Doctor Who games for Nintendo

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Evacuation EarthEvacuation EarthBack in March there was a report that Nintendo had signed a £10m deal with BBC Worldwide to produce games based on Doctor Who. Various online shops have now listed two games to be released: on the DS platform comes Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth, whilst the Wii platform will see Doctor Who: Return to Earth; it is uncertain when these scheduled to be released (Amazon lists them for the 29th October, Play for the 19th November).

The game has also been classified by the Australian Government for release in the country.

No other details on the games are known at present.




FILTER: - Games

Meglos - Coming to DVD

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: MeglosThe BBFC has classified an trailer for the fourth Doctor story Meglos, indicating it is due for DVD release in the next few months.

Meglos was the second story of Season 18, and was first broadcast between 27 September and 18th October 1980. Alongside Tom Baker as the Doctor it stars Lalla Ward as Romana and John Leeson as the Voice of K9.

The story also saw the return of the actress who played Barbara Wright, one of the original companions in Doctor Who, Jacqueline Hill, who played Lexa in the story. Bill Fraser also appeared as General Grugger, Frederick Treves as Lieutenant Brotadac, Colette Gleeson as Caris, Crawford Logan as Deedrix and Christopher Owen as Earthling.

The story was written by John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch and directed by Terence Dudley.

Meglos was released on VHS in March 2003 and when released on DVD will see the completion of Season 18.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Seeds of Doom - Extras

Tuesday, 24 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who: The Seeds of DoomThe BBFC has cleared extras for the October release of the 1976 fourth Doctor story The Seeds of Doom, which, as previously reported, will be released in the UK on 25th October 2010.

  • Pod Shock (The making of) 37'14"
  • Playing in the Green Cathedral (Featurette) 10'02"
  • So what do you do exactly? (Featurette) 15'35"
  • Stripped for Action - The Fourth Doctor in comic form 20'17"
  • Easter Egg 1'13"
  • Easter Egg 0'08"
  • Photo Gallery 4'45"
  • TV Continuity 1'23"

Some of the previously announced extras for the Revisitation Box have also been cleared. The documentaries accompanying the re-release of the 1996 TV Movie have a duration of 53'52" for The Seven year Hitch and 17'09 for The Doctor's Strange Love.




FILTER: - Classic Series - Blu-ray/DVD

Doctor Who - The Adventure Games - TARDIS

Friday, 20 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus
The Adventure GamesThe third instalment of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games will be available from 27th August.

The game will be based around the TARDIS with players exploring the famous blue box and visiting rooms created specially for the game, such as the Doctor's drawing room, full of treasures from his many adventures.

Lead Writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, told the official Doctor Who website
Since 1963, kids have wondered what it would be like to control the TARDIS. Now we're handing complete control of the most powerful ship in all of space and time to a generation of children. Everybody duck. TARDIS is a brilliant, brilliant adventure. It's funny, touching, terrifying, amazing - everything a Doctor Who episode should be.

The game features the voices of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan and is executive produced by Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis and Anwen Aspden from BBC Wales Interactive, alongside Charles Cecil. Music is by Murray Gold and TARDIS is written by James Moran, who wrote the Tenth Doctor story The Fires of Pompeii.

UK players will be able to download the game free of charge from the BBC official site. Users outside the UK will be able to purchase and download the game from Direct2Drive.




FILTER: - Online - Games

SFX200 Poll Results

Thursday, 19 August 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The results of the sci-fi poll undertaken for the SFX magazine's 200th issue have been announced, and Doctor Who continues to prove its popularity in the genre.

The Doctor took top place in the Favourite Hero category; runners up included Ianto Jones in fourth place, and his former boss and partner Captain Jack Harkness trailing in the number eleven slot! In the Favourite Heroine category, Donna Noble was fourth, Rose Tyler in eighth place, and Sarah Jane Smith was tenth.

For Favourite Villains, The Master topped the poll, with Dalek creator Davros fourth. Unsurprisingly his creations The Daleks claimed the title for Favourite Monsters, Supernatural Beings & Fantasy Creatures, with other favourite The Cybermen stomping into thirteeth place.

In other categories, the Favourite Robots & Androids category featured K9 in fifth place, whilst Favourite Anti-Heroes, Accidental Good Guys And Dodgy Do-Gooders included Captain John Hart (James Marsters in Torchwood) in third place.

