Tagged: John Barrowman

New Who Companion To Be Selected “Idol”-Style

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Riding the wave of major West End productions being cast by popular vote on television, the BBC announced today that the next co-star for the popular science-fiction program Doctor Who will be selected on a new reality show talent competition.

The show, “No Xenon Impact” (An anagram of “Next Companion”) will be executive produced by Caro Skinner and Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the format of his reality show “How do you solve a problem like Maria?“, which cast the lead of the Sound of Music revival. The show will be co-hosted by John “Captain Jack” Barrowman and long-time Doctor Who fan and guest-star David Walliams.

DW Showrunner Steven Moffat admitted he was first “hesitant” at the idea, but admitted “It gives the show a mad new challenge – The Doctor never knows who his new friends will be, and now neither will we.”

The show will premiere on May 25th, a week after the second half of the current series of Doctor Who ends, and will run for six weeks.  Contestants (eight female, four male) will be drilled weekly on their acting and improv skill, their knowledge of the program, and what Walliams describes as “A whole lot of running.” Contestants will be voted on weekly by the viewing audience, and a different “guest alien” who “Exterminate” one or two hopefuls live on the program. Matt Smith and current companion (already confirmed to be returning for the eighth series) Jenna-Louise Coleman have agreed to appear for the series finale, where Matt will present a key to the TARDIS to the lucky winner.

Filming for the new eighth series of Doctor Who has yet to be scheduled; it is believed by many that this competition has been in the planning for some time, and the eighth series production has been scheduled to accommodate it.

David Tennant, Billie Piper in Doctor Who 50th

David-Billie-billie-piper-and-david-tennant-27911403-250-400Announced just hours before the series premiere this evening, the BBC confirmed the first casting information for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, and they started big.  David Tennant will make his return to the series, as will Billie Piper, reprising her role as Rose.

Tennant’s Doctor regenerated into Matt Smith on January 1, 2010; Billie was last seen in a cameo as Rose on the same adventure.  Rose left the Doctor two years previous, on “Pete’s World” a parallel Earth, in the company of a human clone of The Doctor, created as a result of the fight with the Daleks in The Stolen Planet / Journey’s End.  At this point, there’s no definite verification whether Tennant will return as The (original) Doctor or his Pete’s World clone.

Also announced as a member of the cast is John Hurt, British acting icon with quite a long resume in genre work, including Merlin, V For Vendetta, Elephant Man, Harry Potter, and 1984.

Tennant and Piper have spent much of the past months denying vehemently and whimsically their appearance in the series. David reported in a recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show that a representative arrived backstage to remind him not to talk about the special, “…and I don’t even know anything!”

Other actors associated with the show have been equally reticent about their appearance, and the few that have dropped tidbits have been rapped on the proverbial knuckles.  John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) announced that he was “talking” to the BBC to appear, only to have to retract that comment, followed by a tweet some weeks later stating definitively that he would not be appearing.

Filming for the new special begins this week, directed by Nick Hurran and written by Steven Moffat.  Odds are that news of additional casting will filter out over the next weeks, either officially or via the hordes of fans which will certainly descend on each location shoot.

A Doctor a Day – “The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances”

Using the new Doctor Who Limited Edition Gift Set, your noble author will make his way through as much of the modern series as he can before the Christmas episode, The Snowmen.

It’s mauve, and dangerous, and thirty seconds from the center of London.  The London of the Blitz, where one more metal canister falling from the sky barely got noticed.  But this one is a bit special, as it creates..

THE EMPTY CHILD / THE DOCTOR DANCES
by Steven Moffat
Directed by James Hawes

“Gimme some Spock, for once! Would it kill ya?”

Chasing a mysterious drone ship through time and space, the TARDIS lands in London during a German attack in the Blitz.  A band of homeless children are sneaking into homes during raids and eating people’s dinners, Rose meets up with a staggeringly handsome time agent from the 51st century (I know, what are the odds?) and a young boy in a gas mask is looking for his “Mummy”.

The drone ship is a mobile alien ambulance, the young boy is transforming people into empty zombielike creatures like himself, and the head of the homeless children has quite a secret to hide. Captain Jack Harkness has grabbed the remains of what he claims is a Chula warship, and dropped it into the timestream to attract the attention of a passing Time Agent. His plan is to sell it to them, but before they can inspect it, he’s placed in a spot where it’ll be blown up by a German bomb.  It’s basically a con job, to get back at the Time Agency for deleting two years of his memories.  Problem is, the ship wasn’t empty; it was filled with nanogenes, programmed to repair living beings.  the first one they found on earth, a small boy killed in the crash of the ship, was badly damaged, and once they fixed him, thought he was the proper template for the rest of humanity.  Only by showing the nanogenes how humans actually work can they fix things, and there’s only one person who can do it, if she makes a very brave choice.  And for once, nobody dies.

