I know that technically this isn’t British Cult TV but it is a remake of one of the most famous British TV programmes in the world.
I’m suddenly really interested in seeing this. Let’s hope this 9 minute trailer isn’t all of the best bits…
Here is a link to the official website.
There’s no such thing as a scoop in the fan world these days is there? I’d heard a few weeks ago about the possible return of a character from Big Finish’s history but was holding off until I had it confirmed. While I was waiting DWM printed it. So I did the same this morning on my personal blog and now BF has issued a press release.
Ah well, at least I know it’s accurate… 
The Seventh Doctor is to get a new travelling companion… but it’s not someone he would want aboard the TARDIS!
Big Finish has announced a new trilogy of Doctor Who adventures, running from January to March 2010, which sees the return of Nazi scientist Elizabeth Klein, who stole the TARDIS and changed the course of history in the popular story Colditz.
“Colditz was actually number 25 in our range of Doctor Who audio adventures,” says script editor John Ainsworth, “and it’s been exciting to revisit the character over 100 CDs and (for us) eight years later. In that time we’ve had many requests from fans demanding that we bring the character back, so we’re thrilled that Tracey Childs, who recently appeared in the TV series in The Fires of Pompeii, has returned to the role to challenge the Seventh Doctor, who we find at a point in his life where he is travelling solo.”
“I am, of course, completely delighted to be returning to the role of Klein again,” adds Tracey Childs. “And am overjoyed that those in power have seen fit to bring her back… though frankly how anyone might ever have thought they could get by without my presence is a mystery to me. But maybe playing a megalomaniacal time travelling Nazi physicist is starting to go to my head!”
The first story in the season is A Thousand Tiny Wings, which is set in the jungles of Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising of the 1950s. It is written by Andy Lane, the man behind the popular Companion Chronicles Here There Be Monsters and The Mahogany Murderers, while Ann Bell (Marion Jefferson in Tenko) guest stars as Sylvia O’Donnell, and Lisa (Bernice Summerfield) Bowerman directs.
This is followed by an as-yet untitled story by Jonathan Clements, and the trilogy climaxes with The Architects of History by Steve Lyons, which is set in Earth’s future.
Meanwhile Big Finish has also confirmed the guest cast for its eagerly awaited season of stories set in Stockbridge, the village immortalised in several Doctor Who Magazine comic strips, and featuring the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. The Castle of Fear (October 2009) features Joe Thomas (from the award-winning E4 comedy The Inbetweeners) as Hubert and actor and impressionist John Sessions (Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time) as Roland. The Eternal Summer (November 2009) includes Mark Williams (The Fast Show, Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films) as UFO hunter Maxwell Edison and Pam Ferris (Rosemary and Thyme, Little Dorrit) as Lizzie Corrigan. Finally Village of the Damned has Keith Barron (The Chase, Doctor Who: Enlightenment) as Isaac Barclay and Liza Tarbuck (Linda Green, Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest) as Lysette Barclay.
The new show is out. I have spent three very long days at a company sales conference in London. It’s 10pm and I have been stuck in traffic at the Blackwall tunnel for hours. You want to see some savages? Try sitting in that queue for a couple of hours…
All creativity has been extinguished.
Sorry there’s no intro. Blame me.
Actually no, blame me, Andrew and our employers. The dates just didn’t work. I’m sure you’ll all survive though
As usual you can get the show from iTunes or download it by clicking here.
…and here we have the first glimpse of Matt Smith in costume, with Karen Gillan as the companion who has been named as Amy Pond…
Here is the article:
Doctor Who fans have been given their first look at the new costume being worn by Matt Smith, the 11th actor to play the role. The Time Lord’s new look consists of tweed jacket, bow tie, rolled up trousers and black boots.
Filming on the new episodes begins on Monday in Cardiff, with the new series going out in spring 2010. Smith is taking over from David Tennant, whose last episodes will be shown at the end of the year.
“I feel very privileged and proud to be part of this iconic show,” Smith said after arriving on set for his first day of filming. “The scripts are brilliant – I’m excited about the future and all the brilliant adventures I get to go on as the Doctor.”
The Doctor will also have a new companion – Amy Pond – played by Karen Gillan, who meets the Time Lord in episode one of the new series.
There is also a changed team behind the scenes, led by new lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat who will be responsible for the overall creative direction of the show, as well as plot and character arcs. “Matt and Karen are going to be incredible, and Doctor Who is going to come alive on Saturday nights in a whole new way,” Moffat said.
Okay, so the trailer on The War Games DVD was a bit of a damp squib but this box set looks pretty packed to me.
Comprising three linked stories – Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment – ‘The Black Guardian Trilogy’ arrives on DVD as a feature-packed four-disc boxset, including an all-new edit of Enlightenment overseen by the story’s director, Fiona Cumming…
The special features for this entire release were put together by producer Brendan Sheppard and break down as follows:
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Disc 1 – Mawdryn Undead
• Commentary -with actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson and Nicholas Courtney, script editor Eric Saward.
