Firstly Matt Smith isn't quitting, there was some confusion over a statement he made backstage at the NTAs where he said:
“I’m here for the future, I love making the
show. I have no plans to leave. I’ve got a year of Who and I’ll take it
from there really."
Which left a number of people and MANY 'Tweeters' under the assumption that Smith was only here for another year. In a more recent interview Smith commented on his earlier statement by saying, the future isn't set in stone, however he doesn’t think he’ll be beating Tom Baker’s 7 year record: “I don’t think I’ll be doing it as long as Mr Baker” he remarked.
In an interview with the UK Press Association: “I think there will need to be a younger, cooler person than me, or maybe an older, cooler person, who knows?”
Way to take a stand there Matt...
Filming for the season 7 begins mid February where Matt will be accompanied by his new companion following Amy and Rory's departure
Starring: David
Tennant, Billie Piper and Pauline Collins
Our story starts with the Doctor attempting to take Rose
(his companion) to see Ian Dury and the blockheads in concert in 1979 however,
the TARDIS has other plans and they land in the Scottish moors in 1879 where
they encounter a carriage and armed guard, due to a fallen tree on the train
line Queen Victory is forced to take the roads to Balmoral Castle. This is actually the third time the Doctor
has encountered Queen Victoria, in the television story ‘The Curse of Peladon’ ,
the third Doctor mentioned having been in attendance at Queen Victoria's coronation,
and in the novel ‘Empire of Death’ the Fifth Doctor met Queen Victoria and was
even appointed her Scientific Advisor. None of this however is mentioned within
this episode. The Doctor claims to have
been appointed the royal physician and joins Victoria to her overnight stop,
The Torchwood Estate, home of Sir Robert MacLeish and his wife lady Isobel (interestingly,
the Doctor introduces himself as James McCrimmon which was actually the name of
the Second Doctors Companion Jamie.) At
this time the Royal party are all blissfully unaware that the house has been
overrun by a brotherhood of monks whom tuned from God to worship the Wolf. The monks force Sir Robert to play into their
ruse as they take the place of the house's servants and guards. It was in fact
these same monks who arranged for the fallen tree in order to direct the Queens
travels to the Torchwood Estate where they intend to infect her with the curse
of the werewolf. With them the Monks have
brought a ‘person’ already affected with lycanthropy, hoping to pass its nature
to the Queen and create a new "Empire of the Wolf”.
As the Doctor, Sir Robert and Queen Victoria sit down to
dinner the Doctor becomes aware that this is all a trap, that the Monks led by
Father Angelo have drugged the Queens guards and imprisoned the house staff and
Rose in the basement with the affected ‘person’. As the moon initiates this creatures
transformation from man into beast Rose and the others break free of their
shackles and escape into the estate.
Joining the Doctor, Rose, Sir Robert and Victoria take refuge in the
estates library, armed with books the Doctor and others set about trying to
find more information of this beast and more importantly how to fight it. While there a question arises as to why the
Werewolf hasn’t attempted to break into the library, what is it about this
place that halts the creatures attack?
The Doctor discovers that the woodwork surrounding the room is coated
with mistletoe. Mistletoes use as a
Werewolf repellant dates back to the fourth and fifth century were ‘magicians’
would not only sell the repellant but also herbs that “guaranteed” the werewolf
transformation. During their study of
the libraries books, they discover evidence collected by Sir Robert's father and
Prince Albert that indicate the werewolf is actually the current form of an
alien species that fell to earth in 1540 near St. Catherine's Glen, surviving the
ages by passing its lycanthropic form from human to human. The Doctor also
realises that the Torchwood Estate its
self was designed as a trap for the werewolf, by the use of a strange telescope
designed by both Prince Albert and Sir Roberts father, along with the Queen's
Koh-i-Noor diamond, they can force the werewolf to revert to human form and
destroy the alien symbian.
As the Doctor prepares the telescope, Sir Robert attempts to
fend off the Werewolf allowing the Doctor more time, the wolf breaks into the
observatory as the Doctor configures the telescope in such a way to concentrate
the moons light and traps the werewolf, the now trapped creature which has
taken human form once again begs the Doctor to increase the light and kill him,
the Doctor reluctantly obliges. The
Queen appears to have a small cut from this ordeal which she claims to have
been a splinter from the door when the werewolf burst into the room, however
the Doctor explains to Rose that history (her history) notes that all Queens
Victoria’s children will carry a strange form of hemophilia, and that perhaps
this was a Victorian explanation for lycanthropy.
The Next day the Doctor and Rose are knighted by Queen
Victoria which is actually the second time the Doctor has been knighted,
although this was his first official knighthood, the fifth Doctor was knighted
in the story The Kings Demons by his future companion Kamelion who posed as
King John the first while under the control of the Master. Due to their ‘unholy’ lifestyle the Queen
then banishes the Doctor and Rose from the British Empire, and in tribute to
Sir Robert and his father she creates the Torchwood Institute, taking the name
from the estate, with the express duty to investigate paranormal events such as
the werewolf in this episode.