You can view the full results at the SFX website, and the 200th issue of SFX hits stores next week.




FILTER: - Magazines - Awards/Nominations

The Doctor to the rescue!

Thursday, 19 August 2010 - Reported by Chuck Foster
One ShowMatt Smith and Karen Gillan are to appear on The One Show, it has been reported today. The two will be joining new presenter Chris Evans on his first show tomorrow (Friday).

The Sun reports that the pair came to the rescue of the show, which was having difficulty in booking a guest for the DJ's first outing on the revamped BBC1 magazine programme.

Update: The One Show's official site information on the Friday programme:
Chris Evans makes his debut on The One Show sofa with Alex Jones.

The stars of Doctor Who, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan, join them to chat about fish and chips, action heroes and bird-watching. In homage to the great British fish and chip supper, they'll be seeing if they can run across 1000 litres of batter at the end of the show!




FILTER: - Karen Gillan - Matt Smith

Torchwood: The New World

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus
TorchwoodStarz have published more details of the upcoming Torchwood co-production with BBC Worldwide. The series is due for transmission in the summer of 2011.

SERIES SYNOPSIS
When C.I.A. agent Rex Matheson investigates a global conspiracy, he finds himself unearthing a threat which challenges the entire human race. The answers seem to lie within an old, secret British institute, known only as Torchwood. But Torchwood was destroyed, years ago, and the keys to the institute are held by its only two survivors - former Police Officer Gwen Cooper, who has long since disappeared along with her husband and child, and the mysterious Captain Jack Harkness, a man whose history seems to stretch back centuries.

With Rex under attack from all sides, in both the US and the UK, he soon discovers there are forces at work within every level of society, determined to stop Torchwood's return. As a chain of events across the world links together the most disparate and unlikely individuals - including a surgeon, a killer, senators and CEOs - a new Torchwood team takes shape. But this time, the threat is much closer to home, as they realize that their greatest enemy is mankind itself...
CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS (John Barrowman)
Jack looks like a hero. But he's so much more than that...

He's American, handsome, with a killer smile and a classic coat. But you don't expect heroes to be this much fun. He's witty, fast, subversive and there's a reason for that glint in his eye - he'll sleep with women, he'll sleep with men; if aliens invade, he'll sleep with them too. Got a problem with that? Tough! His dashing style hides a secret. There are mysteries about Jack - a man going under his name seems to have a history stretching back to World War 2, or even earlier, to the Nineteenth century, the Eighteenth...

Truth is, Jack Harkness is immortal. A fixed point in time and space. The only one of his kind. For thousands of years, he has never been able to die. When killed, he comes back to life - seconds later. Though his tragedy is, he feels every death. It hurts - and so does the passage of time. He can never love anyone for too long, because he will always lose them. As a result, he's lived many lives. He's been a conman, a thief, an adventurer - though more a rogue than a villain, because his perspective on human life makes him appreciate this world all the more.

Jack once ran the Torchwood Institute, a British organization dedicated to fighting the strange and bizarre. He was king of his own little world for a while, the happiest he'd ever been. But Torchwood fell. His friends were killed. The Institute closed down, and Jack disappeared, to start yet another of his many new lives. And yet... The only thing that could call Jack Harkness back is his unstated love for Gwen Cooper. And when a new, epic danger affects the whole planet, Jack finds himself back at the center of events, fighting not just for his own life, but for everyone on Earth. But this time, are the stakes too high?
GWEN COOPER (Eve Myles)
All Gwen wants is a quiet life. Honest.

She's Welsh, lives in seclusion, far away from the city, on a cliff top in the wilds of South Wales with her devoted husband, and baby Anwen - it's a rural idyll. And it's a lie. Gwen is in hiding, because she once lived the most extraordinary life. She was the heart and soul of an organization called Torchwood, a freelance band of fighters who fought the strange and unexplained. She was a defender of the human race.
But no more. Torchwood was destroyed. Her colleagues died, or fled. And Gwen hid herself away, for the rest of her life, to protect her loved ones. But knowing, just knowing, that one day trouble would come calling again.