• Who Wants to Live Forever? (dur. 24′ 30″) – cast and crew look back at the making of the story. With actors Peter Davison, Nicholas Courtney, Mark Strickson, David Collings and Lucy Benjamin, director Peter Moffatt, script editor Eric Saward and plastic surgeon Dr. Simon Withey. Narrated by Floella Benjamin.
• Liberty Hall (dur. 7′ 19″) – a new drama. Journalist Philip Clarke (Simon Ockenden) travels to Brendan School to interview Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes (dur. 5′ 14″) – deleted and extended scenes from the location filming.
• Film Trims (dur. 3′ 31″) – film trims from the location filming, including clapperboards and cast and crew setting up and performing various takes.
• Out-takes (5′ 33″) – the producer’s blooper reel.
• CGI Effects – this option allows the viewer to watch the story with a number of original effects shots replaced by new computer-generated images.
• Continuity (dur. 0′ 55″) – BBC1 continuity announcements from the story’s original transmission.
• Set Photo Gallery (dur. 1′ 35 “) – Set design photos from the story.
• Isolated Score - option to watch the story with the isolated music score.
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Disc 2 – Terminus
• Commentary with actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson and Sarah Sutton, writer Stephen Gallagher.
• Breaking Point (dur. 22′ 32″) – cast and crew look back at the making of the story. With actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton and Martin Potter, director Fiona Cumming, writer Stephen Gallagher, designer Dick Coles, camera supervisor Alec Wheal and sound supervisor Scott Talbott. Narrated by Floella Benjamin.
• Origins of the Universe (dur. 6′ 28″) – Sir Patrick Moore and, Dr. John Mason take a look at the science behind the Big Bang and the origins of the universe.
• Original Storyboards (dur. 1′ 17″) – production storyboards for the spaceship sequences, plus how the shots were realised on screen.
• Unused Model Shots (dur. 3′ 29″) – a selection of unused takes from the model effects shoot, taken from a timecoded production tape.
• CGI Effects – this option allows the viewer to watch the story with a number of original effects shots replaced by new computer-generated images.
• Continuity (dur. 1′ 51″) – BBC1 continuity announcements from the story’s original transmission.
• Isolated Score – option to watch the story with the isolated music score.
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Disc 3 – Enlightement
• Commentary with actors Peter Davison and Mark Strickson, writer Barbara Clegg and director Fiona Cumming.
• Winner Takes All (dur. 23′ 47″) – cast and crew look back at the making of the story. With actors Peter Davison, Mark Strickson, Janet Fielding, Keith Barron, Christopher Brown and Leee John, director Fiona Cumming, writer Barbara Clegg, costume designer Dinah Collin and camera supervisor Alec Wheal. Narrated by Floella Benjamin.
• Casting Off! (dur. 10′ 33″) – an actor’s view of working on Doctor Who. With Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Keith Barron, Christopher Brown and Leee John, with director Fiona Cumming.
• Single Write Female (dur. 5′ 12″) – writer Barbara Clegg looks back on her career and the writing of ‘Enlightenment’.
• The Story of the Guardians (dur. 11′ 53″) – the Guardians have appeared in Doctor Who as far back as Tom Baker’s era… but who – or what – are they? With Robert Luckham (son of the late White Guardian, Cyril Luckham), Sarah Leppard (daughter of the late Black Guardian, Valentine Dyall), Doctor Who Magazine editor Tom Spilsbury and Doctor Who Adventures editor Moray Laing.
• Storyboards (dur. 5′ 56″) – a dual-angle feature, in which visual effects supervisor Mike Kelt uses the original storyboards to explain how he went about planning and shooting the model effects sequences for the show. The disc should default to the main angle, but the viewer should be allowed to flip angles on their remote to see the model sequences full-frame.
• Isolated Score – option to watch the story with the isolated music score.
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Disc 4 – Enlightenment – Special Edition
• 75 min movie-format edit in 16:9 with 5.1 (default) and stereo audio. Menu option to play with an introduction (dur. 1′ 28″) by the director if required.
• Re-Enlightenment (dur. 14′ 30″) – the production team responsible for the new version of ‘Enlightenment’ discuss how they are going to approach the task in hand…
• Original Edit Comparison (dur. 2′ 34″) – a comparison of the original opening of episode three compared to that eventually seen on transmission.
• Film Trims (dur. 5′ 32″) – trims from the story’s filmed sequences.
• Finding Mark Strickson (dur. 8′ 28″) – Mark Strickson looks back over his acting career.
• Finding Sarah Sutton (dur. 7′ 45″) – Sarah Sutton looks back over her acting career.
• Russell Harty Christmas Party (dur. 3′ 31″) – Peter Davison and his then-wife Sandra Dickinson perform a song and dance routine on Russell Harty’s 1982 Christmas show.
• Continuity (dur. 2′ 09″) – BBC1 continuity announcements from the story’s original transmission.
• Plus of course the usual Radio Times Listing PDFs, Coming Soon trailer, Programme Subtitles, Subtitle Production Notes and Photo Galleries.
I had read somewhere that Enlightenment would have new CGI effects as well (which seems obvious really if it’s getting the widescreen director’s cut movie treatment) but no CGI is listed for it, although it is for the first two. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