It looks like the Doctor is getting a little creative, I just found out about a new line of toys from Character that'll be coming out later this year. Apparently there was quite the Doctor Who collection at the London toy fair this year. I did managed to get hold of some photos, which I think could also be quite a good clue as far as whats to come in season 7.
The first is called the Dalek/Cyberman Anti Time device which looks to be a combination of canibalised Dalek and Cyberman parts:
In addition to this pretty neat looking contraption there's also a 'Personal TARDIS', what happens to the TARDIS??
Now this looks like something that's worn on the wrist, much like Captain Jacks Vortex Manipulator, but seeing as River used in 'Big Bang 2' there's got to be more to it. Something I particularly like is just how Steampunk'd everything is.
Lastly I want to show you the new Trans Temporal Sonic Screwdriver...
with all these new toys giving us some sort of hint as to whats going to happen there seems to me that something is going to happen to the TARDIS maybe it breaks down, gets lost or even stolen. I'm also guessing that we will be seeing the Daleks and the Cybermen based on the Anti Time Device. Also note the the Dalek eye is from the older style Daleks and not the newer style...
What ever is going to happen its gonna force the Doctor to come up with some new gadget...
Who knows? All I can say is its gonna be interesting and fun to find out
Todays $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at Teefury is this Time Traveller themed design - themed shirt called “Time Warp" by Everdream
The sale began this morning at 00.01
EST and will continue until midnight tonight where this design will no
longer be available on this site. And like most DW themed shirts its
already become a 'Popular Item' based on only the sales of the past few hours.
Heres what the artist had to say:
Who doesn’t like time travel in all its
complexity. I’ve seen so much material devoted to characters, ships, and
weapons that I thought I’d give some love to those miraculous marvels
that twist the hands of the clock.
I managed to figure out 7 of these, can you do any better?
Karen Gillan has now become a house hold name thanks to her role as Amy on
Doctor Who and with her departure already set in motion what will the future
hold for this 24year old from Inverness?
Karen has played Amy Pond alongside Matt Smith since Smith became the Doctor
in 2010 and now relishes what life has to offer her next
“My greatest fear is saying, ‘what
if?’" she admitted. "Being in Doctor Who has been so amazing. I don’t think I
will ever have a job quite so fun ever again. I feel sad because I am going to
leave, but with any story, it has to come to an end.” She explains “It was a mutual decision with
me and Steven Moffat. We had this lovely dinner and decided when the best time
for me to go was. So I’m excited and slightly scared.”
Both Karen and Arthur Darvil (her on screen husband) will leave the show
this year after “a few really good episodes”.
Doctor Who made her a star but we will see there’s more to her than just a sidekick,
when she plays 60s model Jean Shrimpton in BBC 4’s “We’ll Take Manhattan.”
We’ll Take Manhattan is about Shrimpton’s relationship with photographer
David Bailey and a wild 1962 Vogue photo shot in New York. Which may not be
that big aleap for Karen as she used to be a model and she recently split from
her long term photographer boyfriend Patrick Green.
“I know what it’s like to be a model
and go to castings where some people like what they see and others look at you
with distaste.
“It’s a strange sensation to be completely judged on how you look and that’s
something I can understand because I used to be in that situation.”
Karen studied Acting in Edinburgh at 16 and at 18 continued her studies in
London where she was offered a job that meant she would leave collage, however, once
the job finished she had no income, no collage and had to work in a pub to make
ends meet.
Which is why, as she contemplates a life without the financial security and celebrity status the Doctor Who brought her, Karen knows she is
doing the right thing.
She says: “It’s good to go with your gut instincts.
“You just should. Even if it doesn’t work out, something good will come out
of it.”
So I had a thought a little while ago about make a teapot using one of the TARDIS ceramic mugs...
However, today I found out that there are plans to release one this year, where as I've yet to find out the exact date I figure rather than spending the money on the mug and attempting to modify it Im just gonna wait...
In addition to the cyberman cubies I found a few other papercraft projects that I wanted to share, figured it could be something fun to do with the kids and such...
If you do happen to make some of these, be sure to send me a photo and Ill post it on the blog
I've not written in nearly a week because I've been working on my Cyberman helmet, collecting reference photos, talking to people and researching the various styles stc.
While collecting photos and such I came across a bunch of images called 'Cubies' and thought it would perhaps be fun to share these with everyone:
Todays $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at Teefury is this Doctor Who themed design - themed shirt called “The Sonic Mark VI” by SteveThomas
The sale began this morning at 00.01 EST and will continue until midnight tonight where this design will no longer be available on this site. And like most DW themed shirts its already become a 'Popular Item' based on only the sales of the past few hours.
