The BBC Press Office has just announced that the 50th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who will be in glorious 3D!
They say: As part of the BBC’s blockbuster celebrations to mark the Doctor turning 50, fans will be able to see the Time Lord and his adventures like never before – in 3D, to be broadcast using some of the BBC’s HD capacity. Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer, said: “It’s about time. Technology has finally caught up with Doctor Who and your television is now bigger on the inside. A whole new dimension of adventure for the Doctor to explore.“ The announcement came as Ben Stephenson set out his vision for drama on the BBC and announced a new set of commissions at an event tonight for writers, actors, industry and press.
Stephenson said: “It’s a nationwide celebration of both Doctor Who and the BBC because I think they are so synonymous. We will be doing a big Doctor Who special in 3D which is very exciting and feels very innovative. We will be doing it on cinema screens as well. We are working out the logistics of that at the moment because we need to make sure the main BBC1 experience remains absolute value for money for the audience.” There has been a huge amount of speculation about the plot and cast of the 50th Anniversary and all of the stars of the show have remained resolutely tight-lipped about their possible involvement, with all, David Tennant included, insisting that they have not been called upon by Steven Moffat. Ben Stephenson was no less evasive:
“There will be lots of aliens and daleks and things like that – or maybe there won’t. There are many different things to take into account and we will also have a Christmas special after that and it all connects. Or maybe it doesn’t. There’s lots to work out.” he said, adding, “It’s that thing of, how do you make individual programmes more than the sum of their parts? The Doctor Who 50th is a bit like when we did EastEnders’ 25th; it is more than just a programme, we have all had a relationship to it.
“Ninety per cent of the British public know about Doctor Who and have a personal connection to it. Most people have their own Doctor Who. It’s drawing on that nostalgia to say something bigger about the BBC and its values.”
The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary show is due to start filming in the next couple of months in and around Cardiff.
As it’s Valentine’s Day next week we will be running a series of articles looking at lurve.. and first up we thought we would find out which of the character’s that David has portrayed you would like to spend your Valentine’s Day date with.
Perhaps you’d be keen to spend time with the Tenth Doctor and let him take you for a spin in the TARDIS, or perhaps an evening with the legendary lover Casanova is more your thing…
We’ll let you know the winner on Valentine’s Day and do a special photo spam of the character of your choice, so get voting!
Toys R Us have announced an exclusive range of Doctor and Dalek figure sets in their Doctor Who range.
The range will comprise eleven sets, one for each Doctor along with a Dalek from one of the stories from that era. So far information about only three of the packs has been released: the Tenth Doctor figure, which comes with a Dalek from The Stolen Earth, the Sixth from Revelation Of The Daleks and the Second from Evil Of The Daleks.
The first sets are expected to reach Toys R Us stores in the UK in the next few days, although the actual retail date and price has yet to be confirmed. There is no information yet on a US release of these packs.
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who the BBC have commissioned Harlequin Goldsmiths Ltd to create a range of limited edition statuaries and a jewellery collection for ladies and gentlemen crafted from 9ct Gold and Sterling Silver.
Each month will feature the release of a different item, all of which are stamped with a unique Doctor Who hallmark. For the first time in its history, the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office has granted the BBC the use of its iconic trademark to form part of a London hallmark. The BBC and Harlequin Goldsmiths are proud to announce the release of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary mark. Only Doctor Who statuaries and jewellery manufactured by Harlequin Goldsmiths in 2013 will bear this special hallmark, following which the mark will be discontinued and the punch presented to the BBC archives. Check out some of the collection below:
To view the full collection and purchase any items please visit www.harlequin-goldsmiths.com/doctor-who Many thanks to Harlequin Goldsmiths Ltd
To celebrate the fact that 2013 is the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, we’ll be taking a look back at all of the episodes of the show which featured David Tennant as the Doctor. At the end of our look back we’ll be asking you, the fans, to vote for what you think is the ultimate David Tennant episode of Doctor Who…. We continue with the next David Tennant episode…. Rise Of The Cybermen Read our previous Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Countdown posts here. 6. Rise Of The Cybermen First Broadcast on 13th May 2006. Running Time: 45 Minutes. Viewing Figures: 9.20 million. Written By Tom MacRae. Directed By Graeme Harper. Executive Producers Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner. David-Tennant.com Rating: 9/10
Synopsis: The Tardis is trapped on a parallel Earth and the population is preparing for the ultimate upgrade. But sinister forces are at work and The Doctor runs up against an old enemy, The Cybermen. Extras:Promotional Photos | On Set Photos | Screen Caps | Articles | Videos|
Production Notes:
This episode was filmed in various locations in London and Wales. London locations included Battersea Power Station and Lambeth Pier.
