Fantom Events over the Spring Bank Holiday week

Monday, 25 May 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Time Space Visualiser (Credit: Fantom Events)

Fantom Events have planned a number of online activities for Doctor Who fans over this Spring Bank Holiday week:

Monday: Time Space Visualiser 7. This will be the usual mixture of brand-new interviews and features, with a variety of guests from all eras of the programme,including Philip Hinchchliffe, new series director Keith Boak and costume designers Louise Page and Hayley Nebauer. Commencing from 5:00pm.
Tuesday: The Unsung Heroes of Doctor Who. As well as new episodes of Alex Moore’s ongoing series acros the week at 6:00pm, Tuesday will also live streaming of a further three episodes at 8:00pm.
Wednesday: Time Space Visualiser 8: The Enemy Within. A mini presentation celebrating the 1996 television movie, which will be broadcast after TARDIS Monkey’s anniversary Tweetalong at 8:45pm. For more information about the tweet along follow the hashtag #ItsAboutTime.
Thursday: Another Fantom Zoom Pub Quiz for everyone to join in with; the questions will be fiendish, but the faces will be friendly! The quiz will start at 8:15pm, to pre-register contact the Fantomteam.
Friday: Time Space Visualiser 9: The Wilderness Years. A mini presentation taking a look at what happened during the period between Survival and Rose, from 8:00pm.
Saturday: Time Space Visualiser 10. Join Dexter and Paul, and Jason in Social Hub from 5:00pm.

All their online events can be watched via their YouTube channel.

FILTER: - Fantom - Online Events

The Unsung Heroes of Doctor Who

Tuesday, 19 May 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Fantom Events have announced a brand-new lockdown project celebrating the “unsung heroes” of Doctor Who.

Hosted by Alex Moore, this series of YouTube videos aims to tell the behind the scenes story of those members of the cast and crew whose perspective might normally go untold.

The series will be launched with a special live stream from 8pm BST on 20th May with four episodes featuring Lee Sheward (stunt co-ordinator for Doctor Who and Torchwood); Shaunna Harrison (provided the make-up for Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe and Paradise Towers); Philip Brown (who played the Seventh Doctor double in The Day of the Doctor) and Gareth Milne (who played George Cranleigh in Black Orchid and stunt doubled for both Michael Cochrane and Peter Davison. Other credits include Warriors of the Deep, The Caves of Androzani and Vengeance on Varos).

Each subsequent episode will go live weeknights at 18:00 from 25th May and will occasionally feature as part of our regular virtual conventions Time Space Visualiser.

Series highlights include:

Nick Joseph (Supporting Artist on The Creature from the Pit, The Leisure Hive, Black Orchid, Terminus and The Mark of the Rani)
Ralph Wilton (Production Assistant for Shada and Production Manager on Arc of Infinity)
Jim Dowdall (Stunt Performer on Day of the Daleks, The Sea Devils, The Time Monster, Genesis of the Daleks, Frontios)
Rocky Taylor (Stunt Performer on The Idiot’s Lantern. He also has uncredited roles in The Daleks’ Master Plan and The Curse of Peladon)
Alan Spalding (Designer for Revelation of the Daleks)
Damon Jeffery (The Curse of Fenric and Survival)
Matthew Savage (Design assistant for series 1 and 2 of Doctor Who. He was also an associate designer and assistant art director for series 1 of Torchwood)
Mickey Lewis (Dalek Operator in Asylum of the Daleks and Into the Dalek, an alien in The Rings of Akhaten, the Third Doctor’s body double in The Day of the Doctor and a cyberman in The Doctor Falls, Ascension of the Cybermen and The Timeless Children)

Host Alex Moore said:

It is wonderful to speak to so many people about the making of Doctor Who and their wider careers. We can bring new perspectives from different voices.

The interviews will be available for free at the Fantom Events website, where you can also find all of their weekend online Time Space Visualiser events and a host of other new and archive material created during the pandemic.

FILTER: - Fantom - Online Events

Doctor Who Collection range discussion

Monday, 11 May 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

An interview has been released online featuring Chris Chapman, one of the main contributors to the ongoing range of Doctor Who seasons being released on Blu-ray. The producer/director chatted about the challenges of creating fresh features and insights for the stories previously released on DVD, including those on the latest release, Season 14, and hinted about existing/potential developments planned for the future of the range.

The interview is available courtesy of Fantom Events.

Doctor Who Newscast: Season 14 Bluray Secrets! With Chis Chapman, via Youtube

FILTER: - Blu-ray/DVD - Fantom - Online

Power Of The Daleks: special edition details discussed

Monday, 4 May 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Animation director and producer Charles Norton appeared as a guest on last weekend's Time Space Visualiser convention organised by Fantom Events online, during which he discussed the new special edition of The Power of The Daleks with Toby Hadoke. The interview is available to watch online from the Fantom Events YouTube channel.

Charles Norton interview on YouTube, courtesy of Fantom Events

The Power of the Daleks: Special Edition is due to be released in July.

FILTER: - Animation - Blu-ray/DVD - Fantom - Online

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Sweet Revenge

Sunday, 26 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar has released its latest free-for-download short story:

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Sweet Revenge (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

The Lucy Wilson Mystery: Sweet Revenge
Written by Paul W Robinson

Lucy Wilson is stuck in isolation, away from her best friend Hobo Kostinen. Life for Lucy is boring and slow, especially when aliens aren’t following the lockdown rules! How can Lucy and Hobo defeat the monsters, but stick to the two metre rule?

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries is a Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off adventure inspired by characters created for Doctor Who by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln.

Prolific writer Paul W Robinson is new to the world of Lucy Wilson and, following in the footsteps of Jonathan Macho, has written a story especially for fans during lockdown. He says:

I love science fiction and have always been a fan of Doctor Who, but I knew nothing about The Lucy Wilson Mysteries until I worked with Shaun from Candy Jar on my novel Charlie Abroad. Shaun was kind enough to send me the first three or four books and after that I was hooked.

Sweet Revenge recognises that people, and even aliens, aren’t always what they seem. Paul continues:

I have always liked writing about strong female characters to try to redress the balance. Lucy Wilson is strong, fearless, resilient and quick-thinking. And Hobo’s no pushover either!” Although only young, like the Brigadier, Lucy Wilson is a valiant hero. There is much more to her than meets the eye!

Publishing co-ordinator at Candy Jar, Keren Williams, is excited to showcase Paul’s talent. She says:

We’ve been working with Paul on a number of projects recently including something rather special to be released later this year. When we asked him to contribute a short story he immediately understood the tone we were after and delivered a cracking adventure for all of us who are stuck at home.

To download Sweet Revenge visit the Candy Jar website.

FILTER: - Candy Jar Books - Online

Double up on Doctor Who event viewing this Saturday

Saturday, 25 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

There's not one but two Doctor Who related online events taking place today. Starting at 10:00am BST, the Doctor Who Appreciation Society present The Capitol: CONtact has been made, and from 2:00pm BST Fantom Events present their fourth online event, Time Space Visualiser. Both will be broadcast on the organisations' respective YouTube channels and can be viewed afterwards for those in different time zones to the UK, as well as a host of other archive material from previous events also available to enjoy.

The Capitol - CONtact has been made (Credit: DWAS)

The Capitol: CONtact has been made
Presented by the Doctor Who Appreciation Society (via YouTube)

We're delighted to announce The Capitol CONtact has been made, a virtual event that will launch at 10.00am BST on Saturday 25th April. We have specifically chosen this time and date as it’s when The Capitol FIVE was originally scheduled to get underway.

CONtact has been made will be available at our You Tube Channel DWASonline, and features panels from the first four Capitols in their entirety. We are very grateful to our wonderful guests for giving us permission to make them available in these troublesome times as we continue to battle against the invisible enemy.

Panels will include Steven Berkoff talking about Shakespeare, Sylvester Stallone & Hitler, and Jon Culshaw trading blows with Terrance Dicks in a unique double header.

Time Space Visualiser 4 (Credit: Fantom Events)

Time and Space Visualiser
Presented by Fantom Events (via YouTube)

We are back this Saturday with our fourth online convention, bringing you a hectic mixture of brand new interviews, special features, competitions, and archive material, broadcasting live and direct on YouTube… all completely for FREE.

This week we are honoured to have our first Doctor joining us; the seventh Doctor SYLVESTER McCOY is taking part in a specially recorded interview for the event.

Of course any Doctor needs his loyal companions, and we have three of his fabulous friends. KATY MANNING (Jo Grant/Jones), JOHN LEESON (K9) and DAN STARKEY (Strax) will also be joining in the fun.

