The Idiot's Lantern

The Idiot's Lantern

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Idiot's Lantern Review (no spoilers within)

By our British Correspondent

After the dark The Age of Steel, The Idiot's Lantern comes as a nice light change-of-pace story. Maybe a bit too light for some, but for me it was just about right. And this may be the best looking episode of DW ever. Clean cinematography, nicely framed close-ups, and an abundance of Dutch angles (look it up) make for some brilliant eye candy (and surprising for a story set in the rather bland post-War Britain). Which is good, because the plot is a bit on the thin side and the script is a tad more ho-hum than one would expect from Mark Gatiss. Still, style over substance isn't necessarily a negative in a visual medium such as television and it's nice to see director Euros Lynn pushing the envelope. I wouldn't want a steady diet of episodes like this, but it's a perfect lull between two intense 2-parters.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Doctor Who news

Hi everyone! This post is a day early-I won't have time to write this tomorrow because I will be heading to Marcon! Yay! :)

Series One (season 27) in the USA:
Fridays, 9pm EST on the SciFi Channel
Current episode:
No Doctor Who this week-SciFi is showing it's Memorial Day Weekend movie marathon.

Previous episodes:
11. Boom Town
10. The Doctor Dances
9. The Empty Child
8. Father's Day
7.The Long Game
6.Dalek
5.World War III
4.Aliens of London
3.The Unquiet Dead
2.The End of the World
1.Rose

Series Two (season 28) in the UK:
Saturdays, at 7pm GMT on BBC1
Current episode:
7. The Idiot's Lantern

Previous episodes:
6. The Age of Steel
5. The Rise of the Cybermen
4. The Girl in the Fireplace
3.School Reunion
2.Tooth and Claw
1. New Earth

U.S.A. ratings: (from Outpost Gallifrey) The Doctor Dances: A slightly improved household rating this week of 1.09 with an average of 1.4 million viewers, up nearly a quarter of a million viewers from the previous week's season low.
Boomtown:1.03 with an average of 1.2 million viewers, down approximately 200,000 viewers from the previous week.

Season-to-date, Sci Fi reports that Doctor Who is currently averaging a 1.28 household rating and an average audience of 1.5 million viewers for the season.

Is it just me or do these ratings seem to be going up and down like a seesaw every week?

"Sutekh is supreme!" Gabriel Woolf, who played Sutekh in the Fourth Doctor story, Pyramids of Mars, will be playing the voice of Satan himself in the second series episode, The Satan's Pit. Oooh, I can't wait to hear that!

That's all for now-sorry this is so short-it's been another busy week. Getting ready for Marcon takes it's toll. ;) *heehee*

Everyone have a fantastic weekend! Those going to Marcon-I can't wait to see you! :)

Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel Review (no spoilers)

By our British Correspondent

After watching the 2 episodes of the return of the Cybermen to our screens after too many years, one thought that kept popping into my head was that this would look really good on a big screen. This is feature-film quality material here. Another thought that came to mind was that this is the 21st Century version of Earthshock. Yeah, there aren't quite as many shocks as in the Davison story, but there are one or two that pack a sizable wallop. I would go down a list of all the similarities between the two stories, but that would give too much away, so let me just say that the Cybermen are back and I'm a happy fan.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Doctor Who Columbus at Marcon

Marcon 41 is coming up this weekend here in beautiful downtown Columbus and I wanted everyone who is attending to know of all the convention's Doctor Who related events.

DW Columbus' Friday Night Room Party: thanks to one of our members (Jarrod), the group will be having a room party this Friday night. To find out the particulars (like when and where) there will be flyers posted around the convention, so keep an eye out for those. There will be refreshments (but no alcohol) and we'll be showing episodes from both Season 1 and 2.

DW Columbus fan table: in the main hallway we'll have a table with information about the group. You may find one of us there to talk to off and on during the convention.

Doctor Who panels: there will be 3 DW panels this year and DW Columbus will be represented on each one. The 3 will be:
Saturday
-7 pm "Doctor Who in the 21st Century"
-10 pm "Star Trek vs Doctor Who"
Sunday
-10 am "Doctor Who: The Next Regeneration"

Hope to see many of you this weekend and if you aren't able to make it, I'll have a report up sometime next week.

Tardisode #7: the Idiot's Lantern

"They're heeerrrree."

No, not the tv people, the monsters. Although I'm not sure what connects the telly with the monsters on the streets of London. Unless they are somehow trapped inside the tv, and are let loose when someone tries to turn it on.

