the knights - gallifreyan gazzette - #209 - february 2005 - vol. 18-05

7/29/2019 The Knights - Gallifreyan Gazzette - #209 - February 2005 - Vol. 18-05

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The Gallifreyan Gazette From Below the Citadel 209 Volume 18.05

Half-Life

Fallen Gods

The Gods Themselves

Crimson Skies

Half-Life

The Invasion of Time

The Gods Themselves

Crimson Skies

Spaced

Enterprise Cancellation

Sleep of Reason

The Armageddon Factor

Star Wars: Battlefront


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2 THE GALLIFREYAN GAZETTE

The Knights of the White Guardian formedin 1987. All contents of this newsletter is

for the enjoyment of Doctor Who andscience fiction.

Doctor Who and the TARDIS are copyrightof the BBC. Many photos are from variousInternet sites including-www.gallifreyone.com

www.restoration-team.co.ukwww.shillpages.com/dw/dwia

- No infringement of rights is intended.

Regular members of the Knights receive12 issues of our 20 page newsletter. An E-Member receives 12 e-mailed newsletters

in PDF format. All members receive amembership card and information onevents, conventions and meetingsthroughout the year. Members can alsobe invited to our Yahoo Groups site whichincludes recent photos of events, a

calendar of upcoming activities and amessage board.

Knights of the White GuardianRegular Member - $15

E-Member - $5

Send check or money order toJohn Courtney Jr.

KOTWG Membership

107 Cobb Ave.

Chicopee, MA 01013

Make check or money order out to

John Courtney Jr.For inquiries, call (413)-592-9275 or

e-mail [email protected]

CLUB EVENTS

March 19 - Party/ Meeting - 2pm atJohns House

April 23 - Party/ Meeting - 2pm at JohnsHouse

May 28 (Saturday) - Party/Meeting - 2pmat Jeff & Katys House

CLUB CONTACT INFOInternet Connection

www.kotwg.org

E-Mail Addresses:Newsletter/Yahoo Site: [email protected]

Membership/ Admin: [email protected]

Webmaster: [email protected]

Directions:Call, Check out our web site or look up

107 Cobb Ave, Chicopee, MA 01013

THIS ISSUEFebruary 2005

# 209

Volume 18.05

Cover Design by Ken Parker

Contributors:

Phil Benoit, Karen Blanchard,Rob Claffie Jr., John Courtney,

Celina McMahon, Jim McMahon,

Dawn Parker, Kenneth Parker,

Arthur Robillard, Jeffrey A. Zyra


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THE GALLIFREYAN GAZETTE 3

NEWS

INFORMATION

RUMORS

U.S. DEAL RUMORS

As of press time (February 15, 7pm EST)

there have been ongoing rumors that thenew Doctor Who TV series may be handledin the United States by the Sci-Fi Channel.NBC/Universal is said to be in final stagesof taking control of the series which willair on NBC owned Sci-Fi Channel. It hasalso been stated, by a Washington Post

reporter, that USA Network, also owned byNBC, will air repeats of not only the newseries, but the classic series as well. Noneof this has been denied or confirmed as

of press.

TOY LICENSE ANNOUNCED

Character Options has bought the rightsto Doctor Who toys and this will begin inOctober with radio controlled Daleks andthe Sonic Screwdriver. Later products willcome out in Spring of 2006. Character

options is a manufacturer and distributormainly in the UK.

DOCTOR WHO DEMATERIALIZES

Doctor Who has been cancelled, at leastin syndication on PBS channels. No one

will be able to purchase the rights to airthe series while the BBC begins to pushthe new series.

WHO DOCUMENTARIES

In addition to Doctor Who Confidential,which is a half hour show to air right aftereach episode of the new series, BBC Radio2 will have a two part show on the makingof the new series. This will air on March22 and 29 and will be narrated by PatrickStewart.

Billie Piper prepares for

shooting The Unquiet Dead

GOLD THEME

Murray Gold, who is doing the incidentalmusic for the new series is also doing themain theme, which will be very true to theoriginal.

