Screencaps - BBC America Doctor Who Insider - Season 6 Part 1

More screencaps as requested.  A batch from BBC America's Doctor Who Insider - Season 6 Part 1 - have been uploaded to the Flickr gallery.  Samples are below (usual drill - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions) and feel free to take and use:

Screencaps - Matt and Karen - Wired at Comic-Con

Thanks again for the requests - this one had a quite a few.  Screencaps of Matt and Karen's interview with Wired at Comic-Con.  They're in the Flickr Gallery - samples below (right click and open in new tab/window for large versions) - please feel free to take and use:

Jenna-Louise Coleman confirmed for Christmas 2013 and Series 8?

An interview with Jenna-Louise Coleman in "The Evening Standard" has stated that she is confirmed for the 2013 Christmas Special together with Series 8.  They say:

It has just been announced that the 50th anniversary episode will be in 3D, and Jenna-Louise’s multiple Clara Oswin Oswalds have been confirmed for the 2013 Christmas special and series eight. 

The full interview is here and it's not spoilery.  She talks about her family, her career and, of course, "Doctor Who":

‘I didn’t really know anything about Doctor Who but Steven really liked that. It meant that when I went into the audition with Matt Smith I could be more spontaneous because I didn’t know him as the Doctor. And the plot seemed to evolve from audition to audition, with more scenes being written, and characters being introduced. There were times when I thought they had no idea what they wanted.’

Interestingly, the article appears to confirm Matt's involvement in the Christmas special too:

She has just found out that this year she will have a three-month break from filming Doctor Who when Matt Smith goes to America to star in Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut How to Catch a Monster and was immediately on the phone to her agent, keen to start setting up meetings to find something to fill the slot. ‘They said, “Just calm down, Jenna.” ’ But I don’t think that is possible for her, not in this quantum reality.

Sounds good to me!

Thanks to Ruther2 for the heads up.

Screencaps - BBC America Insider - "Farewell to the Ponds"

Another batch of screencaps for you - this time from the BBC America Insider "Farewell to the Ponds" video.  They're in the Flickr Gallery (samples below - right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions) and feel free to take and use:

"An Adventure in Space and Time" - Original Console Room

Some behind-the-scenes photos have emerged on twitter from "An Adventure in Space and Time" showing the return of the original Console Room plus the scrapyard from "An Unearthly Child".  How fantastic do David Bradley and the rest of the cast look?  Of course, speculation is rife that perhaps the set will also be used for the Anniversary special...

Video - Gallifrey One 2013 - Steven Moffat Interview

Ed Stradling interviewed Steven Moffat prior to Gallifrey One - and the interview was screened at the convention on 17 February 2013.  Ed has very kindly uploaded the interview to youtube so we can all enjoy it ... and yes, the Moff DOES mention the Anniversary and says "don't believe the nonsense about one 60 minute film...":

The Who Shop - A Celebration of the Third Doctor

Continuing their celebration of 50 years of Doctor Who, the next event in The Who Shop schedule is the "Celebration of the Third Doctor".  Taking place on Saturday 6 April 2013 and with guests confirmed so far of Katy Manning together with both Michael and David Troughton, the full press release reads:

“Reverse the Polarity of the Neutron Flow!”

THE WHO SHOP

PRESENTS

A CELEBRATION OF THE THIRD DOCTOR

SATURDAY 6TH APRIL 2013

We are delighted to announce our third in a series of events dedicated to 50 years of Doctor Who. This time, it's all about the action packed Jon Pertwee.

It is our pleasure to announce the following guests to the event:

Katy Manning

(Jo Grant)

David Troughton

(Private Moore – The War Games,

King Peladon – The Curse Of Peladon,

Winfold Hobbes - Midnight)

& welcoming Michael Troughton

Tickets only £40.

Included in your ticket price are two autographs per guest (Does not include photograph).

10x8 photograph will be available at £10 and include an autograph.

Further personal Items can be signed for £5 each on the day.