And if that wasn’t enough, we have brand new interviews with a trio of wonderful guest stars. GRAHAM COLE is best known to Doctor Who fans as The Melkur, but is probably more familiar as PC Tony Stamp in The Bill. JESSICA MARTIN was Mags (and also the voice of the Queen) and also read one of our new stories recently. And finally, JASON WATKINS, one of the most recognisable faces on television right now, who was also a guest star in NIGHTMARE IN SILVER.

FILTER: - Conventions - DWAS - Fantom - Online - Online Events - Sylvester McCoy

#RTWatch: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Friday, 17 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Radio Times are presenting their second Torchwood-oriented Twitter viewing event tonight, this time focussing on the arrival of Jack's former colleague Captain John Hart.

To join in, simply pop in your DVD or Bluray disc of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, or access a streaming service such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video, iTunes or Google Play, and then hit play at 8:00pm BST / 3:00pm EDT / 5:00am AEST / 7:00am NZST and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #TorchwoodIsReady

John Barrowman will be tweeting his thoughts during the viewing alongside co-stars Naoko Mori, Burn Gorman and Gareth David-Lloyd, after which they will be participating in a live Q&A.

FILTER: - John Barrowman - Online Events - Radio Times - Torchwood

#DoctorWhoLockdown: Heaven Sent

Tuesday, 14 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The next shared Doctor Who viewing organised by Doctor Who Magazine's Emily Cook takes place this evening (UK) in celebration of Peter Capaldi's birthday:

To join in, simply pop in your DVD or Bluray disc of Heaven Sent, or access a streaming service such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play or Netflix, and then hit play at 8:00pm BST / 3:00pm EDT / 5:00am AEST / 7:00am NZST and share your viewing experience!

Tweet #HellofaBird

The Twitter discussion will include insights from writer Steven Moffat, director Rachel Talalay and the embodiment of the Veil, Jami Reid-Quarrell.

Heaven Sent: Global Simulcast Trailer

There is also a special message from the Doctor himself, Peter Capaldi, in advance of the discussion:

As promised, ahead of today's #HellofaBird watchalong with @StevenWMoffat, @rtalalay and @JReidQ...

Here's A NOTE FROM PETER CAPALDI! ⭐️#DoctorWhoLockdown pic.twitter.com/52AmBUVKhw
— Emily Cook (@Emily_Rosina) April 14, 2020

FILTER: - Online Events

#DoctorWhoLockdown: Rory's Story

Sunday, 12 April 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Last night's shared viewing of The Doctor's Wife on Twitter was introduced by a new specially written scene featuring Arthur Darvill reprising his role as Rory Williams, updating his diary with events about to occur ...

Doctor Who: LOCKDOWN | Rory's Story

The minisode was written by Neil Gaiman with special music composed by Blair Mowat, who has also made the short score available to listen to via Soundcloud.

Recent #DoctorWhoLockdown extras have included a special introduction to The Day of the Doctor by Strax, a sequel to Rose, Revenge of the Nestene, a short story to accompany Rose, The Raggedy Doctor by Amelia Pond.

All involved in the making of these videos contributed their time and talent for free. If you enjoyed them, please consider making a donation to The Film and TV Charity's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, to support the creative community which has been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic by donating here.

FILTER: - Arthur Darvill - Online Events

Read the first thoughts of the Thirteenth Doctor

Wednesday, 25 March 2020 - Reported by Chuck Foster

The Doctor, as played by Jodie Whittaker (Credit: BBC)

The BBC will be releasing a number of items related to Doctor Who over the coming weeks, with today seeing a new short story featuring the thirteenth Doctor written by showrunner Chris Chibnall.

The writer said:

Hello! We’re living through some strange times right now.

With people staying home, and families stuck together, I thought maybe a few little presents from Doctor Who might help. Something to read, together or alone. New treats, from the people who make Doctor Who.

We’ll try and post things here once or twice a week. Tomorrow, we’ll have a never-before-published piece written by Russell T Davies.

To start us off, I’ve written a few words about what went through the Thirteenth Doctor’s head, immediately after she regenerated and was thrown out her TARDIS.

Stay safe.
Chris x

You can read the short story via the official BBC Doctor Who website.

FILTER: - Chris Chibnall - Doctor Who - Online

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