It's 1953, and televison is still relatively new...if a monster came out of the tv the first time I ever turned it on, I'd never watch tv again!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Doctor Who news

Series One (season 27) in the USA:
Fridays, 9pm EST on the SciFi Channel
Current episode:
11. Boom Town

Previous episodes:
10. The Doctor Dances
9. The Empty Child
8. Father's Day
7.The Long Game
6.Dalek
5.World War III
4.Aliens of London
3.The Unquiet Dead
2.The End of the World
1.Rose

Series Two (season 28) in the UK:
Saturdays, at 6:35pm GMT on BBC1
Current episode:
6. The Age of Steel

Previous episodes:
5. The Rise of the Cybermen
4. The Girl in the Fireplace
3.School Reunion
2.Tooth and Claw
1. New Earth

U.K. Ratings: The Appreciation Index (AI) for the Rise of the Cybermen scored 86 last week. According to Outpost Gallifrey, not only is this the highest score for the second series, but it's one of the highest since the series return. Only the Parting of the Ways scored higher at 89.

I haven't seen any official ratings for SciFi's broadcast of the Doctor Dances yet. (The editor of OG has been pretty busy this week.)

from SciFi Wire: Who Blitzes WWII London Steven Moffat, (the Empty Child, the Doctor Dances, and the Girl in the Fireplace [from series 2]) told SciFi Wire that he was "that he was surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to the two-parter.." He had no idea how powerful the story was going to become. Neither did we! I can't tell you the number of adults who were spooked by this episode-it's like we were 5 years old again, hiding behind the couch. Not only is the two-parter my favorite from series one, but it ranks up there with my favorites from the series as a whole. I hope it wins the Hugo award.

Moffat is also responsible for one of the new series earliest catchphrases: "Are you my mummy?"

...in my opinion, he's responsible for two: "Bananas are good." ;) LOL. 0:-)

Torchwood in the News
Articles about the spinoff, Torchwood have been spotted in the SciFi Wire and SyFy Portal:

from the SciFi Wire:
Torchwood Begins Production

Torchwood Ignited at Right Time

from SyFy Portal:
'Torchwood' Gets Underway

Right Time for 'Torchwood'

(actually, it looks like the SyFy Portal articles are just shorter summaries of the SciFi Wire articles-but that didn't stop me from reading both. LOL. ;) )

That's all for now. Have a fantastic weekend!!!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Tardisode #6: The Age of Steel

Since this is the second part of a two-parter, and I haven't had the chance to watch the first part, I decided not to watch this Tardisode yet, for fear of spoilers. I've actually managed to stay away from any major spoilers for both Rise of the Cybermen and the Age of Steel. I haven't read any indepth reviews-just first impressions-and I have to say-I can't wait to see this! (hmm...I've been saying that alot about the second series.) LOL.

Tardisode #6 is up on the website, however-so if you want to check it out, click here.

...is it just me or did it take longer for the Age of Steel links to show up on the main website? There is still no link for it on the 2006 episode guide page-I had to find it going through the back door, so to speak.

Monday, May 15, 2006

SFX special issue 2006

Just in case you haven't seen it yet:

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I was browsing my local Border's store when I came across this special edition of SFX magazine. All Doctor Who! The unofficial guide to all ten Doctors. Not only that, but there's a free Who novel with each copy-apparently there are many books being offered. The copy I picked up contained the Eigth Doctor novel, the Infinity Race (which, according to Borders, is currently out of print). I also saw Island of Death (the Third Doctor, Sarah Jane and the Brig), as well as a Fifth Doctor novel (although I don't remember the title of it).

The issue also included interviews with Anneke Wills, Nicholas Courtney, Terry Molloy, and Tom Baker (just to name a few). ;) There was also an article about Life on Mars, the BBC drama which Tom had posted about a couple of months ago.

Enjoy!

Friday, May 12, 2006

Doctor Who news

Series One (season 27) in the USA:
Fridays, 9pm EST on the SciFi Channel
Current episode:
10. The Doctor Dances

Previous episodes:
9. The Empty Child
8. Father's Day
7.The Long Game
6.Dalek
5.World War III
4.Aliens of London
3.The Unquiet Dead
2.The End of the World
1.Rose

Series Two (season 28) in the UK:
Saturdays, at 6:40pm GMT on BBC1
Current episode:
5. The Rise of the Cybermen

Previous episodes:
4. The Girl in the Fireplace
3.School Reunion
2.Tooth and Claw
1. New Earth

U.S.A. Ratings: Sadly, the ratings were down last week. 1.04 household rating, with an average of 1.2 million viewers, making it the lowest of this season to date. Which is a shame, because I think the Empty Child is one of the best episodes of the first series. However, as many have pointed out on the boards, last weekend was Cinco de Mayo, and the weather is getting nicer, so people are probably going out on Friday nights, and catching the episodes later. Sci Fi reports that Doctor Who is currently averaging a 1.29 household rating and an average audience of 1.5 million viewers for the season.