A limited edition, 100 only print of all the guests together will also be available on the day.

Tickets can be purchased either in store, or over the phone.

There will be a professional photographer taking photographs with guests. Photograph sessions can be booked in advance over the phone or in store at £10 per guest or £20 for all guests together.

These personal photographs also include an autograph from the relevant actors.

To ensure entry, please bring your ticket on the day. Tickets are non transferable.

Tickets are bought the event, and not for the guests attending.

All guests appear, subject to work commitments.

The event will be taking place at The Who Shop Convention Suite in West Ham Football Club. If you have any other questions about the event, please do not hesitate to contact the shop directly.

We look forward to seeing you at the event.

The Who Shop

39-41 Barking Road, Upton Park, London, E6 1PY

www.thewhoshop.com | info@thewhoshop.co.uk

0208 471 2356 | twitter.com/thewhoshop

www.facebook.com/thewhoshopofficial

"An Adventure in Space and Time" - Reece Shearsmith cast as Patrick Troughton

The Radio Times has exclusively revealed that Reece Shearsmith has been cast as Patrick Troughton in the upcoming Mark Gatiss drama "An Adventure in Space and Time".  A couple of filming photos are below and the full cast so far is:

David Bradley as William Hartnell (the first Doctor)

Brian Cox as Sydney Newman (BBC head of drama)

Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert (Doctor Who’s first producer)

Sacha Dhawan as Waris Hussein (Doctor Who’s first director)

Lesley Manville as Heather Hartnell (William’s wife)

Reece Shearsmith as Patrick Troughton (the second Doctor)

Jeff Rawle as Mervyn Pinfield (Doctor Who’s associate producer)

Andrew Woodall as Rex Tucker (BBC producer)

Ian Hallard as Richard Martin (Doctor Who director)

Jamie Glover as William Russell (companion Ian)

Jemma Powell as Jacqueline Hill (companion Barbara)

Claudia Grant as Carole Ann Ford (the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan)

Sarah Winter as Delia Derbyshire (musician at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop)

William Russell (the original Ian Chesterton) as Harry

Reece Pockney as Alan

Daleks Invasion Earth - 2013AD

Photo courtesy of Mark Gatiss

In the wee small hours of this morning, the "Adventure in Space and Time" crew set about recreating one of the most famous images from "Doctor Who" in the Sixties: the Daleks trundling across Westminster Bridge.  This led to one of the most fabulous traffic updates ever from TfLTrafficNews:

The filming of Doctor Who has finished at Westminster Bridge, the Daleks are in the process of being removed.

 You can watch Mark Gatiss' set report below:



The BBC also have a photo gallery here.

Screencaps - BBC America Insider - "The Power of Three/Angels Take Manhattan"

Due to the fact that "The Power of Three" insider video was so short, I've decided to combine it with "The Angels Take Manhattan".  Screencaps from the two insider videos are in the flickr gallery - samples below (right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions) - please feel free to take and use:

BFI Doctor Who at 50 to screen "Robots of Death"

We all wondered which story the BFI would choose to screen for the Tom Baker section of their "Doctor Who at 50" event - and, rather wonderfully, they've chosen "Robots of Death".  A fabulous and, I think, underrated story.  Written by Chris Boucher and standing firmly in the classic "Holmes and Hinchcliffe" era, it tends to have been somewhat overshadowed by the following story transmitted - "The Talons of Weng-Chiang".

"Robots of Death" will be screened at the BFI on Saturday 20th April 2013 at 2pm.  Guests are yet to be announced.  Tickets will go on sale to Champion Members on Monday 4 March 2013 and to Standard BFI Members on Tuesday 5 March 2013.  Non BFI members can purchase tickets from Tuesday 12 March 2013.

This one will definitely be worth it - how can you pass up the chance to see the beauty of the Robots on the big screen?  Not to mention the terrific D84 with his classic line of "please...do not throw hands at me..."