An absolutely chilling pair of episodes.  Using the darkness of a blacked-out London in an air raid, the mood of the story is dark and tense. The transformation of the victims of the child is one of the scariest bits of work the series has had. They actually edited out some additional sound effects of cracking and groaning flesh, because they thought it went too far.

Steven Moffat first offered his services to the BBC as a writer for Doctor Who at the age of eight. His entire career has been aiming toward the chance to finally do so, and this was his official shot, and he brought his A-game.  I say “official”, because as most fans know, he got to write the Comic Relief sketch “The Curse of Fatal Death”, starring Rowan Atkinson (et al) as The Doctor.  Moffat was able to keep to a promise The Doctor made in all of the episodes he wrote before taking over the series – “Everybody lives”.  For a show with a surprisingly high casualty rate for children’s entertainment, Moffat kept his death toll to zero for his entire series of episodes. Not something he was able to do once he took over; indeed, some say he made up for lost time.

This two-parter also features the first appearances of what may be the most popular new character of the new series, the inimitable Captain Jack Harkness. Jack Harkness plays a perfect foil to The Doctor, with plenty of tension and pissing contests for all. Russell took him and ran, bringing him on as a Companion, making him immortal, and then over to Torchwood, where he had quite a run indeed.  John Barrowman fit the role like a glove, and he gained the popularity an actor of his ability deserves.  In addition to being a host and presenter for many British TV shows, he’s made it to these shores on Desperate Housewives, and currently on Arrow as Malcolm Merlyn.  He is also firmly on my “‘I’m not gay, but” list.

The Point Radio: ARROW’s Aim Is Still True


As ARROW  hits the halfway mark of the TV season, fans and critics alike say it keeps getting better. We go backstage with the creators and cast to find out how they got this far, and what lies ahead for new characters including one played by fan favorite John Barrowman. Plus How about Captain Kirk, Ron Burgundy or Spock doing your voice mail message? It can happen if you hurry.

Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio  – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other  mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Mike Gold: Doctor Who Fans Can Barely Hold It

If you get off on anticipation and you also happen to be a Doctor Who fan, these are amazing times. We-all have so much to get excited about. To wit:

1)   The beginning of the next half-season, which will start in England any day now. The BBC likes to wait until the last minute to make their announcements; the show debuts in the United States, Canada and much of the rest of the world shortly thereafter. As of this writing, the season premiere is not on this Saturday’s schedule, so the August 25th rumor is likely untrue… unless the Pirates of the Caribbean movie presently in the Doctor Who slot is bunkum.

2)   The exiting of the two current companions at the end of the half-season, which may or may not involve killing one or both off.

3)   The Doctor Who Christmas Special, which is likely to be aired on or about December 25th and will feature the introduction of the Doctor’s new companion. The show will also feature the “return” of Richard E. Grant – he voiced the Doctor in the animated “Scream of the Shalka” and joined Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Grant, Jim Broadbent, and Joanna Lumley in Steven Moffat’s debut Who, the satirical “Curse of Fatal Death.

4)   The 50th anniversary of the show’s debut, which happened mere moments after the BBC announced the death of President John F. Kennedy. Talk about your dramatic lead-ins.

As hyped-up as we may be about the first three items on the above list, I’m far more amused by all the folderol around the 50th Anniversary. Writer/producer/showrunner Steven Moffat has been having enormous fun jerking the fans and media around, teasing the hell out of the event and roughly expanding our enthusiasm to apocalyptic proportions. Previous Doctors Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy and David Tennent have all publically committed to return “if asked,” and Christopher Eccleston has actually stopped saying he wouldn’t return under any circumstances, although his work on the next Thor movie might interfere with scheduling. Similarly, John Barrowman’s work on Arrow might mitigate his availability. Colin Baker noted he might have grown, ahem, a bit too big for the part. To me, that sounds like something Moffat can have fun with.

If Moffat is to be believed, there likely will be several or many 50th Anniversary events next year. My question is “will there actually be a regular 50th Anniversary season?” There will be a dramatic made-for-teevee-movie about the creation of the original television show, being produced by Moffat and written by his Sherlock partner Mark Gatiss. There’s quite a feminist hook in this tale, as the show’s original producer, the person who actually got the show on television, was Verity Lambert, one of the very, very few women in such a position at the BBC back in 1963.

Of course, we’ll see all sorts of Doctor Who comics from IDW – we already see all sorts of Doctor Who comics from IDW, including reprints of Dave Gibbons’ beautiful work on the feature – and there will be tons and tons of merchandising and convention thrills. I suspect Community and The Inspector will have something to say about it all as well.

So the rumors will continue to grow in mass, time and space, and the resultant brouhaha will keep the rabble at fever-pitch. Perhaps there will be TARDIS-themed Depends being marketed to those who can’t hold it in.

That’s right, guys. It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

THURSDAY: Dennis O’Neil waiting on shadowy rooftops.