Welsh locations were Uskmouth Power Station and Riverside Arts Centre in Newport, Cardiff Heliport, Cardiff Docks and Ely Ppaermill in Cardiff and the Stella Artois brewery in Monmouthshire.
The plot of this episode was loosely based upon the 2002 Big Finish audio drama Spare Parts written by Marc Platt.
This episode was the first time that Cybermen had been seen in the ‘New’ Doctor Who series and they were given an Art Deco makeover.
The new Cybermen were designed by Neill Gorton at Millennium FX. The new Cyberman are around 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall. They needed to be tall to look menacing, particularly as David Tennant is tall himself at 6ft 1. The Cybermen are made from burnished steel and feature the Cybus Corporation symbol on their chests. The Cyber Controller’s design is distinctive as he has glowing eyes and a transparent head which reveals his human brain.
The Cybermen’s line ‘You will become like us’ was first uttered by the metal monsters back in 1967 in Tomb Of The Cybermen.
The Foes:
The Cybermen are some of the Doctor’s most recognisable and feared enemies. They are cyborgs. They have a human brain encased in a cybernetic shell. They have had all of their previous human emotions removed.
The original Cybermen originated from Mondas, Earth’s twin planet. They made their first appearance in the episode The Tenth Planet alongside William Hartnell’s Doctor.
In this episode the Cybermen exsist on a parallel Earth and they are the creation of John Lumic, the owner of Cybus Industries. Lumic was terminally ill and was looking for a way to prolong his own life span. He was feeding information in to the brain’s of the public through his invention the EarPod. He was also arranging for homeless people to be abducted so that various tests could be carried out on them – these tests took place at Battersea Power Station – the end result of these tests was that the homeless people were upgraded into Cybermen.
The Cybermen eventually forced an upgrade on to Lumic and turned him into their very own Cyber Controller….
The Friends:
This is the episode in which Mickey Smith really starts to come in to his own. He’s gone from being a character that was mostly there to provide a little light comic relief, and as part of Rose Tyler’s back story, to hero of the hour.
Mickey has grown up and takes centre stage in the action. He is saddened by his travels with the Doctor and Rose as he has watched the girl he loves with another ‘man’ and one who he feels has more to offer her than her does. He’s tried joining them on board the TARDIS and still he can’t compete with the Doctor. He finally realises that Rose will just never feel as strongly about him as she does about the Doctor.
What happens to really change Mickey is that he finds a purpose for his life on the parallel Earth. His Grandmother is still alive there and he comes face to face with Ricky…an alternative version of himself.
Ricky is brave and outgoing, he’s a rebel, he’s a hero. Mickey realises just what he could be, but he has to stop living in the shadow of Rose and the Doctor to achieve this.
Quotes:
Rose Tyler: [On the Cybermen] They’re people?
The Doctor: They were. Now they’ve had all their humanity taken away. That’s a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body, with a heart of steel. All emotions removed.
Rose Tyler: Why no emotion?
The Doctor: Because it hurts.
The Doctor: We surrender. There’s no need to damage us, we’re good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade programme. Take us to be processed.
Cyberman: You are rogue elements.
The Doctor: But we surrender.
Cyberman: You are incompataible.
The Doctor: But this is a surrender.
Cyberman: You will be deleted.
The Doctor: But we’re surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!
Cyberman: You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cyberman, but you will perish under maximum deletion. Delete, delete, delete, DELETE!
Facts:
The name International Electromatics, as seen on the truck collecting humans for Cyber-conversion, is a reference to the company of the same name featured in the 1968 Cyberman adventure The Invasion.