Video - BBC Drama Showreel 2013

At the BBC Drama Showcase last night, not only did the BBC announce that the 50th anniversary would be in 3D but they also screened a video of upcoming drama highlights.  The video included a couple of clips from Season 7B (seemingly from the Mark Gatiss episode).  You can watch the BBC Media Centre video below (youtube version at end of this post)



Youtube version courtesy of merlinnetwork2

50th Anniversary - in 3D

At the BBC Drama Showcase this evening, the BBC Controller of Drama, Ben Stephenson, announced that:

As part of the BBC's blockbuster celebrations to mark the Doctor turning 50, fans will be able to see the Time Lord and his adventures like never before - in 3D!  To be broadcast using some of the BBC’s HD capacity, Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, said:  “It's about time. Technology has finally caught up with Doctor Who and your television is now bigger on the inside. A whole new dimension of adventure for the Doctor to explore."

At the moment, it's unknown whether it will only be available via 3D televisions or whether it will be similar to the "Derren Brown 3D Magic Spectacular" on Channel 4 where you could buy the 3d glasses via Sainsburys supermarket.

Update:  According to "The Guardian", the BBC are "working out the logistics" of special cinema screenings of the 3D episode:

"It's a nationwide celebration of both Doctor Who and the BBC because I think they are so synonymous. We will be doing a big Doctor Who special in 3D which is very exciting and feels very innovative," he said. 

"We will be doing it on cinema screens as well. We are working out the logistics of that at the moment because we need to make sure the main BBC1 experience remains absolute value for money for the audience."

Confirmation that the Ice Warriors will return...

Photo courtesy of the BBC

SFX bagged themselves an exclusive earlier today by posting confirmation that the Ice Warriors will return in Series 7B.  Speaking to SFX, Caroline Skinner said:

"We’ve got the most fantastic episode by Mark Gatiss where we are bringing back the Ice Warrior… on a submarine! It’s a really wonderful kind of ‘bunker’ episode, and a classic monster which Mark has brought his own inimitable twist to.”

Their return has long been rumoured - with Matt Smith dropping the odd hint at the "11th Hour" convention last year - but it's nice to finally get confirmation.  If you look closely in the "Coming Soon" trailer you can see a clawlike hand gripping a chap's throat:

It's been almost 40 years since we last saw them - in 1974's "Monster of Peladon" - and they've been a bit unpredictable ... sometimes they're the out and out villains but occasionally they've been "friendly".  Caroline Skinner goes on to say:

“We wanted to bring them back because they’re wonderful!  In the mix of stories that we were planning for this year it felt as if doing something very bold with a monster that hadn’t been seen for a while would be really cool. Mark is an enormous fan of the Ice Warrior stories and came up with the idea. The sense of a monster of that scale and that size trapped in a really small, contained environment such as a submarine was a really brilliant story to be able to tell. And obviously we’ve had a huge amount of fun going back to the traditional designs and recreating them, bringing the Ice Warriors back to life again."

I've loved the Ice Warriors for years - I really can't wait to see their return.

Read the full article in SFX.

Screencaps - BBC America Insider - A Town Called Mercy

The next batch of screencaps from the BBC America Insider series (this time from "A Town Called Mercy") are now up in the Flickr gallery.  Samples below - as usual, right click and open in new tab/window for larger versions.  Feel free to take and use.

Doctor Who - Celebrating 50 Years of Fandom

FTS Media are planning a documentary to find out what 50 years of "Doctor Who" means to the fans themselves.  There will be interviews with writer Robert Shearman together with a host of fans - and this is where we come in.   They need backers in order for them to interview and contact as many fans as possible. This isn't just any old documentary though - we've seen previous ones where fans have been portrayed in a rather negative light.  This documentary will do just what it says on the tin - "celebrate" fandom and the passion that not only kept the show alive but is helping it go from strength to strength.

There are various packages for backers - and you can see them all on their Kickstarter Pledge page.  You can back the project with as little as £1 but, personally, I've selected the £20 package (you get a limited and rather beautiful "Doctor in the Dark" Matt Smith print as a thank you).  Here are further details about the project and please, please get involved - if only to promote it widely on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, etc:

This November Doctor Who celebrates its 50th anniversary, and we want to join in with the party! 