BBC CONTROLLER LEAVES

Lorraine Heggessey, who wasinstrumental in bringing back Doctor Who,has left the position of BBC 1 controller topursue a chief executive at Talkback

Thames (producer of The Bill and PopIdol). This is not expected to have nayimpact on the new series.


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OSCAR NODS

Two former Doctor Who production peoplehave been nominated for Oscars. John

Debney was nominatedfor score for ThePassion of Christ.Debney composed themusic for the 1996 TV

movie. Sophie Okonedo,who voiced Allison inThe Scream of Shalkaweb cast was nominatedfor best actress in Hotel

Rwanda. Good luck to both.

SATURDAY NIGHT WHO REFERENCE

In one skit on February 5s Saturday NightLive featured phone sex for Sci-Fi fans andsaw Paris Hilton had the lines - Operators

are standing by. Who knows, one of themmight be me. Does Doctor Who turn you on,

baby? Well, Im getting into my TARDIS right

now. Oooh! Id better put on my big floppy

hat and scarf. I hope I dont find any Daleks

here. Are you a Dalek, baby? Do you want to

exterminate me? Call today.

ENTERPRISE DECOMMISIONED!

UPN has finally pulled the plug on not onlythe series Enterprise but the entire ailing

franchise byannouncingthat therewould be nom o r e

movies, atleast in thenear future.

After 4 seasons of dismal ratings and adesperation move to Fridays, Enterprisewill be concluding this May. The move,not a shock to most may result in the first

time since 1987 that Star Trek will not beairing a series.

It is uncertain what the producers will nowdo for the ending of the series as no doubtthese last episodes were in at least pre-production.

NEW GALACTICA

Battlestar Galactica blasts onto TV withimpressive ratings for the SciFi Channel.The Friday night 10pm debut achieved

more ratings than UPNs 9pm Enterpriseand this is especially good since Sci-Fiscable channel does not reach as manyviewers as UPN. A second series has beenapproved but it is unknown how many orwhen the second series will begin.

NBC showed a repeat of the mini series tokick of the series and USA is handlingrepeats. USA and Sci-Fi are owned byNBC.


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SPECTRUM IS GREEN...NOW!!!

The new Captain Scarlet TV series, slatedfor a fall 2005 release has suddenly beenmoved anda i r e db e g i n i n go nF e b r u a r y

12. CreatorG e r r yAnderson was unaware of this move byITV. See a series preview in this issue!!

ADAMS ASTEROID

Hithchikers Guide tothe Galaxy creatorDouglas Adams hashad an asteroid namedafter him. Asteroid2001 DA42 was chosen

for the number 42.

OBITUARY

Veteran actor Amrish Puri, best known forhis role as Mola Ram in Indiana Jones and

the Temple of Doom has died of a brainhemmorhage. Puri appeared in over 200

f i l m sincludingGhandhi.A m r i s hwas 72.

TOYS!!

The newH i t c h h i k e r sGuide to theGalaxy will have aline of toys byNECA including a10 electronic

Marvin due in April. There isalso going to be a survival kitwhich includes a towel,homing ring and a Babel fish!

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrowsown P40 will be put out by 21st Century

Toys.

Diamond isdoing an Angelpuppet fromthe SmileTime episodeas well as 8plush Alien vs.Predator dolls.

Classic Tv Toys has done a number of re-issues of older Mego action figures and is

now doing a series of original Space: 1999figures to come out later this year.http://www.classictvtoys.com/


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Knights SKnights SKnights SKnights SKnights Scenescenescenescenescenes

The Organizational meeting was painlessand short but everything was covered. Interms of finances, everything is in goodshape. Nothing new with membershipfees.

The Web site is still there and is lookingfor ideas and material if anyone wants tocontribute.

The newsletter is still going but ourseemingly unending surplus of materialprovided by yours truly is all but gone and

thanks to some support guest authors inJanuary, we had a very varied andinteresting issue. But now we are back tosquare one and as complete this issue, wehave only two authors for this issue. I doexpect more input once the new seriesbegins airing but outside of the box ideasare now welcome.

The club trip was discussed hotly withsome strong points for and against twochoices of Lake George and WashingtonD.C. A decision should be made at the

February meeting.

