Tagged: BBC

ComicMix Politics: Zimbabwe’s Mugabe holding missing Dr. Who episodes?

ComicMix Politics: Zimbabwe’s Mugabe holding missing Dr. Who episodes?

  • News
  • February 22, 2009

This is a weird one. As you may know, Doctor Who has been running since 1963. A number of the earlier episodes are missing, because some bozo at the BBC decided to save money by destroying some old episodes to make room in their library, including a number of episodes starring the first two Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Once they realized what had happened, massive searches got under way to find what was lost. But despite years of searching, the broadcaster is missing 108 of 752 episodes.

Well, according to the London Sun, it turns out there’s a place where a bunch of them could be– Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe bought the first season of the show when it was still the British colony known as Rhodesia. The BBC suspects the historic series, together with later episodes not held anywhere else in the world, may still be locked away in a vault.

So what’s the problem? The current leader of Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe, hates hates hates the British. Mugabe still blames their former colonial ruler Britain for its economic chaos, and last year called the British Government “thieving neo-colonialists”. President Mugabe has banned the BBC from setting foot in the country. On the other hand, Mugabe and Zimbabwe needs money, and there would be a lot of money in DVD sales if copies do exist.

So we’ll have to wait and see. One day, he may really come back after all…

Tom Cruise Mulls Becoming a Champion

Tom Cruise Mulls Becoming a Champion

  • News
  • December 20, 2008

Tom Cruise and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie are becoming a formidable duo with three different projects in the works.

The two met during the production of Valkyrie, opening this month, which McQuarrie wrote for his other pal, director Bryan Singer.

McQuarrie had already been developing The Champions, based on the old BBC series with producer Guillermo del Toro and now United Artists’ co-owner may star in the project, the studio’s best chance at creating its own super-powered franchise.

The series lasted all of one season, 1968-1969, and was syndicated in America a few years later. It featured “the adventures of a team of secret government agents who are rescued from a Himalayan plane crash by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities.”

McQuarrie and Mason Alley are writing Flying Tigers, based on the volunteer fighter squadron formed to help the Chinese fight the Japanese before the U.S. entered World War II, for New Regency.  The subject has been near and dear to Cruise who may now be interested in acting in the production.

Finally, Spyglass hired McQuarrie to rewrite The Tourist, an espionage drama, for Cruise to appear in with Charlize Theron.
 

BBC Plans New ‘Day of the Triffids’ Adaptation

BBC Plans New ‘Day of the Triffids’ Adaptation

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

With the global ecology a hot topic these days, it’s little surprise the BBC is planning a new version of the classic tale The Day of the Triffids. It all started with the 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by John Wyndham.

The story, according to the BBC tells of “Bill Masen, who awakes in a hospital after treatment for temporary blindness caused by a sting from a genetically modified plant, a triffid.”

"The first 45 minutes of 28 Days Later are the first three chapters of The Day of the Triffids, marginally modified with the addition of zombies," said Dr Barry Langford, senior lecturer in film and television at Royal Holloway, University of London.

The novel received immediate acclaim was first adapted for BBC radio in 1953, 157 and 1958 before the 1962 feature film.  The BBC did subsequent productions in 1971, 1973 and 1980.

It was also adapted by Marvel in 1975 for an issue of their Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction while a British television series was produced in 1981. The new production is being written by Patrick Harbinson (ER).

"The triffids are perhaps to us a more potent threat than even in Wyndham’s time," Dr Langford added.

Andy Sawyer, librarian at the Science Fiction Foundation Collection at the University of Liverpool, told the BBC. "It has become relevant. There is a lot more anxiety about bio engineering now."

The images of empty cities was a haunting one in the book and one which continues to resonate in post-apocalyptic fiction including next year’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

Showtime Developing Sci Fi series

Showtime Developing Sci Fi series

  • News
  • December 9, 2008

Syns, a project initially developed for the BBC is now being shaped at Showtime as a new cable drama. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series is about “a world in which humanlike synthetic organisms, known as Syns, are used for various purposes.”

John McNamara, who was a consulting producer on CBS’ Jericho, is developing the project with Supernatural supervising producer/writer Sera Gamble, who is writing the pilot. The original series was developed under the title Dolls’ Hospital by Stephen Volk (Afterlife) for the BBC before they abandoned the concept.