She lives the ultimate double life: the funny, salty, earthy woman who loves home and family, combined with the tough, ruthless warrior, who loves the thrill of the fight. She's both selfish and selfless. And never doubt it - when Gwen's in a crisis, she is magnificent. Gun in both hands, baby strapped to her chest, she'll run and fight and never give up.

It's passion, in the end: Gwen's all about passion. She loves her man, she loves her child, she loves this mad old world, and maybe she loves Captain Jack Harkness just a little too much. But when the events of this story push Gwen to the limit, she'll need to call on resources she never knew she had, to take action and make the most terrible decisions, on behalf of all mankind.
REX MATHESON (Actor TBD)
He’s 28, the golden boy.

Has been, all his life. Harvard education, fast-tracker in the C.I.A., destined for success. Though he’s never taken it easy – Rex hustles, seduces and campaigns to get where he is today. He can talk his way into anything, then charm his way out, fast. He’s made a lot of enemies, but his friends and lovers would defend him to death. His choice of career is significant. Someone like Rex could make a fortune in Wall Street, or Hollywood. But choosing the C.I.A. says a lot about him: that for all his swagger, he does believe in justice. And will fight for it.

Slowly but surely, we see him make friends. He’s thrown together a bunch of people known as Torchwood, the only people who might have the answer to a global mystery. To Rex, at first, they’re a bunch of freaks. Welsh women and World War 2 Captains, what’s that about?! But as they race from one crisis to another, dodging assassins, blackmail, corruption and conspiracy, from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai, Rex forges friendships in the heat of fire. He learns to trust his new colleagues. And they realize that this dangerous, dazzling, reckless man is the best friend they could ever have, in a world going to hell.
They frighten us, men like Rex. We wish we were him; we never will be.




FILTER: - Torchwood - Miracle Day (Series 4)

Karen Gillan in Glasgow

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Karen GillanFans of Karen Gillan north of the border will get a chance to meet the actress when she visits Hamleys toy store at the St Enoch Shopping Centre in Glasgow, on 28th August.

The event, which runs from midday until 2pm will see Gillan signing copies of the new Amy Pond action figure. Fans should collect a wrist band from the store, available from 9am, to ensure their place in the queue.

Talking about the visit Gillan said,
I'm so excited to be travelling up to Scotland to introduce fans to my new Amy Pond action figure, I can't wait to meet everyone.




FILTER: - Special Events - Karen Gillan

Help design a Sarah Jane Adventures game

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus


BBC Blast has launched a competition looking for young designers, aged between 13 and 19, with fresh ideas to work with their teams and help create a new The Sarah Jane Adventures game for CBBC.

The competition runs until 5pm on Monday, 11th October 2010. The task is to make some sound effects and/or design a spaceship for the Krulius, an alien on The Sarah Jane Adventures website.

Up to 8 winners will get the chance to attend a two day master class on 23rd and 24th October 2010 with leading industry professionals involved in games design. They will work alongside sound designers, visual designers and games executives to produce an online game for The Sarah Jane Adventures website.

To enter in the sound category you need to record 3 different sound effects for the Krulius. He should have a sound for each of the following:-
  • When he moves
  • When he breathes out his toxic breath
  • When he uses the digital bio-converter and modem on his wrist
Each sound should be up to 10 seconds long so that the whole entry is no longer than 30 seconds.

To enter in the visual category you need to design a spaceship for the Krulius including a special feature which will be useful to him. You could draw it, paint it, create a collage for your design and digitally manipulate it.

To accompany either entry, you need to write a description of no more than 200 words on the creative thought behind your entry and how the sounds were made or why the special feature on the spaceship will be useful to the Krulius.

Full details and resources for you to use are available on the BBC Blast website.




FILTER: - Online - Games - Sarah Jane

Doctor Who: Demon Quest Preview

Wednesday, 18 August 2010 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Demon QuestBBC Audiobooks have posted a preview of the forthcoming release of Demon Quest to their Facebook Page.

The audio adventure follows on from the hugely successful Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest adventures. Tom Baker reprises his role as the Fourth Doctor, alongside a cast including Susan Jameson as Mrs Wibbsey and Richard Franklin as Mike Yates.

The first part is released in the UK on 2nd September and in the US on November 16.




FILTER: - Audio - Tom Baker