Currently, we are looking for submissionsin the form of articles, reviews, puzzles,humor, games and opinion. Subjects canrange from Doctor Who (Especially AudioAdventures and other areas not covered

by our existing writers), Star Trek, Smallville,comics, gaming and any Sci-Fi or Fantasyrelated areas. These submissions can befor the web site or newsletter.


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DOCTOR WHO

NOVELSSLEEP OF REASON

Review by Ken Parker

Strange happenings at a Psychiatric homehave brought the Doctor, Fitz and Trix into

an investigation that spans severalgenerations and through the dimensionsof space. This story really is a horror novelin most cases. A place cut off from outsidehelp. A vicious wolf creature attackinganyone who tries to leave. Ghost likeconnections to the past and a being

possessing others are all standard horrorcliques but author Martin Day really puts itall together nicely.

Actually, the Doctor doesnt appear forwell into the book and this gives the authortime to set-up the guest characters. The

Doctors presence appears earlier in thestory but he is kept away from the pagesuntil he is necessary. He is not in the wayduring the story set-up and this works well.

There are other sub plots that help other

characters along and at times these maybe too in depth and not important, but inorder to make secondary charactersbelievable, Day has brought out their dirtylaundry and made these people real.

Sleep of Reason reminds me of Eater of

Wasps in its style. I have always enjoyedhorror in Doctor Who and this is a perfectexample of excellent horror and sci-fi.

REwind

TheTom Baker Era

By Jeffrey A. Zyra

THE ARMAGEDDON FACTORBy

Bob Baker & Dave Martin6 episodes

Well of course Im all right, but supposing

I wasnt all right?

The trail to the last segment of The Key toTime ends up on the planet Atrios. Atriosis engaged in a war with the planet Zeos.The Doctor and Romana discover that theplanet Zeos is deserted and is run by abattle computer. The computer is in turn

controlled by the

Shadow on a 3rd

hidden planetbetween Atriosand Zeos. TheShadow is anagent of the BlackGuardian who

would like nothing more than to possesthe Key to Time. Things are not easy forthe Doctor and Romana as they still donot have a clue as to where the sixsegments is.

This story is

probably the betterof the six stories inThe Key to Timeseason but not by


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much. Unfortunately, it is to long. It couldeasily have been trimmed down to 4episodes from 6. This story just seemedto bog down with going back to one planetto another in trying to stop the war. It

s e e m e dlike thise n t i r eepisode

was infact in at i m el o o p .Some oft h e

action that takes place on the Shadows

planet is all right as we meet anotherrenegade Time Lord named Drax. The 6th

segment turns out to be human in thisepisode, which brings out some dilemmasfor the Doctor and Romana. In all, a storythat could have been shorter and a seasonwith an ending that was kind of

disappointing.3 stars out of 5

PREVIEW

By Captain Purple

Back in 1967 TV producer Gerry Andersoncreated Captain Scarlet, a 39 half- hourepisode series utilizing Supermarionation,a type of sophisticated puppetry. Theseries, while not the huge hit that theprevious Thunderbirds was, was still well

received. Theseries didreceive somescrutiny overits violence fora childrensseries and a

warning had to be included to tell childrennot to imitate the series hero in his deadlyactions. Captain Scarlet has enjoyed yearsof repeats and whole new generations ofchildren have experienced the adventuresof Captain Scarlet and his battles with thealien menace, The Mysterons.

A few years ago, Anderson went on a questto bring back Captain Scarlet in computergenerated animation format and after aperiod of shopping for the best animatorsand companies, finally began production

in early 2004. Financially a hugeundertaking, the series ran into a fewbumps on the way but scored someexcellent talent and backers like Sony


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Entertainment, to finish the project. Thetotal amount spent is in excess of 25million pounds and Anderson raised 12

million pounds himself. An opportunity forinvestors in the series was made easierwith a reduced amount normally out of therange of most people.

Slated for Fall of 2005 at an early evening

t i m ep e r i o do nBritainsI T Vstation,Captain

Scarletlooked to finish production in July of 2005,but in a surprise move, the first 13episodes have begun airing in England onSaturday mornings at 9:30. The remaining13 episodes, now considered the secondseason, would air in the fall while a

planned DVD release of the first 13 isslated for October.