Clerkenwell Films is producing with Pangea, the scripted arm of RDF USA. Chris Coelen, CEO of RDF USA, said the project will have "light sci-fi elements, but it’s really meant to be rooted in the real world."

"They have taken an option to develop a US show based on the UK version. It’s still in the early stages, but hopefully it will go to series," is all a spokesman for Clerkenwell would say.

‘Life on Mars’ Co-Creator Praises American Incarnation

‘Life on Mars’ Co-Creator Praises American Incarnation

  • News
  • November 29, 2008

Life on Mars is the successful translation of the 16-episode BBC series to America.  Not every translation has worked, as noted by the cancellation this season of The Ex-List, which came from Israel.

Life’s co-creator,  Ashley Pharoah, told reporters in New York that he thinks this interpretation works very well. "I think it’s marvelous. We’re really very proud of it," he said. The producer was in Manhattan receiving Life‘s second International Emmy for best drama.

He praised the decision to replace David E. Kelley as the showrunner which led to a new cast a chance in locale from Los Angeles to New York. "It was sun-drenched and rather pleasant," said Pharoah.. "The whole point of our show in Manchester and the one in New York is to show those mean streets and show how much has changed in these 30 years.

"They’re changing the mythology, which I think is all right," Pharoah said. "It has to be different. Otherwise everyone just goes on YouTube and sees how it ends."

On the BBC version, the show wound down when actor John Simm decided the sixteen episodes were enough.  Therefore, his time-tossed detective died and ended the series on a downbeat note.

"Even we worried about that," said Pharoah. "Some people back home didn’t like the ending, but that was the end we had in mind from the beginning."

Writer-producer Cameron Roach also doesn’t mind the changes.

"I think it’s good that it ends in a different way," Roach said. "It keeps the American audiences guessing."

BBC Opens up ‘Doctor Who’ Archives

BBC Opens up ‘Doctor Who’ Archives

  • News
  • November 22, 2008

Doctor Who is about to turn 45, young for a Time Lord but old for a television character.  To celebrate, the BBC has opened up it s archive which has detailed information on the series from its early development through current production.

Among the fascinating artifacts is a 1962 report discussing whether the BBC should make a sci-fi drama, concept notes written in 1963 forming a summary of ideas for just such a program, and background notes by C E Webber and Sydney Newman in which they outline the format for the new series that had been christened Doctor Who.

The site welcomes fans and says:

“Explore the origins of a TV legend with this collection of documents and images. It’s now the number one family favorite, but Doctor Who had a difficult birth, emerging from the imagination of some of BBC Drama’s top minds.

Here, we tell the story of the creation of Doctor Who from the very beginning, starting with a report on the possibility of making science fiction for television and leading up to the moment a new drama series is announced in the pages of Radio Times.”

Seven Doctors, No Waiting

Seven Doctors, No Waiting

  • News
  • October 13, 2008

We mentioned a rumor that the annual BBC charity special for Children in Need this year might feature a reunion of previous doctors along with the current Doctor, David Tennant.  Now London’s Telegraph is report that the seven surviving actors who have played the Doctor will be reunited for the special, to air November 14.

An insider at the BBC told the paper, "It’s a pretty ambitious idea and it’s still being finalized. Everything is being kept under wraps but Doctor Who fans are in for a big treat."

The Doctor has been seen on the special for the last several years and the producers have carefully woven his short escapade into the current dramatic series continuity.  Last year, for example, saw Peter Davison meet Tennant.

Reportedly joining those two will be Tom Baker, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Tennant’s predecessor in the current revival, Christopher Eccleston.

The first trio of performers to essay the role — William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, and Jon Pertwee – have all passed away.

Davison’s daughter, Georgia Moffett, has been seen on the current series and is currently dating Tennant.

In related news, Tennant and his most recent companion, played by Donna Tate, have been nominated for the National Television Awards’ Outstanding Drama Performance. Tennant has won twice before and will go head-to-head with Tate who played Donna Nobel.  There’ll be no Doctor Donna winner in this, the first time male and female stars will compete in the same category. The Doctor Who stars face competition from Ashes to Ashes’ Philip Glenister and The Bill’s Alex Walkinshaw.
 

Albert Finney to Appear in ‘Doctor Who’

Albert Finney to Appear in ‘Doctor Who’

  • News
  • September 23, 2008

With the news that Albert Finney has been cast for one of the Doctor Who 2009 Specials, speculation is running at Blogtorwho that he will reprise Winston Churchill, a part he’s played on television in the past.

