And this is she… 21 year old Karen Gillan (sans Soothsayer makeup).

Nice to see a red head in the TARDIS. Haven’t had one of those in a while…

Well, I went to Little Shop of Horrors (the musical)…

…on Saturday for the Matinee performance.

A certain Mr McCoy was Mushnick (the flower shop owner) and was simply brilliant. Who would have thought the champion ferret in pants record holder could sing as well! At the end of the performance, the voice of the plant came out onto stage and lo’ it was Morvin Van Hoff (Foon’s husband) from Voyage of the Damned.

Actually, the original cast had Sheridan Smith as Audrey, but this time it was someone different (Claire Buckfield). Of course, after googling her, turns out she has been in three Doctor Who audios. I think everyone in theatre has been in Doctor Who or an audio at some point in time.

Anyway, all up, a fantastic performance and Sylv really looks good for his age.

SB

Moths Ate My Dr Who Scarf.
Written and performed by Toby Hadoke
BATS Theatre, Wellington. 12 May 2009.

Perhaps the most telling thing about the show is that we almost missed seeing it.  Who would’ve ever thought Doctor Who would sell out midweek in Wellington?

First, it probably pays to clarify what the show isn’t:  It’s not standup, it’s a comic monologue about one man and his life, growing up with (and without) Doctor Who. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very very funny; but the humour is wit and whimsy, based on personal experience and feeling, rather than belly laugh topical humour.  As a result there are some items that may not quite get lost in translation to a New Zealand audience, but do have some of their power diminished (most obviously the initial disbelief in Billie Piper’s casting, and references to the BNP and football hooligans – we can understand them second-hand, but may lack the experience that really gives them punch), but I’m not really sure I would want them changed as this is very much a personal work, and it’s very much about event’s in Toby Hadoke’s life and his reactions to them.  In this opening night performance some kiwi friendly references were thrown in, and there was some nifty ad-libbing though minor technical difficulties (a cordless mike would be invaluable for future frenetic paced shows), but the show does revolve around scripted set pieces (the first sight gag was a great surprise) and the story Toby wants to tell.

Secondly, it’s not really a show for hardened fans, not exclusively anyway.  Some of the biggest laughs were for sections of the audience who obviously had to live with Us, while We just smiled knowingly.  Moths is for Doctor Who, what Fever Pitch is for football.  There are other gags on other topics (I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought “Friday – five oranges” at one point, and everyone can have a laugh at Star Wars) but while “those who know” will enjoy a modern interpretation of Death to the Daleks, this really is a show to take your wives, girlfriends or partners to.  It’s “Doctor Who – the secret life of fan obsession” seen knowingly and lovingly from both sides of the coin.  Highly recommended.

DR

You hear a lot about Smith in the new series. Doctor John (both of them we guess), Sarah Jane, Mickey, Mister – it’s a regular Smith City. Also Joneses – the whole fandamily of them. Noone ever mentions the Browns, and that among a few other things is what’s wrong with NuWho, because if you neglect the Browns you miss out on the great stuff our new cub reporter in the UK, Stu ‘Foo’ Brown sends us. A cut above yer actual Metro article and Chiswick zeppelin, that boy Foo knows how to rock the party. Viz this scoop:

 ”So, my partner is out having a haircut at a salon in London, just around the corner from Forbidden Planet. I get a text message saying “You are going to be so jealous” followed by “I’m sitting next to Owen”. Owen who? Ohhh, THAT Owen. I ask her to get his autograph with the text “You ducking joking. Ask for an autograph. Please. And say that he was my fav”.

Half an hour later, text received “It all done” and lo, I am the proud holder of an autograph (no hair though).

It also turns out the stylist’s wife does the hair of Tosh. A case of hair together, die together? I’ll let you know if I manage to get Naoko Mori’s autograph!”

He signs his name “Blu”? Who knew?

Foo has sent us more great stuff which we’ll post soon!

Just a quick one this month, folks, as Foo has an update coming along and of course besides Planet of the Dud and someone inflating a Dalek in Chiswick last week, not a lot happened in April.  So…

Geek Maggot Bingo!
Some fun recently with Public Address’ thread on general spookiness on the small and large screen. Excellent. Ask me about my zombie weekend sometime! Anyway, good news for Old School Who as some of the golden oldies come out and indicate that those touchstones are well and truly embedded down here in NZ as well. Krynoids! Maggots! Daleks! And to show we’re in good and scary hands for future stories, yes, Weeping Angels and Empty Children too.

But Blog barometer cooling on BTS?
Yeah, no link this time just a gripe. We’ve had our fun taking the mick out of Kasterborous’ occasional Ian Levine-esque chair arm thumping editorial asides. But dammit, they’re still a lot more fun than Behind the Sofa, and more frequent too. Sure, BTS has clawed itself back into validity a little with their recent reviews of Dubai Double Decker Trouble, but have’t we all? On the other hand, BTS’s tweets are sweet, even if Twitter appears to be on the wane…

Plus Kasterborous put us onto the Tainted Love Dalek. Sofa haven’t pointed us towards anything fun since Farmergeddon.

Stripping Back the Years
But this is fun - a set of very cool and witty strips detailing the history of the good Doctor. Maybe not for the squee squad, this one…
Part1, Part 2, Part 3

Oh, it had to happen…

The Next Doctor – inevitable spoof

and finally…

MasterCard mash-ups

1 and 2

Thanks to Dave for a lot of these!