As most of you probably know by now, Doctor Who took home three BAFTA awards! More than any other program. Audience award for Best Program of 2005, Best Drama series, and Russell T. Davies won the Dennis Potter Award for outstanding writing for television. Woo-hoo!

More Classic series coming to dvd: According to TVshowsondvd.com., the First Doctor Story, the Web Planet and the Third Doctor story, Inferno, are coming to dvd on September 5th. Some cool features including pdf's of the Doctor Who Annuals are included in the releases. (man, I wish I had a dvd-rom). ;) I was hoping Inferno would be released soon-it's out of print and our libraries don't have it. (now, if only they'd release the Monster of Peladon on dvd, and I'd be one happy whovian camper.) lol.

some fun stuff: I found a new Whovian blogger(well, new to me-he's been around a while!) Michael, at the Torchwood Institute was looking at Google trends for Doctor Who in the U.S. Top three cities were St. Louis, Chicago, and Minneapolis. (I found his blog while searching to find out when Doctor Who first aired on Minneapolis' PBS station, KTCA.)

Tegan points us to an entry at Paul Cornell's blog. He's been commissioned to write a 2 part story for the third series of Doctor Who,, plus he has a link to a Dalek font. Sweet!

Cybermen on the web: The Cybermen have been making news on both the Scifi Wire and SyFy Portal:

Who's Cybermen Lighten Up

Cybermen Rise in Who

Davies Worked to make Cybermen Believeable Warning: spoilers

That's all for now-everyone have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

The Girl in the Fireplace Review (Fresh-Not Spoiled!)

By our British Correspondent

Of the first few episodes of series 2, The Girl in the Fireplace was the one I knew the least about. Like most of you, all I had to go on were a few clips and the preview at the end of School Reunion, and from that I thought I was sure of the basic framework of the story. Wow, was I ever wrong!

Since even the slightest hint of a spoiler could ruin (or at least slightly dampen) someone's enjoyment of this most delicate of stories, I'll just say that it's wickedly funny, terribly sad, endlessly quotable, wonderfully acted, brilliantly written, and nicely directed; a surprise present from the BBC that you weren't expecting, didn't ask for, and will cherish forever. Yeah, it's that good.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Tardisode # 5: Rise of the Cybermen

As I watched the Tardisode, a familiar chill started to creep down my back as another childhood nightmare seemed to be reviving...

Cybermen.

Even as an adult, I remember that the Cybermen and the Daleks used to give me nightmares as a child. I'd dream that their spaceships would land in my neighborhood, and I'd watch them file out, unable to run because my legs seemed to be frozen solid. The worst ones were when the Cybermen and the Daleks invaded at the same time!
*shudder*
It's amazing how these creatures can still have an effect on me-not to the point where I'll have nightmares, but they still bring a chill to my spine. eek!

Here, in an alternative timeline, the Cybermen seem to have taken a different course in there creation... John Lumic, Cybus Industries...(or perhaps I'm just forgetting something-my history of the Cybermen is a little fuzzy right now.) Cybus becomes bigger and bigger, and more people seem to just disappear. Gemini-it sounds like it's an underground organization designed to thwart Cybus Industries, and it also looks like the Mickey from this alternative timeline is a part of it.

I wonder if Mondas exists in the alternative timeline (dubbed Timeline B by me for the purpose of this post-classic series timeline will be Timeline A.) ;) In Timeline A, Mondas (Earth's twin planet) was spotted by the South Pole Tracking station in 1986-if I'm remembering this correctly (and please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!!!), Mondas was running out of energy, so they wanted to 'steal' the energy from the Earth, and take the humans back with them and convert them into more Cybermen.

Cybermen started off as humans-didn't they? I either watched it or read it somewhere. At the moment, I just don't recall where I heard that. That's the impression I've always had, though-the original Cybermen were 'modified' humans, stripped of emotion, (huh, kind of like Kaleds, without the mutations), who moved (or were banished) to their own planet-the tenth planet, Mondas. Perhaps the creation/development of the Cybermen started at a much later date (1982), and if the Doctor didn't interfere in 2006, events would have followed a similar course to the ones in Timeline A.

Of course, I also could be way off and am thinking about this way too much. That's what happens when lunch plans are cancelled and I've got nothing to do for an hour. ;) LOL.

Kids today seemed to be made of sterner stuff-that, or it takes more to scare kids these days. The kiddies gave this an average Fear Factor rating of 3. During my childhood, Cybermen stories would probably rate at least a 4...

Friday, May 05, 2006

Doctor Who news

Series One (season 27) in the USA:
Fridays, 9pm EST on the SciFi Channel
Current episode:
9. The Empty Child

Previous episodes:
8. Father's Day
7.The Long Game
6.Dalek
5.World War III
4.Aliens of London
3.The Unquiet Dead
2.The End of the World
1.Rose

Series Two (season 28) in the UK:
Saturdays, at 7:00pm GMT on BBC1
Current episode:
4. The Girl in the Fireplace

Previous episodes:
3.School Reunion
2.Tooth and Claw
1. New Earth

There is alot of news out there, but I haven't had much time this week to read much about it, so this is going to be a short news post! I'm sorry!

U.S.A. ratings: Ratings for Father's Day varied from last week-although the average household rating was slightly down (1.4 million), the average viewers held at 1.4 million viewers. Huh, how does that work? ;) Also-Doctor Who has had the second highest rating of SciFi shows for the past couple of weeks now. Sweet!

U.K. ratings: For those curious, according to Outpost Gallifrey, School Reunion was tied with Five's CSI: New York epsiode as having the highest AI rating (measures audience appreciation) at 85. This is the same rating that New Earth recieved two weeks ago, making these two episodes two of the five most popular since the return of the series. The repeat of School Reunion on BBC Three was the second placed program on Sunday.

The Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood, started filming this week. Cool! I wonder what the likelihood of this being brought to American television will be. It sounds interesting-especially with all of the references to it in the second series. (see the Torchwood set report at Outpost Gallifrey for more details-don't worry, the spoiler guard is on. ;))

Fun and amusements: Every week, Scifi Wire has a poll-this week it's asking if you are going to see MI:III from J.J. Abrams this weekend-here are the selections:
-Yes! I love J.J!
-No! Tom Cruise is crazy!
-It Depends-is Greg Grunberg in it?
and finally:
-It depends-Is Doctor Who on?

Guess what-as of today, Doctor Who is second (with 35% of the vote) to No! (with 36% of the vote) LOL. That is so funny! ;)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Tardisode #4: the Girl in the Fireplace

Unlike last week with School Reunion, I know next to nothing about the upcoming episode, the Girl in the Fireplace. (Hey, I really can avoid spoilers...if I want to.) ;)

I hope this isn't considered sacrilege, but when I first watched the Tardisode and saw the space station, I thought, 'that reminds me of Babylon 5'. I mean-with the view the camera was giving us, as the ship unfolded into our view-I couldn't help it. I watch waaaaay to much science fiction. ;)

Ion storm beats up the station...the one person still alive starts to scream as something that ticks creeps up on her...I wonder-was she killed? Kidnapped? Sent back in time? Could she be the "girl in the fireplace"? (remember, I know next to nothing about this episode...)

Hmm...things to ponder.

Hey, is Mickey wearing a tshirt with an original Nintendo controller on it? That is SO cool!!! :-D

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

School Reunion Review (No Spoilers)

From our British Correspondent

I was truly chuffed when I first heard that Lis Sladen was returning as Sarah Jane Smith for an episode of the second series. Add on K-9 and I my expectations were sky high. So now that I've seen School Reunion, did it deliver or did it disappoint? Well, considering there's been a silly grin on my face since Saturday evening, what do you think?

Hats off to writer Toby Whithouse, who has given Sarah an excellent story in which to appear. No gimmicks here, her appearance is a logical part of the plot as well as adding some important pieces to Rose's story. And although the Sarah here is pretty much the one we all remember, she has plenty of hard questions for the Doctor, some of which he can't honestly answer. Mr. Whithouse also manages to handle 4 companions (surely a record) with ease, and all within a 45 minute story.

Somewhat forgotten in all the hype of the return of Sarah and K-9, Anthony Steward Head very nearly steals the show with his villianous headmaster, Mr Finch. Finch is far and away the best new series villian, and certainly would rank up there among the best of the classic series as well. His confrontations with the Doctor are chilling, with a poolside face-off being the best. There were many rumours going around that Mr. Finch was actually the Master, which I thought was rather silly, but after seeing him in action I now wish he really was the Master!

School Reunion definitely ranks as one of my favorites among the new series episodes, but as a devoted Sarah Jane worshipper, I am a bit biased!