Everybody’s gonna love today. It’s true! I heard it just now on the wireless. And it’s spring – can’t you tell?

Anyway, enough about the wireless, here’s your actual August in retrospect:

Everybody’s gonna roll those Rs (Enough! Ed)

RADAGHAST!
Last Return we remooted the possibility that the Seventh Doctor might finally get some big screen treatment in the shape of the future Hobbit movies, possibly to play the older Bilbo. Well now the rumour’s back, but it seems the Bilbo bit’s not in it, and that Sylv himself is intimating he might be in line for a more wizardly role, that of Radagast the Brown, mentioned only by name in the book, and replaced by a moth in the LotR movies. Charming! Anyway, it sounds like a good fit as Wizards go – Radders isn’t described in great detail in The Fellowship of the Ring, so a height difference or stray accent wouldn’t rock the boat surely. Let the campaign for Tom Baker for Beorn begin here!

RENT!
Series six split in two? A game-changing cliffhanger to see us at seat’s edge betwixt Easter and November? No Daleks? 2011 gets more intruguing by the day!

READ-OUT!
NZ fanzines. Are there any about? It’s a weird and contrary business, their absence coming as it does whilst the phenomenon seems to be enjoying something of a boutique revival overseas (as noted by Paul on his blog). There’s possibly space for an Editorial column on this, or a Media Circus one, but the shorter version you’ll read from Zeus Blog is well, perhaps at last paper press has finally had its day here in NZ, regardess of well-meaning attempts to resurrect either TSV (resting between editors) or RTP (er…) As much as we love hard media there’s more life currently online than in print, and perhaps it’s time for NZ fandom to migrate there, whether in the form of a PDF-zine – or none at all.

Good news, somebody… please!

REGION 4!
Oh so excellent news for next year’s 15th anniversary of the TV Movie – the McGanniversary we’re calling it around ZeusBlog Terraces. Thanks to skillful negotiations the TV Movie is to be released as a solo package here (oh, and in some other non Region 2 areas too, apparently) – no need to buy Revisitations if you don’t want to again! 2Entertain can do no wrong!

REVENGE!
Also available early next year, twin cyber dilemmas Revenge/Nemesis released with nice extras but no CG or extended editions. We knew this for ages and clearly the money’s not there but not everyone’s happy, as no less than FOUR derailed message threads on OutpostGally indicate. 2Entertain can do no right!

At least there’s that very cool doco on pirate videos to watch. Speaking of which…

RUINED!
BBC Books and BF writer Johnny Morris has a go at watching regionally televised Trial of a Time Lord from back in the day via his old VHS tapes. Hilarious!
(researching for a Colin/Bonnie BF script? Let’s start the rumour here!)

REANIMATED?
Ian Levine. Telesnaps. Restoration = shudders. 2Entertain can do no right! And yet Dan Hall mentions a ‘ReAnimations’ project? Intriguing… but we bet we’ll not see anything happening on this for a long long time yet. If at all. There’s probably a ‘Revisionista!’ column in this, surely?

REGENERATION!
In the mean-time let’s return to Sylv and whet our appetites for the forthcoming Time and the Rani DVD by watching this skillful fan bash at one of the series’ least succesful fudges…

AFTER THE SILENCE FALLS…
Fandom implodes. So let’s see what they’re all talking about over the webs…

FIRST RETURN:

Quality stuff from ‘84. Only wish I knew where on the Internet I found it… (sorry)

MOFF ON TWITTER – WHAT A GOOD IDEA! OR IS IT? TWEET TWEET…
Yeeah. After proclaiming that he doesn’t browse the forums any more does it make much sense for an already busy man ( i.e. Steven ‘Two Shows” Moffat) to allow his followers, detractors and petitioners 24-7 access to his In box, 120 letters a time?

And why does he look so much like his son, eh? Eh? Cloning or self-interview by time travel?

WELCOME FLOYD!
Did anyone notice a new NZDWFCMBTSVUB40/apple  contributor to hit our shores recently? Who? Well, the clue’s here: Mr Floyd Kermode, infamous Antipodean serial corresponder with the Judge Dredd megazine and its current editor (not that) Matt Smith. A lovely chap, active on the (late, lamented) 2000ADReview board and overdue a decent welcome in our back yard. Welcome, cobber!

THE DALEK ROCKS!
Proof that there’s life beyond the Dalek teasmaid in the land of miniature kit bashers? Well, how’s this for an improvement on the new design Dalek?

THE BALLAD OF SYL-BO BAGGINS
So is it true or is it false? Is it rue or false? The rumour/speculation/flim-flam that the next ‘hasn’t aged in a day’ Bilbo Baggins will be played by none other than the Seventh Doctor has resurfaced amid tales of Peter Jackson ’scouting’ for actors whilst abroad (and entertaining Brad Pitt in Wellington at the same time?)  It’s a nice thought – particularly so to think that a couple of years back some form of loose dress rehearsal could have been played whilst McCoy and Sir Ian McKellan were visiting Jackson while here for Lear (Sir Ian even stayed in Bag End!), but is it true? Time will tell. It’s a little disconcerting though to see evidence to the affirmative trotted out by Tolkein fans based on that twenty-two year old publicity shot from Ghost Light…

AND FINALLY…
Madness!

And we’re back in the room! Read the rest of this entry »

“Spoilers, sweetie…”
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The end is in sight.  The grand two-part finale of the most anticipated series since 2005 is just around the corner, but before we get the Moff’s kitchen sink thrown at us we must first sit patiently through the curtain raiser.

Episode 11, or sometimes 10, is traditionally experimental (to varying degrees of success), with deliberately humble production values and the reduced participation of one or both of the Leads.  It used to be known as the ‘Doctor-less episode’, but in the case of The Lodger, the very reverse is true.  More than any other episode to date, this is ‘The Doctor Show’; to the extent that this week’s ‘alien menace is very much sidelined by what would normally be the ‘B’ plot – the ‘human’ interest story.  Gloriously centre-stage is the Doctor trying to live as ‘an ordinary bloke’ until he can be reunited with the two significant others in his life (both making as much noise as each other during Amy’s brief but loud scenes in the runaway TARDIS).

This is a rich seam which Gareth Roberts exploits well for its comedic value, bringing back the soccer stardom and electric toothbrush/sonic screwdriver confusion of his original comic strip.  The episode itself is a refreshingly fun take on the Human Nature/Family of Blood scenario, making an episode-long gag of the Doctor’s attempts to be human. It’s a strong enough idea to have supported entire series in the past, from My Favourite Martian to Mork and Mindy and beyond, and very few tricks are missed here.    I really should stop making comparisons with David Tennant, but the tenth Doctor, who fell in love at least three times and even became homo sapiens briefly, was by far the most human, whereas Matt Smith is very much continuing the legacy of Tom Baker, who felt duty-bound to constantly surprise the audience with the Doctor’s alien-ness. The Lodger is a tour-de-force for Matt Smith and his unpredictable, increasingly delightful performance.

The eleventh Doctor completely misses the minutiae of human society: air-kissing everyone he meets and un-self-consciously regurgitating wine (disgustingness is a recent trait, apparently) but he sees straight to the heart of the larger, more important issues.  The Doctor immediately understands Craig’s relationship dilemma, when to let a difficult customer go and even how to inspire Sophie to follow her dream.  Perhaps if Rusty was still holding the reigns he’d find a way to create another spin-off series – ‘Matt about the House’, anyone?

But being Doctor Who there is also an alien threat to be dealt with, lurking at the top of Craig’s stairs. Passers-by anxiously climbing towards that flickering, buzzing room is a nightmarish image, reminiscent of a carnivorous plant luring insects into its lethal clutches, but its power becomes a little diminished after the third or fourth repetition.  This time the menace is of the non-adversarial kind, a mechanism blindly carrying out its programming in the way that Moffat often employs in his stories.  Visually, it’s nice to see echoes of the TV Movie, and given Amy’s ‘contribution’ to this story it’s appropriate that another scene featuring lots of sparks and shouting should also take place on a set which looks like a TARDIS.

The Lodger is ultimately a warm, happy and extremely funny episode (wouldn’t The Three Doctors have been so much more amusing if the eleventh’s method of psychically imparting information had been used back then?  I don’t doubt Troughton and Pertwee would have risen magnificently to the occasion).  This script is a Godsend for Matt Smith and he seems to know it, pitching every nuance, line and gesture perfectly.  And he can even talk to cats – the Doctor rocks, indeed!

Garnished with nods to the past reaching as far back as The Time Monster (I’ll resist making a list, but do have to mention ‘Jubilee Pizzas’) and topped with the third ‘past Doctors roll call’ this year, The Lodger is an extremely satisfying entrée to savour before the colossal main course and dessert arriving next. 

AH

The path to the ‘celebrity historical’ in Doctor Who is paved with good intentions. We’ve had one attempt this series already with Victory’s Winston Churchill, the man who among other things helped popularise the term ‘black dog’ . Richard Curtis’ Vincent and the Doctor is a different breed however, being distanced somewhat from pure entertainment and unlike its predecessor striving for that difficult stool between didactic and emotive. It’s a Richard Curtis story – your mileage may vary.

It is also the story of Vincent van Gogh, a man perversely celebrated as much for his torments as his triumphs. Who knows how he would have reacted to becoming a poster boy for mental illness, and is that a question worth asking? It’s important to have these figures with us, to acknowledge the place such stigmatic afflictions had in their lives and how they lived with them. It’s a challenging notion to make a story about them though, particularly one for Doctor Who which despite our protestations does not usually strive to challenge. For myself I’m torn with this episode, certainly not viewing it as coldly as Neil Perryman’s withering critique on Behind the Sofa, but I do think in places it over-reaches itself, which isn’t to say these stories shouldn’t be attempted, but that perhaps the series isn’t yet as robust as it could be to sustain them without, well, a giant invisible CG chicken in tow. So it’s a brave thing to have done, and for the most part it works. It certainly looks beautiful.

Beauty alone is not enough however, and so I must also acknowledge the performances. Tony Curran’s version of the painter certainly looks the part, inhabiting the screen as befits a character afforded his own name in titles ahead of the Doctor. Having not seen Lust for Life and only shades of Andy Serkis’ portrayal of van Gogh in Simon Schama’s History of Art, I have to confess some ignorance into the man behind the masterpeices, but Who’s historical figures usually tend toward the vague sketch or broad brushstroke themselves. This is not a revelatory biography, unless you somehow believe the presence of the Krafayis to be a genuine ingredient in the master’s last days. Given the series’ track record the best we can hope for is something sympathetic and believable – two ticks there. Having Bill Nighy hammer home the context of van Gogh’s work in the history of Western art certainly helps shift that uncomfortable didacticism, and for what it’s worth I’m rather tickled by the Doctor revealing that he’s more of a Gainsborough fan – another subtle distancing from the Time Lord’s more emotive predecessor, perhaps?

In the end though, a better class of story for this series, and despite my misgivings above one with a pretty sound emotional core, strengthened by insisting that history run its course, and wisely panning away from Vincent’s inevitable and necessary demise. Wellington’s first TV script for Doctor Who is ultimately worthy for surprising with its choice of topic and sensitivity of its approach to an equally troubled and gifted man.

PA

At long last, Freakytrigger’s Popular series chronicling the UK’s number one singles of the past fifty or so years reaches An Important Cultural Signifier For Our Generation.

OK so just was at the Bafta screening of The Pandorica Opens… Brilliant.

But priceless moment as Ian Levine (sitting in the row in front of me) went on a 5 minute rant about the ratings at the Q&A afterwards…

Seeing Steven Moffat’s head sliding into his hands as the rant went on and on was a sight to behold.

Hello! And isn’t it all getting exciting! Enthusiasm races around Zeus Blog Terraces like a bad case of wind as we hurtle through the netherdays of last month to bring you the usual flim-flam and pith. To whit:

WE’RE LOVING
Big Finish’s continued exploration of past possibilities. As Colin Baker’s Lost Stories wind to a close and the Hartnell/Toughton collection draws near, further casting for the Seventh Doctor ‘Lost Season’ is underway. And who’s this for Brig? Why, Battlefield’s Angela ‘Bam-Bam-Bambera’ Bruce. Marvellous! This is a great nod to McCoy’s television tenure and adds a welcome latter days/New Adventures kick to Andrew Cartmel’s story-set in a way that having Nick Courtney or looking around for a newer Brig replacement simply couldn’t have achieved. Plus it’s audio, and it’s sad to note that if Bambera were to turn up on the telly now many new DW fans would likely only see her as a cheap Magambo substitute. Shame.

HOT POTATO HOT POTATO!
Elsewhere in Big Finish rumourland there’s the persisting vibe of Big Tom putting in an appearance in 2011, which is rather lovely, particularly as we’ve still got another Magrs-tastic multi-part BBC Audio for the Fourth Doctor to come later this year and to tide us over. Oh, and the latest Vortex magazine hints at BF doing a Sontaran story at long last. Seriously, how long has this taken? They’d better have Chris Ryan on speed-dial!

HOW COULD WE HAVE MISSED THIS?
Michael Moorcock doing a DW novel? MICHAEL MOORCOCK

MANY (HOPEFULLY) HAPPIER RETURNS
And it’s another hooray to the latest comeback boyo in Torchwood. Yes! Just when things were looking bleak post-CofE Stateside for the franchise, it seems that the team (well, Jack and Gwen) will be back in business, sans van, sans Hub, sans pterodactyl and coffee maker of course. Avec Amerkins though, possibly. Rusty maintains it’ll still be very ‘Welsh’. Sounds intriguing!

WE’RE NOT LIKING
Talk of magazine rumblings. Torchwood Magazine folding – well, we weren’t buying it, so we can’t complain too loudly, plus there’s still a comic to come in its stead. But more dark mutterings on the subject of comics with the last tenth Doctor DWM reprint collection The Crimson Hand apparently cancelled, with possibly no further titles after that. Now that’s worrying.

QUICK, BETTER MAGAZINE NEWS, NOW!
Okay, it might be better news for previously-ailing Doctor Who Adventures who, if the Lead Adventure Forum are to be believed, are tapping into that tricky middle-aged-men-with-a-hobby market and their ‘free’ gift of models of the new humpitty Daleks on the cover of issue 170. Oh, if only they could be found here! Apparently the new Dalek design is so outlandish the usually rather rum cover giveaway toys are not only a pretty good likeness (fanta orange plastic and all), but they’re also now to scale with the 28mm models popping up all over!

ECCLES’ JOHN AND NAOKO’S YOKO
The frankly titled Lennon Naked, starring the above and confirmed for the 23rd on the Beeb and likely screengrab-oriented websites mere hours later. Just sayin’.

…BUT I KNOW WHAT I LIKE
And if it’s pretty pictures you’re in the mood for after that, then head straight over to Guanolad’s Domain, where another of TSV’s former acolytes has sourced some great visual nods in the recent Vincent and the Doctor. Nice work, G!

(spoilers follow below the fold)

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