Heres what the artist had to say:
This design came about through a collaboration
with my brother. I’ll admit the most I remember about the show is the
old trippy theme and opening sequence (at least back in the 80s or 70s
reruns, not sure which). But I’ve been intrigued by the show’s growth in
popularity. Plus I like sci-fi, time travel and robots. But getting
back to the design, we wanted to do something a little different. We
decided on a product logo/ad for a sonic screwdriver. I chose this
version and my brother told me it was the Mark VI. He basically wrote
all the text and I ran with the art part of it. We hope you like it.
The Cybermat made its return recently in the episode Closing Time and with that it reminded me that for the longest time I've wanted one of the classic versions, specifically the 1967 story 'Tomb of the Cybermen' version.
1967 Cybermat from Tomb of the Cybermen
Screen capture of 1967 Cybermat from Tomb of the Cybermen
I remember seeing them when I was a child (in a repeat) and wanting one of my own, and being that Im currently waiting for parts to start my K9 build I decided to keep me busy I would start a small budget build.
First I did a little research, searching the internet I found that years ago there was a kit sold through the Dr Who magazine, so thinking I might be able to find such a thing, I scoured the internet in search for this kit, maybe eBay would have something, what about the Dr Who Prop builders sites? even found the Cyberman builders forums and yet still no sign of this elusive vacuum mouded kit. So back to square one. I did manage to find the assembly instructions, and decided to use this as more reference images.
So now it was left for me to search the supermarkets and local stores for something that might resemble the size and shape of the Cybermat, estimating the overall size to be roughly 25/30cm long, I set to work and to be totally honest it didnt take me to long to find something I figured might actually be perfect....
A small scoop from my local Dollar store, I marked out where I wanted to make the first cuts and set to work...
Also marking where the eye holes would be I drilled some sockets, making them smaller than the 1" wooden balls I bought for the eyes.
Wooden balls from Micheals craft store $2.99
I simply hot glued two of the wooden balls into the sockets and it holds them great, I then used painters caulk to build up the sockets.
Now I had to work out how to make the tail, I went through a number of different ideas but the final and I think not only easiest but also cost effective was to use a sheet of plastic, this particular sheet was a place mat from Halloween which again cost $1 so far I spent less than $5 on this and already I can see this project taking shape.
Cutting the plastic in 4 different sizes and scoring the lines to help create sharper edges. These can all fit within each and when I bolt them together with will still allow for a little tail swooshing when my final piece is complete.
Once all the parts were ready I went ahead a primed everything...
Tail segment measurements
Once the primer was dry I sprayed everything silver...
You'll also notice I added some antenna to the head piece and drilled holes in the tail pieces,
I then screwed it all together, and using felt I cut the 'feelers' which I then hot glued to the head unit.
Being that this is a budget build I think it looks pretty cool. I do intend to get a small RC car and make this thing move. So with the patterns on the eyes I feel that this baby is done, not necessarily a replica but certainly it has the look of a Cybermat and personally I love it.
1967 'Tomb of the Cybermen', Cybermat built by Paul Bradford
In order to motorise the Cybermat I searched for different small RC car, however the smallest I found that could fit inside the head piece was an infrared car and it simply wouldnt have been powerful enough to move the creature. So I ended up using one of my RC battle Daleks, I simply took out the motor, keeping the skirt base connected to the wheels I found it to be near perfect size.
Now not only did I add the motor to the underneath of the Cybermat but also changed the colour of the felt to match more closely to that of the original Tomb of the Cybermen version...
Noel Clarke to appear in Star Trek 2 - Image modified by Paul Bradford
Noel Clarke who had the recurring role of Mickey Smith, has been confirmed as having a part in the new Star Trek movie due to be released May, 2013. Details on his character are being kept under wraps however what we do know is that he will play the part of a family man, with a wife and kids.
Clarke is said to now be the third high-profile British actor to be in the Star Trek movie alongside Alice Eve and Simon Pegg.
My daughter made me this Dalek for Christmas, its one of my favorites
To be honest once the entire collection was put together I couldnt help but wonder if I really had everything. I mean I was sure there was more but alas I couldnt find any more figures and after counting them all I figure I got a long way to go to beat any world records.....
So the grand total is a mere 45... yeah, I was a little disappointed actually. But I figure I got years to work on the collection, I'd like to get more of the 5" figures from the classic Doctor Who episodes as well as the 12" RC models. Theres actually a couple of 18" Daleks that I really want to get a hold of but they range in price up from $250 to $599 on eBay. Until then I have my own little Sanctuary of Daleks, of which you can add yours to also.
Do you have a Dalek thats just warn out, tired of being defeated by the Doctor? Then you can send him (or her) to my Asylum for Daleks where he will live out his days in comfort and surrounded by others his own kind....
Paul Bradford, Dalek Sanctuary, P O Box 22336 Tucson, Az 85734 USA
Now something to take note of is this is in no way my entire Doctor Who collection, just Daleks. Tomorrow Im going to go through my other stuff to see just how much I really have... but for now, I have to clear all these from the living room and put them in their rightful places (ie where ever they'll fit)
Firstly Matt Smith isn't quitting, there was some confusion over a statement he made backstage at the NTAs where he said:
