confirmed that the first episode of series 8, "Deep Breath", will be screened globally in cinemas:

BBC Worldwide is delighted to announce that the first episode of Doctor Who Series 8 - Peter Capaldi’s debut season in the iconic role - will be screened in cinemas around the world from 23 August 2014. 

This year’s screenings follow the success of the global cinema release ofDoctor Who’s 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor which was screened in over 1500 cinemas around the world, allowing fans to come together to watch the show like never before. 

Doctor Who makes a spectacular return to the big screen in the feature-length premiere episode of Series 8; Deep Breath. Directed by acclaimed Director Ben Wheatley (Sightseers, A Field in England) and written by Lead Writer and Executive Producer Steven Moffat, the beginning of the Twelfth Doctor’s era stars Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, Jenna Colemanas his companion Clara Oswald and sees the return of fan favourites The Paternoster Gang - Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) and Strax (Dan Starkey) – in a pulse-racing adventure through Victorian London. 

Steven Moffat comments, "Last November the Doctor didn't just conquer the world on television, he did it in the cinemas too. And like the show-off he is, he can't resist another go - one taste of the silver screen is never enough. On August 23rd the new Doctor will begin his new adventures on BBC One and in cinemas all over the world. Movie-land beware - Capaldi is coming to get you!" 

Doctor Who: Deep Breath will be screened in participating cinemas around the world from 23 August, 2014. More information will be released by BBC Worldwide and participating cinema chains over the coming weeks. For all of the latest information please visit http://doctorwho.tv/watch/cinema. For information on all Doctor Who events and products visit doctorwho.tv and sign up for the newsletter.

I'm sure one day BBC Worldwide will manage to surprise us all...

Photos - Karen Gillan - Guardians of the Galaxy - London Premiere

Courtesy of farfarawaysite.com, below are photos of Karen Gillan from the London Premiere of "Guardians of the Galaxy".  Larger versions are in the Coppermine Gallery:

More Details Announced for 50th Anniversary DVD/Blu-Ray Collection

More details regarding the much rumoured 50th Anniversary Collection on DVD and Blu-Ray have been revealed.  The boxsets are limited to 4000 units on DVD and 6000 units on Blu-Ray.  The set will feature:

The Name of the Doctor
The Night of the Doctor
The Day of the Doctor
The Time of the Doctor
An Adventure in Space & Time
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot

Extras:

Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide
The Science of Doctor Who
Doctor Who Proms 2013
The Last Day
The Day of the Doctor Readthrough
The Day of the Doctor Cinema Intros
Deleted Scenes
Behind the Scenes action
BBC America Documentary: Tales from the Tardis
BBC America Documentary: Farewell to Matt Smith

This will be the first time that "An Adventure in Space and Time" will be available on Blu-Ray in the UK.  The set will be released on 8 September 2014 in the UK.

Update:  The set is now available to Pre-Order from the BBC Shop.  The DVD Set is £28.99 and the Blu-Ray set is £31.99.

Photos - Karen Gillan - "Guardians of the Galaxy" - LA Premiere

Last night saw the Los Angeles Premiere of the new Marvel film "Guardians of the Galaxy" starring Karen Gillan as Nebula.  Below, courtesy of farfarawaysite.com are some photos from the event.  More photos - and of a larger size - are in the Coppermine Gallery:

Cybermen at St Paul's...Again

It's St Paul's again - Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez, along with a troop of Cybermen are filming near St Paul's echoing the 1968 story, "The Invasion".   These scenes are apparently for the Series 8 finale.  The steps used in 1968 no longer exist - replaced with a slope with the odd small set of steps - so it certainly appears to be a present day setting.

Good to see that these are Neil Gaiman's Cybermen - I really like them but I do wish they'd change the voices.  They can be a tad difficult to understand at times.

For those who haven't seen it, here's the iconic photo from 1968:

New BBC Worldwide Statement on the Series 8 Leaks

BBC Worldwide have released a new statement regarding the recent script/unfinished episode "leaks":

We would like to thank Doctor Who fans everywhere for their amazing efforts in helping us contain the recent leaks. 

The mistake was damaging and resulted in the exposure of five scripts and the first six unfinished episodes from Series 8 on a publicly accessible FTP site.  While there is still a risk that this leak will result in more of this content emerging, so far the impact has been contained to a limited amount of this material through a combination of fans efforts and the plan that we put in place using new technology and internal manpower to limit any illegal activity. 

We would particularly like to thank the fansite moderators and Doctor Who devotees who have actively protected the programme. 

BBC Worldwide has taken this issue extremely seriously and disciplinary action has been implemented as a result of the incident. 

Our sincere apologies again to Steven Moffat, the cast and production team who toil long hours to make the show in Cardiff, the BBC, and of course the fans who expect so much better. 

So, an apology, a thank you and disciplinary action.  You'd like to think they'd learn from this - but seriously, don't hold your breath.

Doctor Who Global Tour - "Deep Breath" BFI London Screening

Well, it was sort of odds-on that the BFI would be involved.  It is a good venue - even though I think it's a wee bit small now for this kind of thing.  However, Thursday 7 August 2014 is the date and 6.30pm is the time.  So, with the Cardiff premiere taking place the same day at 12.15pm, they may well need a quick getaway to zip to London.

As usual, the BFI will hold a ticket ballot.  There are 2 separate ballots - for BFI members and for non-members.

Ahead of our major season ’Sci Fi – Days of Fear and Wonder’ commencing in October, the BFI is proud to present the feature-length premiere episode of the new series of Doctor Who entitled Deep Breath. Written by Steven Moffat and produced by Nikki Wilson, this will see Peter Capaldi launch as the 12th Doctor, one of TV’s most iconic roles, alongside Jenna Coleman as his companion Clara. 

Tickets £16, concs £12 (BFI Members pay £1.50 less). 

Tickets to this event will be balloted and you can apply for up to two tickets online at any time before 20:30 on Sunday 20 July. At that point tickets will be allocated to applicants at random to ensure the fairest allocation possible. All applicants will be informed if they’ve been successful by Thursday 24 July.

Any unclaimed ballot tickets will go on general sale at 11.30 AM on Monday 28 July.

For more information and the ballot links simply go to the BFI Website.

 

Screencaps - Doctor Who Series 8 Trailer

Courtesy of "Life, Doctor Who & Combom", a batch of screencaps from the Series 8 trailer have been uploaded to the Coppermine Gallery.  Samples below - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions.  The ones in the Coppermine Gallery are slightly larger.

You also might be interested in the fact that Jonathan over at Life, Doctor Who & Combom has done a pretty awesome breakdown of the trailer.  You can also download a zip file of all the screencaps on the same page. 

Global Tour - Sydney and Seoul Details Confirmed

BBC Worldwide - yes..them - have announced the details for the Seoul and Sydney stops on the Global Tour.  The team will visit Seoul on 9 August 2014 and the event will take place at the IFC Mall:

Seoul is the first city for the world tour with main actor and actress from Doctor Who on 9th of August. 

BBC Worldwide today announced that the very first Doctor Who Global Publicity Tour will land in Seoul on Saturday, August the 9th. Korea is the first stop in the major global publicity tour to launch the new series of Doctor Who and introduce Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor.The twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi and the Doctor’s on-screen companion, played by Jenna Coleman will land in Korea on 9 August and will spend the day with Korean fans and media. 

The fan event will take place at IFC mall on the 9th and will start with a special fan screening of the new season's first episode. After the screening, Peter and Jenna will meet with Korean Doctor Who fans. The fan meeting will take place at 5.00pm at the atrium of the mall and is open to all. 