The Doctor made a point of calling Mickey ‘Ricky’ during Series One. Did he know something that he wasn’t letting on?
The TARDIS previously suffered a complete power failure in 1974′s Death To The Daleks. Note that when the TARDIS crashes, six oxygen masks drop from the ceiling – an early indication that a TARDIS normally has six crew. This is later confirmed in the story Journey’s End.
This is director Graeme Harper’s first new series adventure. Graeme previously helmed Peter Davison’s swansong, The Caves Of Androzani (1984) and Revelation Of The Daleks (1985).
It’s probably no coincidence then, that actor Colin Spaull returned to Doctor Who to play Mr Crane, having last appeared as Lilt in Revelation Of The Daleks.
The Cybermen were created by Doctor Who’s unofficial scientific advisor Dr Kit Pedler and script editor Gerry Davies for the 1966 adventure The Tenth Planet. These Cybermen originated on Earth’s twin planet, Mondas. An original Cyberman head was seen in the Series One story Dalek.
Don Warrington had never previously appeared in a television episode of Doctor Who, but had played Time Lords founder Rassilon in several audio adventures.
Roger Lloyd Pack broke his leg shortly before filming on the episode commenced. Luckily it had always been intended that his character, John Lumic, would be confined to a wheelchair, so no rewrites were necessary!
If you look closely, the clock face of Big Ben is square rather than round in this alternate dimension. Oddly it reverts to being round again in the next episode!
Noel Clarke doesn’t really have a tattoo on his arm – it was specially created with make-up.
David Tennant will return to the stage for the Royal Shakespeare Company later this year in the title role of Richard II. The announcement was made today by the company’s new Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, at a press conference held in London this morning. The revelation ends months of speculation following internet rumours and hints by David himself that he intended to return to the stage soon. As recently as last Saturday, David advised audience members at the Project MotorMouth fan convention to ‘stay tuned’ when questioned on the subject. This marks David’s first stage work since he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothingfor Sonia Friedman Productions in 2011.
The play will open at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon on 10th October 2013
and will run till November. It will then transfer to the Barbican Theatre in London from December 9th 2013. Gregory Doran will direct the production.
Public booking for the season opens on March 18th . Ticket prices and purchasing details will follow
David Tennant has given his strongest hint yet that he may be returning to the stage in the very near future.
Asked by audience member Nick Joy at the Project Motor Mouth fan convention on Saturday whether he was considering anything in the way of an RSC production following speculation last November, David first reacted evasively. “I don’t know what internet forums you’ve been reading…”, he said. At that very moment his microphone cut out, “The RSC are trying to silence me” he joked. However, when sound was restored he advised the crowd, “Stay tuned”.
David has made no secret of his desire to return to the stage sooner rather than later, following his highly successful run in Much Ado About Nothing with Catherine Tate in 2011. He has previously spoken of his wishlist of plays in which he would like to perform, including Shakespeare’s Othello, Richard II and Measure For Measure as well as Closer by Patrick Marber and anything by Arthur Miller.
Exciting news for Tenth Doctor fans – Big Chief Studios Limited will be releasing a new 1:6 scale figure worldwide next Friday with the first 250 signed by David Tennant! Fans can get their hands on a figure from 6pm GMT next Thursday with an exclusive Priority Pre-order. Click here for more details.
What’s better than David Tennant? Nothing! We hear you cry.. Well you’re wrong because as the new Virgin Media advert about TiVo® Service 3 Tuners functionality shows, the answer is in fact THREE David Tennants… Watch it below and learn how you can beat programme clashes:
Shiver me timbers, a huge ship has dropped anchor at World Museum in Liverpool.
The model made for ‘The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists’, produced by Aardman, will be moored there until spring 2013. Visitors can see how the Pirate Ship was created, starting from the initial drawings to the creation of the real ship itself.
The film featured the vocal talents of David Tennant, Hugh Grant and Martin Freeman amongst others and was last week nominated for a prestigious Oscar award in the Best Animation category.
The World Museum is situated on William Brown Street in Liverpool City Centre L3 8EN and is open daily 10am – 5pm. Entry is free of charge.
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