So, it’s probably best to sum up all that we know to date about the four Specials and the annual Christmas story so we can keep fact from fiction straight.

The 2008 Christmas Special, entitled "The Next Doctor" according to the BBC, will guest star David Morrissey (The Other Boleyn Girl) and Dervla Kirwan (True Dare Kiss) and air on the BBC in December.  No American airdate has been announced.

The four 2009 specials have two written by producer Russell T. Davies, one written by Davies and Phil Ford and one by Davies and Gareth Roberts. Two are expected to be filmed in the United States.  One will feature the characters of Donna Noble(Catherine Tate) and her grandfather, Wilf (Bernard Cribbins).  The Master (John Simm) will be back for one story. Brian Blessed has been announced but either as Yrcanos or someone new. George Moffett will be back as the Doctor’s daughter Jenn.

As for opponents beyond The Master, the site says a scene from the season finale featuring Cybermen aboard the TARDIS was cut (but is expected on the DVD release) and may set up the first Special. The Sea Devils, last seen in 1984’s “Warriors of the Deep”, are said to be coming back.

The first special is currently scheduled to air in the UK next April. The second special may not air until Christmas time and then the final two are set to run the week following.

Finally, a new Children in Need special is rumored as being planned fopr their November 14 broadcast which will feature former Doctors Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and Colin Baker.  To raise funds, a behind-the-scenes tour of the studios where Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood are filmed is being offered as a prize in this year’s BBC Children In Need appeal.

Cardiff will play host to 100 competition winners, who must be UK residents, and their friends and families on November 8 and 9, during a brief gap in the production schedule.

Russell T. Davies said in a release, "This is so exciting. Giving fans the opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes look at where we film Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures is just brilliant.

"It’ll be the perfect opportunity for the whole family to experience something unique and truly extraordinary. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience – and the best thing is that all the money raised will go towards BBC Children in Need."

To be in with a chance of winning a place on the tour, people will have to correctly answer a multiple-choice question. This will be announced on Friday, September 26 on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and on BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru. It will also be available on the official Doctor Who website, along with the full terms and conditions.

Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #12 – “The Stolen Earth”

The hit BBC series Doctor Who is now in its fourth season on the Sci-Fi Channel, and since we’re all big fans here at ComicMix, we’ve decided to kick off an episode-by-episode analysis of the reinvigorated science-fiction classic.

Every week, I’ll do my best to go through the most recent episode with a fine-tooth comb (or whatever the “sonic screwdriver” equivalent might be) and call out the highlights, low points, continuity checks and storyline hints I can find to keep in mind for future episodes. I’ll post the review each Monday, so you have ample time to check out the episode once it airs each Friday at 9 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel before I spoil anything.

Missed a week? Check out the “Doctor Who in Review” archive or check out any of the past editions of this column via the links at the end of this article.

Keep in mind, I’m going to assume readers have already watched the episode when I put fingers to keyboard and come up with the roundup of important plot points. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!

Let’s begin now, shall we?

Season Four, Episode #12: “The Stolen Earth”

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SDCC: Vertigo and WildStorm News

  • News
  • July 27, 2008

Vertigo and WildStorm — both imprints of DC Comics — talked about their respective futures at a couple of Comic-Con panels.

While Vertigo (led by editors Karen Berger and Will Dennis and a ton of creators) talked about an array of new projects and the Vertigo Crime imprint, WildStorm had just a little bit of news on already existing properties.

Newsarama has an exhaustive roundup of the Vertigo panel, including some insight into Vertigo Crime:

New Vertigo Crime books that are coming out include Dark Entries, a new book by writer Ian Rankin with Werther Dell’edera artist. Rankin is best known as the writer of the Rebus novels, on which the BBC show is based. "It’s using the character of Constantine from Hellblazer," Dennis said. The story follows what happens when John Constantine is called in to investigate what went wrong on a reality television show.

Filthy Rich is a new Vertigo Crime book by writer Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos, an artist from Spain. "Basically, it’s a story of a big man who makes even bigger mistakes through his life," Azzarello explained. "He is hired to be a clandestine bodyguard for a wealthy automobile heiress."

Filthy Rich takes place in the early ’60s so it has that "upbeat vibe," he said. "It’s all about the celebrity culture of wealth and why people find that fascinating."

Meanwhile, CBR kept tabs on the WildStorm panel.

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