To celebrate the Korea stop of Doctor Who: The World Tour, there will be competitions where fans can win tickets to the screenings that will take place in multiple cinemas. More information about these competitions will be released later this week. Fans can follow doctorwho_kor on twitter for details.

The Sydney "fan event" takes place on 12 August 2014 at the Stage Theatre:

Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi and his onscreen companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) will be live on stage at the State Theatre, Sydney for a one-time-only fan event on Tuesday 12 August.  

Following on from last year's smash-hit 50th anniversary celebrations for Doctor Who, BBC Worldwide is thrilled to be bringing the stars of the show to Australia as part of a major global tour to launch the latest series and introduce fans to the new Doctor.  

Join the stars for an exclusive Q&A hosted by long-time Doctor Who fan, Adam Spencer, and be the first in Australia to see Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor with a special screening of the feature-length premiere episode of the new series.   Fans will also be given the opportunity to put some of their own questions to the stars.

Details of the rest of the itinerary are expected to be announced very soon.

Video - New Doctor Who Series 8 Trailer

At halftime during the World Cup Final, the BBC aired the following cracking trailer for Series 8:

"Deep Breath" rough cut appears online...

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you'll know that recently, due to a BBC Worldwide "open" server, the scripts for the first five episodes of Series 8 appeared online.  On the same server were mp4s of the first five episodes - these didn't appear online so we all thought they hadn't been downloaded.  "Deep Breath" has now hit the internet.  It's a rough cut, black and white version with no cgi and "BBC Worldwide" watermarked all over it.

Originally, I wasn't going to comment on this.  As with the scripts, I have no intention of finding this or downloading it.  Quite rightly, the blame is being laid solidly at the feet of BBC Worldwide - their history of cock-ups is quite extensive.  A technical point - BBC Worldwide and the BBC are not the same thing.  BBC Worldwide is the commercial arm but it is wholly owned by the BBC.   I've no doubt the BBC themselves are angry and fit to burst about this - it harms their product after all.

Now, Steven Moffat said something interesting at London Film and Comic Con yesterday - he said that the script leaks had been "horrible, miserable and upsetting" for the Doctor Who team and then commented that "they were stolen, it's theft".  He also used a "you wouldn't steal from a car with an open window" analogy.  That's quite true - just because a door or window has been left open doesn't mean you go inside and nick stuff.  BBC Worldwide were incompetent idiots for leaving this window open...but what about the person/people who saw this and immediately stole the material by downloading it?  Why not simply inform the BBC and BBC Worldwide about the server?  Is it because the download culture online is so extensive that it's taken as being normal behaviour?

We've all done it - we've all downloaded things online.  The difference in this case being that this is stolen material that was not going to be broadcast.  Have no doubt - this IS illegal.  Some sites are saying that the Police are involved - I hope they are.  This needs to stop.  Heads should roll at BBC Worldwide but the person or people who blatantly stole this material from their server and spread it around need to be heavily punished too.

Here's the latest statement from BBC Worldwide - they also point out the illegality but their investigation is going to be watched very closely and I think it's only right that their conclusions are made public:

"This is part of BBC Worldwide's ongoing security investigation into leaked unfinished Doctor Who materials. This content is currently being removed and originates from the same Miami server we disabled last week, it is not a new issue. We'd like to thank the amazing Doctor Who fans who are continuing to keep fansites and social media spoiler-free but would remind anyone downloading and sharing this material that it is illegal to do so."

I can't tell you what to do.  You guys will have to make up your own minds on this but, be honest, do you REALLY want to see a rough, cgi-less black and white version?  You want to illegally download something because you can't wait a few weeks to see the proper, finished version?  Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat and the production team deserve a bit more respect - they've worked their socks off and the very least we can do is wait until the finished version is transmitted.  

I'll get off my soapbox now....

Promo Images - Karen Gillan - "Selfie"

ABC have released a nice batch of promo images for Karen Gillan's new project - "Selfie".  Larger versions are in the Coppermine Gallery: