Fast Return – June 2012
No, I can’t quite believe it either. I must be mad. So what’s new?
SOMETHING FOR THE DADS
Courtesy of Dave.
NEST TAKES A REST
After three years of faffing about in Deepest Darkest Sussex with a crotchety housekeeper as his de facto companion, it seems Paul Magrs’ AudioGo Fourth Doctor is taking the year off. This may be no bad thing, especially given courtesy of Big Finish we’ve had eight new Tom Baker audio stories this year already, with the promise of Tom’n'RomanaOne next year AND more Tom’n'Leela in 2014. Not to mention that 2013 will, apparently, see Magrs return to the series and the possibility of James Goss doing something unrelated with the Fourth Doctor also for AudioGo. Or not (who knows?) If ever there were a Time Lord equivalent of a bus…
…which reminds me; if Magrs doesn’t arrange for Iris Wildthyme to meet the Fourth Doctor then there is no justice!
CASTING CLOSE TO SHORE
We’d not be so ignorant as to overlook the wondrous casting of David Warner, Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling in the forthcoming series (even if it is for the mixed blessing of a Mark Gattis script…) but isn’t all of this casting happening worryingly close to the last minute? Corrections and admonishments welcome!
THAT SAID…
Still struggling to summon enthusiasm for NewWhu this year. Maybe if, I dunno, we had an airdate to count down to?
OLD TUNES, NEW HYMNBOOK?
Is it us, or is Benjamin Cook (‘DWM‘ to those of you reading at home) better at new series interviews than classic series ones? Aside from Tom Baker, who gives so much of himself, and Sylvester McCoy, the recent interviews with Sophie Aldred and William Russell have been a bit… ‘meh’, as the kids say these days. It’s a far cry from passing Alex Kingston DWM‘s own pack of Doritos on set in Utah…
COUNT THE SHADAS
When last ZeusBlog covered the ongoing saga of Shada there were no versions out on general release save for the TSV novelisation and the old bonkers VHS boxset. Now of course there’s a book by Grobbits, an audio of the Grobbits book read by Lalla Dawkins, an unofficial and never-to-be-released personal animation made at the behest of Ian Levine (seen by a rare few) and, yet to be released, the official 2Entertian (insert new name) version, out soon. Will it be picked up by a fan audience? The ones who aren’t completists anyway I mean? Time will tell, but ooh – try and get a proper conversation going on GallyBelly about it and you just know how these things turn out!
And finally…
TWO WRONGS?
Now, everybody knows that scoring reptiles from the dawn of time is the devil’s job, but occasionally, you get it right. John Williams produced a memorable score for Jurassic Park that, while technically proficient, didn’t for us strike the required Carey Blyton-esque angle. Until now, of course (bravo, sir). Back in Whoville marrying scales, both musical and Eocene is still a challenge. You might not have liked The Hungry Blood/Cold Earth much, or maybe you did, but try and tell us that this sequence, rescored with music from that infamous Silurian plodder from yesteryear Warriors of the Deep, doesn’t make the whole thing suddenly work!
July 8th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
That Jurassic Park clip is probably the funniest reptilian-based introductory sequence I’ve seen since the Myrka. Actually, wouldn’t it be the perfect accompanyment to an Invasion of the Dinosaurs clip?
Nice work as usual Peter – I’ve been fretting over the Shada-gras myself – did I imagine it or have you left out the McGann/Dawkins partial animation? But the point still stands, what’s a fan to do?
And finally, I’be been tentatively rewatching soem Moff Nu Who (even stories from last year which aren’t a ‘good wife goes to war’) and I’ve found myself gradually looking forward to what happens next. Fancy that!
July 9th, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Cheers, Al. Melodica Park always gets me. And when I’m ever down (Ernest Borgnine died today) it’s there for me, with Sam and Laura smiling wincingly like indulgent and proud parents.
Good call on the McGann Shada – how could I have forgotten that one? Oh yes, that’s right. Easily
Speaking of, big handbaggy dust-up on Gallifreybase right now betwixt Levine and Bignell over who knows more about the cancellation of Lost in the Dark Dimension. You just can’t look away, I swear.