This move has mixed reaction as somebelieve that both Sony Entertainment andthe UK corporation distributing the series,Granada,h a v i n gs o m efinancialproblems,and arelooking

for aquicker return on this investment. Therehas been little time to promote the seriesand the older audience targeted for theearly evening slot is now missing. There

is talk that a repeat of each episode mayair later in the week possibly at night.There was even a chance that Captain

Scarlet would have gone up against thenew Doctor Who, which would have beenvery bad. All of this seems to point to lesstime and care on the distribution end ofthe spectrum (pun intended).

On the plus side, the episodes arecomplete and ratings and feedback nowmay help tweak any problems with thesecond 13 episodes.

The series is about a misunderstandingduring first contact between the Mysterons

of Mars and an Earth exploration vehiclein the year 2068. On board the vehicle,Spectrum agents Captain Black andCaptain Scarlet mistake a Martian sensorbeam for an attack. The Mysteronspromise a war of nerves with slow andprecise attacks on Earth. Spectrum, an

organization of special agents now mustdefend Earth from these attacks.

The agents of Spectrum include CaptainScarlet and Captain Blue as well as theircommander, Colonel White. These agentsu t i l i z ethe hight e c hvehiclesa n dweaponsto fight

t h eMysterons. A variety of craft weapons areneeded. The Mysterons are not your usualaliens. They have the ability to posses and


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reanimate dead and destroyed matter.Captain Scarlets friend, Captain Black isnow an instrument of the Mysterons.

The series is to include a good amount ofthe usual action and drama but unlike theoriginal, more emphasis on relationshipsand character development is planned as

a love

trianglewill nod o u b tplay ap a r ta m o n gCaptain

Black, his love interest Destiny Angel (pilotfor Spectrum) and now Scarlet, showconsuls Destiny after Blacks death. GerryAnderson has commented that the serieswill be a bit more dark and sexy than theoriginal. Anderson states, Even at myage, I really like sex, he said. I think we

handle the sex in good taste.

Differences between the series will benumerous, as none of the original vehicleshave been redone for the new series. Allnew vehicles like the Rhino andHummingbird are now the tools ofSpectrum.T h i sa l l o w slicensingof toysspecifically

for thenew series with no confusion with the old.A few new characters have been addedand one or two are now female Spectrumagents.

The theme music has changed and noneof the original voice cast is back in theiroriginal parts but some of the crew are

familiar to Anderson fans. Crispin Merrell(Space Precinct) has scored the music forthe series and David Lane (Thunderbirdsand UFO) directed many episodes. ActorsJeremy Hitchen (Terrahawks) and WayneForester (Space Precinct) are among the

voices in the series.

The series is said to be utilizing a newcoined term Hypermarionation. Theanimation uses NewTeks Lightwave 3-Dwhich produces detailed 3-D surfaces and

can mimic camera actions. Ron Thornton(Babylon 5 and Roughnecks) is the headanimator for the series. The series is beingshot at Pinewood Studios utilizing a newmotion capture studio built specifically forthis series. Over 200 animators areinvolved and Windows based computersby Dell are what is being used. Over 160workstations with 260 Dell PowerEdgeservers were utilized.


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WORLD CINEMA

Review by Ken Parker

A routine military training mission goeswrong when the soldiers find themselvesfighting werewolves in a desolate woods

in England. The group of likeable soldiersare carrying weapons that shoot blanksand are expected to go up against anotherteam of soldiers. What they find is aspecial ops team wiped out with only theirleader still alive. An attack by several bigwolf like creature sends the remaining

team to a deserted farmhouse, driventhere by Megan, a zoologist there to studythe unusual creatures. The stand off isbloody and deadly, for the soldiers and thewerewolf creatures dont seem to die thateasily. With only six hours left until daytime, several discoveries lead to a

conclusion that they will not make it outalive.

This film has been compared to Aliens aswell as the Hammer films of old. The buildup to the action is very quick and there is

just enough time for somecharacterization in between the killings.The film has very little on the scares andmore on the gore front. The film is also

Episode Guide Instrument Of Destruction - Part One

(February 12th, 2005)

Instrument Of Destruction - Part Two(February 19th, 2005)The Homecoming

(February 26th, 2005)Rain Of Terror

(Broadcast Date TBA)

Mercury Falling(Broadcast Date TBA)

No word on US distribution, but it isassumed that the series will air on a cablechannel at some point and that a DVDrelease will follow shortly.

A series of action figures and diecasts arebeing put out by Bandai.


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reviewed as a comedy and while there area few moments there, I found nothing funnyabout the film for the first hour anyhow..

The werewolves themselves, shown inbetter light and in longer shots are funny.The end credit sequence is perhaps thepunch line for the whole movie. Towardthe end of the film comedy seeps in, but itreally should have been there from point

one.

Sean Pertwee is excellent and steals theshow. The rest of the cast is okay but itseemed that the ending gets better andbetter as Darren Morfitt (Spoon) finds hischaracter finally in an amusing boxingmatch with a werewolf. Some of thecharacter motives for Megan are way outthere and make no sense.

Anyhow , Dog Soldiers, not taken seriously,is a pretty good film with plenty of action,gore and tension.

There is actually a sequel planned for aSci-Fi Channel debut.

Star Wars: BattlefrontVideo Game for the X-Box

By The Sniper

Most of us probably at one point imaginedbeing part of the Star Wars universewhether it be fighting alongside Luke

Skywalker or ordering the destruction ofa planet. Now a new video game gives usa chance to fight on either the side of goodor evil. Star Wars Battlefrontgives theplayer options to play a variety ofcharacters on the side of the Empire orthe Rebellion or even the Trade Federation

or the Republic from the Clone Wars era.The games play arena offers no less thanten planets, some with more than onelocation where the battles can take place.In other words, you can play a Wookiefighting on Bespin against the empire, or

you can play a battle droid fighting theGungans on Naboo, and so on.

Basically your objective is to choose aplanet and side and take part in the battlefrom the Star Wars Universe. You chooseyour soldiers and firepower depending

upon your mission. For the most part each

Decisions, decisions...


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side has similar characters with a varietyof weapons and skills that you can useduring battle. Pick the Wookie, for

example and you can use the powerfulcrossbow, activate time bombs and use agrenade launcher. Pick a sniper (myfavorite) and you can target enemies from

far away andtake them out

with one shot.The pilot canrepair items andvehicles as wellas build blastercannons and so

on. The Rebel Assault trooper has the big

rocket launcher capable of taking out AT-STs.

Once you pick a side and a character yourparticular objectives are made clear, but

generally you attackthe enemies and

capture theircommand posts.Once you havedwindled theenemies posts andnumbers down farenough, youve one

the battle. There is a bit of strategynecessary as head on attacks dont alwayswork, and thus thought-out attacks withsnipers or mine planters come into play.

As a character you can also control blaster

cannons and a multitude of vehicles,including Tie Fighters, X- and Y- wings,speeder bikes, AT-STs and so on. Thesevehicles will help with your campaign.

The game is broken up into several levelsand two modes of play, Single player andMultiplay. Single player mode puts you

into a battlefront of your choice right away.The Historical Campaign level presents aseries of key battles each of which youneed to win in order to move onto the next.These are mixed with both sides of the warand from two time periods, the Clone War

era and the Rebellion era. The GalacticConquest level allows you to go head-to-head with the enemy and attempt to takeover a number of planets to win the battle.Each scenario gives each side objectivesand bonuses for capturing certain planets.

The Multiplay levels give you the chanceto go up against a human opponent eitherat home or online. The QuickMatch optionputs you into a starting mission sometimeswith a predetermined side and sometimeswith an option to choose the side; you still


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get to pick out your character. Online playis fun but very glitchy. Characters jumparound and do not move smoothly and so

it can be hard to shoot them. This jitter isvery annoying on some levels but not sobad on others. For the most part peopleon line play the game as it is intended, butyou will still get the usual traitors andCommand Center squatters (annoyingwimps who stake out an enemy

respawning area and shoot people as theycome into play; they rack up large killnumbers with this form of cheating!)Notes on single play: Given the particular

situation you will need to play the rightcharacter in the right position based onhis/her characteristics. For example, theSniper player needs to be calm and keptaway from the front line. They can be verypowerful and you can rack up a goodnumbers of kills. There were times when Ijust sat still and shot every stormtrooperthat came into my sights. In close combatthe sniper loses any advantage. Time willtell what characters work the best indifferent settings and at different pointsduring each battle.

When your character dies you have achoice of where to respawn and whichcharacter to use, so it is possible to pick

one with a missile launcher, destroy theAT-STs, then pick the sniper to clean upthe rest of the soldiers.

You will occasionally see a star characterlike Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader. Thesecharacters help you in your task but theyare very difficult to kill. Also, to the bestof my knowledge there is no way that youcan play a Jedi in this game.

Vehicles including the AT-STs and other

ground vehicles are fun to drive. Steppingon people or running them over will behighlights. The space craft are very hardto fly and are very fast. Speaking of fast,the speeder bikes are great on Tatooine(no trees) but are tough on the moon ofEndor (trees).Gameplay varies from easy to really hard.At some levels it is pretty easy to take outthe enemies while at others you will havetrouble figuring out the proper strategy.On most levels your goal is to take overenemy outposts, but on others the

objective may be to protect the shieldgenerators on Hoth, or to blow up theshield generators on Endor.


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Negatives: First off, I find the area of playto be too confining. This is especially truewhen I am banking an X-wing to strafe an

enemy base and the annoying LeavingBattlefield message blinks on screen.

You have the ability to order your troops,and they will listen to you, for a little while.One time on Tatooine I decided to pilot alandspeeder behind enemy lines andattack from there. I had plenty of roomand so ordered 5 or 6 guys to hop in. Ithen got near the enemy post untouchedand ordered my guys to get out, but noone was onboard. I was alone. Well, atleast until an AT-ST stomped me into the

ground.

A little too close that time, ouch!!

Also, blowing up a shield generator issomething I have yet to figure out. I canlob grenades in and damage it but nottotally knock it out. Bringing other troopswith me sounded like a great idea, butwhen everybody starts lobbing grenadeswithin a closed areaSoon I was alone

again as everyone had wiped each otherout. So, the AI is not that bright.

There is not enough of a difference in thevariety of missions offered which can

make Battlefrontboring. Sure, the settingsare different, but it all comes down to thesame tactics and goals. Choosing different

characters can increase play interest.

Positives: This is the first Star Wars gameI have purchased for the Xbox and for themost part I am very impressed. Thegraphics are great and the details of theStar Wars Universe are captured well with

this game. This is a game of secondarycharacters, so you wont be playing LukeSkywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi. Playingdifferent roles in different battles will giveyou a chance to rewrite history at times,like stopping the rebels on Endor, orpreventing the Empire from overrunningHoth.

There are limitations and some repetitionthat may affect long-term interest in thisgame. However, there is also a lot ofenjoyment to be had in this game as

mentioned above. It is not perfect but ifyou ever wanted to be part of the Star Warsuniverse, this is certainly an excellent way.Oh, yeah, you can also shoot Ewoks.


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Doctor Who - New SeriesDoctor Who - New SeriesDoctor Who - New SeriesDoctor Who - New SeriesDoctor Who - New SeriesThe ProductionThe ProductionThe ProductionThe ProductionThe Production

Part Three - ShootingPart Three - ShootingPart Three - ShootingPart Three - ShootingPart Three - ShootingOutline by Ken Parker

Things really got rolling in the summer of2004. Not only had both main leads beencast but more and more cast and crewwere announced. All this led to theclimactic moment when the series beganfilming.

April 28 Some tentative titles for storiesare released.

May 4 Papers report that Harry Potterauthor JK Rowling turned down a job inwriting for the new series.

May 5 a rumor circulates that a Christmas2004 debut may be in the works.

May 22 Rose is cast. Billie Piper landsthe role as the Doctors companion.

May 24 Keith Boak is the first directorreported.

May 25 a report that several famous

people will be featured in one episode ofthe new series begins circulation. Amongthe people mentioned are sports star DavidBeckham. Madonna and Harrison Ford areamong others mentioned.

June & July More cast and crew arepicked including Bryan Hitch (designer),The FX group- The Mill, Noel Clarke, etc.

July 4 No Daleks. The report that thedeal was settled prove false and it is statedthat the Daleks would not be in the new

series.

Fans The debate on how many monstersin one season was enough ran hot whenthe Autons, Daleks and the Master wereall said to be in the first season. It seemedthat many fans were looking for a fanfriendly show with tons of references andlinks to the past with perhaps loads of pastcharacters and aliens. They were askingabout the Brigadier and Davros characters that may have had their timeand perhaps should not be brought back.

July 19 Perhaps the official reported startdate for the filming of the new series.Filming began in Cardiff, admidstsightings of film crews and Billie Piper ina Cardiff record shop. Filming includedsome military soldiers and a hospital

called Albion. Soon after these reports aslew of photos taken by fans begin to floodthe internet and for the next week or soblurry shots reveal very little, or perhapsa lot. Shots contain scenes of Autonsmarching out of a department store andBillie Piper running around with whatlooked like an Auton arm.

July 20 Officialpress call Television andinternet report

shows interviewswith Davies,Eccelston andPiper and mentions the opening moments


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of the series as well as the new costumefor the Doctor a leather jacket.

July 20 BBC web site begins their dailyWhoSpy picture library. Each day a newbehind the scenes photo will entice,enrage and excite fans for months tocome. The first photo features aclapperboard.

Fans the analysis of the online photoswas fascinating at times, but when it cametime for the Whospy, it just got silly. Withpeople looking for hidden meaning andperhaps a glimpse of the TARDIS controlroom in any of the photos, a select group

of fans tore into every photo and wouldconstruct entire stories based on a flamingcouch and some graffiti on a wall. Theassumptions were downright out there andthis would continue. So much so was thedebate that Who Spy caught onto the funand started to doctor photos and change

them after fans thought they weredeciphering parts of blurred letters andother red herrings. (See TARDIS debateand Trailer debate)

July More reports of story titles and plotsare revealed. Some rumors that ChrisEccelston quit after only a few weeks ofwork surface as well as rumors that theproduction is in trouble and argumentshave broken out. Most of these rumorsare debunked or ignored.

July 21 The onslaught of photos includethe first glimpses of the TARDIS on a street.

By the end of July the first glimpses ofEccelston and Piper together appear

online. And soon after that news of filmingand the fervor of online photo reports slowdown for a while.

August 2 River police confront filmingcrew on the Thames river as the crewdrifted too close to Parliament.

August 4 The Daleks to return after all.The deal is eventually struck and theDaleks are now to appear in the series atsome point.

Fans The photos of the TARDIS reallygot many fans eager for the show it nowwas truly Doctor Who. But a huge debate

on the TARDISs appearance (being too fatto name one observation) spawned a hugeforum war that resulted in people applyingmathematical formulas and projectinggrids onto these out of context photos tofind the truth. The size of the TARDISwould continue to create havoc but would

a l s ospawn thesarcasticpost. Thesarcasticp o s t sw o u l dblow out ofproportionthe debateand make fun of photos and at timeswould be hard to separate the fakeremarks to the real ones.

September sees quite a bit of additionalcasting including Simon Callow as CharlesDickens. Location photos include shots


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from that episode in particular as well asmany more.

September 9 Official publicity documentmentions Who and includes picture ofDoctor in front of TARDIS.

September 11 Tom Baker states that hewants to play the Master in the new series.Rumors on the stories include a lone Dalekin one story followed by another storyfeaturing many Daleks.

October 4 Canada signs up to get newseries (no word on US yet.)

October 18 New logo debuts.

October 27 a color promo is releasedfeaturing the Doctor, Rose and the TARDIS(used for our October issue cover).

November 1 Dalek photo makes it online.

December 1 BBC mentions that Who maybe in Winter Highlights and thereforenarrows down the period of debut as withinthe next few months.

December 2 The BBC web site makesavailable the first Teaser for the show. Thisfew second clip includes a few lines ofdialog.