 

John Barrowman Joining CW’s ‘Arrow’

John Barrowman Joining CW’s ‘Arrow’

Even though our reaction to the CW’s upcoming Arrow has been a bit mixed (we’re reserving judgement), we’ve now got at least one new reason to check out the show. According to ET, Torchwood star John Barrowman has joined the cast of Arrow in a recurring role.

The character is somewhat of a mystery at the moment, with Producers only saying Barrowman will play a “well-dressed man” who is “as mysterious as he is wealthy … he is an acquaintance of the Queen family and a prominent figure in Starling City.” Huh, that fits a few people in the world of Green Arrow. Or, it could be a completely new character.

Anyway, as you may know, the upcoming show centers around Oliver Queen, a wealthy young bad boy who, after spending five years shipwrecked on an island, returns to Starling City with a mastery of the bow and a determination to make a difference.

Arrow stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn, Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen and Paul Blackthorne as Detective Quentin Lance.

Arrow premieres Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 8PM on the CW.

Preview: ‘Torchwood: Miracle Day’

Preview: ‘Torchwood: Miracle Day’

Well, this will make Mike Gold happy:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVktcOQD1zA[/youtube]

Torchwood: Miracle Day starring John Barrowman, Mekhi Phifer, Eve Myles, Bill Pullman, Lauren Ambrose, Alexa Havins, Arlene Tur, and Kai Owen, premieres July 8th at 10 PM Eastern on Starz and will be endlessly rerun during the week. For more info, visit http://www.starz.com/torchwood

‘Torchwood’ Adds All-Star Guests. Lots of ’em!

OK, you know [[[Torchwood]]] is returning July 8th. And you know Bill Pullman is now part of the cast, joining John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen, and newcomers Lauren Ambrose, Alexa Havins, Mekhi Phifer, and Arlene Tur. You know this because it’s all been reported here on ComicMix, right?

Well, then. Let’s expand upon this some. This new season of Torchwood also has a whole bunch of interesting guest stars. In politically correct yet still tantalizing alphabetical order, we’ve got John DeLancie, Frances Fisher, C. Thomas Howell, Ernie Hudson, Wayne Knight, Nana Visitor (hot damn!) and Mare Winningham.

Not bad for a ten episode cable run. But that’s not all. There’s plenty more Torchwood ahead.

There’s going to be a Torchwood webcast series called Web of Lies, which will star Eliza Dushku. It’s being written by producer (and former Battlestar: Galactica, Dollhouse, and Tru Calling Buffy writer/producer) Jane Espenson, and she’s been Tweeting the news all over the smartphone world. There are implications that Dushku might appear in the next series on Starz/BBC.

Meanwhile, John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Kai Owen, Mekhi Phifer and Alexa Havins are doing new full-cast audio dramas for the BBC. A three-parter is currently being recorded in Los Angeles, with more coming in the future.

Man. Nothing for two years, and now more Torchwood than you can shake a stick at. I’m hyped; it’s my favorite teevee series.

US Torchwood To Play It Straight?

US Torchwood To Play It Straight?

There’s a report in Entertainment Weekly that the U.S. version of Torchwood – should it get picked up – will have a Captain Jack with more narrowed sexual interests. That does not please Captain Jack himself, actor John Barrowman.

Digital Spy reports the current Desperate Housewives guest-star “The last thing I would want would be for Jack to become this
heterosexual, straight hero. He’s an omnisexual guy. He likes men,
women, aliens, whatever. I think we should continue going down that
route.” He went on to say that if this is the case, it would foster a “big discussion” between creator Russell T Davies and his producing partner Julie Gardner. Davies, who is also an executive producer of the series, is a well-known gay and lesbian rights advocate, as is Barrowman. The actor did not say he wouldn’t be available for the series, nor did he say he’d resurrect the role if asked. Since the pilot is still in the script stage, nobody’s asked. However, Barrowman notes both Davies and Gardner said “there will be no Torchwood without John Barrowman as Captain Jack.”

So it might come down to which the Fox network wants more: Torchwood with a straight Captain Jack, or Torchwood without John Barrowman.

However, Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat told the British newspaper The Guardian “I imagine that kids would love to see Captain Jack meet the new Doctor.”

But if that happens, it won’t happen this season.

Torchwood’s John Barrowman on new show on BBC America

Torchwood’s John Barrowman on new show on BBC America

Waiting for the new season of Torchwood to start? Jonesing for more Captain Jack Harkness? We have something that might tide you over…

BBC America has just picked up a new musical theater reality series featuring John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack. Any Dream Will Do, with eleven 90 minute episodes, will chronicle the search for a new male talent to play Joseph in the West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Graham Norton hosts the series which also showcases Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Any Dream Will Do makes its U.S. premiere on March 29 at 8 PM– and if that’s not enough for you, it will be followed by a one-hour special The Making of Me: John Barrowman.

All right, you fans of Jack/John… get going.