Doctor Who fans are like no other, devoted to the time lord and his companions, but vilified for their passion. We want to know why. Why Doctor Who? Why so much enthusiasm? And why is it so different from any other hobby? 

Where other documentaries have lingered on the negative side of fandom, we want to celebrate the passion that lies within fans of Doctor Who, exploring the Whovian world and how the passion of the fans has kept the show alive. We'll explore how Doctor Who fans have incorporated their devotion into everyday life, from writing blogs and books, to those who make it their mission to collect every TARDIS Teapot, Dalek Duvet and Cyberman Clock!It's these things that we want to explore, because without these passionate fans, Doctor Who wouldn't be back on our screens for it's 50th anniversary celebration! 

The money donated to us through Kickstarter will be spent on a number of things. Mainly this will go towards the costs of equipment hire and post production costs. It will also help support transport to meet the various fans around the world. 

As mentioned, you can back the project at Kickstarter Pledge page

Neil Gaiman talks about Matt Smith and "The Last Cyberman"

In a recent interview with Australian site the music.com.au, Neil Gaiman briefly talked about his upcoming episode (confirming the title as "The Last Cyberman") together with his thoughts about Matt Smith.  You can read the full interview here but below is the relevant "Doctor Who" snippet:

Talking about the script that Gaiman wrote for Doctor Who (The Doctor’s Wife) the author professes his fandom begun at age three. He recalls hiding behind the sofa at his grandparent’s house during The Web Planet (1965). Neil laughs describing it as “my first televisual terror”. But as for a favourite Doctor, Gaiman is undecided? “I think it’s really hard,” he ponders. It used to be Patrick Troughton, because he was my doctor, the one I grew up with. Yet, Matt Smith is amazing, and it’s writing for him that gives me an increased awareness of how amazing [he is]. He is technically one of England’s finest actors. Matt for me is the only Doctor who really feels a thousand years old and a kid – he really is this ancient space alien.” 

When talking about upcoming work Gaiman mentions a new Doctor Who script. “I’ve written [one] that broadcasts in May. It guest stars Warwick Davis, Tamzin Outhwaite and Jason Watkins. The episode is called The Last Cyberman.” Pushed for more information, Gaiman responds, “It’s about identity, it’s about responsibility and it’s about porridge.”

Following his wonderful episode, "The Doctor's Wife", Gaiman has set high standards.  Whilst "The Last Cyberman" doesn't sound as emotional as "The Doctor's Wife", I rather think we're in for yet another treat from the Gaiman pen.  Can we have an episode from him every year please?

Screencaps - BBC America Insider - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

Next batch of screencaps from the BBC Insider series - "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" - are now up in the Flickr gallery.  Not as many this time - must have been a shorter video.  Samples below - and as usual, right click and open in new tab/window for the large versions.  Feel free to take and use:

Matt Smith to star in Ryan Gosling Film

According to Variety, Matt Smith has been cast as the male lead in the new Ryan Gosling directed pic "How to Catch a Monster":

"Dr. Who" star Matt Smith is ready to cross the Atlantic to make his U.S. acting debut, taking the male lead in the Ryan Gosling-directed pic "How to Catch a Monster."

Pic currently stars Christina Hendricks and Eva Mendes, and will mark Gosling's directing debut. 

Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce on behalf of Marc Platt Prods., along with Gosling via his Phantasma Films banner, and Michel Litvak and David Lancaster via the Bold Films banner. 

Story is set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city and centered on a single mother of two being swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town. Production is set to start this spring.The UTA and Troika-epped Smith has starred in a handful of BBC and British productions but never a stateside movie. 

His third season of playing the Doctor recently wrapped and he also recently directed the short film "Cargese" for Sky Arts series Playhouse Presents.

With filming due to start in May 2013, it looks like he will fly over to film once shooting on the Anniversary Special has wrapped.