Fans The trailer spawned the mostludicrous debate so far but much of it was

probably caused by the jokey fans tryingto fuel the argument. The debate on whatthe lines said in the trailer may sound pettybut for some it was very important to getan idea of what was the point. Makes no

sense but it does bring up a point thatsome fans may analyse every line ofdialog and every scene once the show

begins to air that isnt much fun now isit?

December 9 - High profile writer and actorSimon Pegg is back in the series afterpotentially landing an important part. Noword on what part he ended up with.

January 4 - The launch date in the UK isrumored to be March 26 and whileCanada, New Zealand and Australia allhave contracts to air the new series, TheU.S. has not landed a deal yet, at least

publically.

Fans - the slow build up over the monthsof December and January toward theseries is not as powerful as I thought itwould be and this might have soemthingto do with no set date for air in England

or any further trailers or clips. Perhapsfans are begining to take a deep breathand are quietly waiting.

G G 9


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Doctor WhoPROGRAM GUIDE

The Doctor - Christopher EcclestonRose Tyler, companion Billie Piper

Production TeamRussell T. Davies (exec prod. & head writer)Julie Gardner(exec producer)

Mal Young (exec producer)Phil Collinson (producer)Helen Vallis (Production Manager)Keith Boak (Director)Mike Tucker(Miniatures)Neill Gorton (Make-up)Lucinda Wright (Costume)SFX (The Mill)

Additional detailsCBC - Canada Broadcast station

Episode 1 Rose by Russell T. Davies

Episode 2 - The End of the World byRussell T. DaviesEpisode 3 - The Unquiet Dead by MarkGatissEpisode 4 Al iens of London by RussellT. DaviesEpisode 5 - 10 Downing Street by RTD

Episode 6 TBA by Rob ShearmanEpisode 7 The Long Game by Russell T.DaviesEpisode 8 - TBA by Paul CornellEpisode 9 The Empty Child by StevenMoffatEpisode 10 - The Doctor Dances by Steven

MoffatEpisode 11- TBA by Russell T. DaviesEpisode 12 - 13 The Parting of the Waysby Russell T. Davies

DOCTOR WHOBOOK RELEASES

FebruaryTo The Slaughterby Stephen Cole(8th)

MarchShort Trips - Seven Deadly Sins

MayClockwise Man by Justin Richards (9th)Winner Take All by Jaqueline Rayner(9th& Rose)Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole (9th)

JuneThe Gallifrey Chronicles by Lance Parkin(8th)

JulyThe Island of Death by Barry Letts(3rd)Back to the Vortex - Shaun Lyons (non-

fiction)

AugustFuture Nostalgia by Gary Russell (6th)

SeptemberFear Itselfby Nick Wallace (8th)

OctoberTBA by Terrance Dicks (2nd)

November 2005The Time Travellers by Simon Guerrier(1st)

December 2005Atom Bomb Blues by Andrew Cartmel (7th)



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DOCTOR WHODVD RELEASES

MarchThe Mind Robber (UK) - Commentary byFraser Hines, Wendy Padbury, director David

Maloney and actor Hamish Wilson

The Visi tation (US)The Green Death (US)

MayThe Claws of Axos (UK) - Commentary withKaty Manning, Richard Franklin and Barry

Letts, deleted and outtakes, Now & Then, and

30 minute compilation of Vampire From

Space.

JuneThe Leisure Hive (US)Ghostlight(US)

DOCTOR WHOAUDIO RELEASES

FebruaryGame Time by Darin Henry (5th)(3 disc)UNIT - 2 - Snake HeadUNIT 3 - The Longest NightUnderwater Menace

MarchDreamtime by Simon A. Forward (7th)Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure withthe DaleksUNIT - The Wasting

April

Catch-1782(6th)Gallifrey - Lies

MayThrees a Crowdby Colin Brake (5th)Gallifrey - Spirit

JuneUnregenerate!by David A. McInteeGallifrey - Pandora

JulyTerror Firma (8th)The Counci l of Nicea by Carolyn SymcoxGallifrey - Insurgency

AugustGallifrey - ImperiatrixCybermen # 1

SeptemberCybermen #2

OctoberCybermen #3

the knights - gallifreyan gazzette - #209 - february 2005 - vol. 18-05

Documents