Jenna Coleman Quits ‘Doctor Who’ For New Role

by BigyanksSeptember 16, 2015

It is being reported the Jenna Colmen (Clara Oswald) will be departing ‘Doctor Who’ after this season in favor a new role as Queen Victoria in a major ITV drama series. Both ITV and BBC are declining to make any officials announcements regarding her departure.

I’m okay with Jenna leaving the show, she was far from my favorite of the ‘Doctor Who’ companions. She always felt a bit flat to me and just felt like she was lacking Je ne sais quoi. Looking forward to see how exactly she gets written off the show and who could be the next Doctor’s companion.

‘Doctor Who’ Season 9 Premiers September 19

Tatiana Maslany Is Finally Recognized By The Emmys!

by Gabriel von GrünbaumJuly 17, 2015

“About bloody well time!” were the words on the lips of many BBC America viewers and fans of Orphan Black when the announcement came that, after long last, Tatiana Maslany was finally being nominated as Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the 67th Emmy Awards.

We wish you could hear the screaming in BBC America’s office just after 11:30 a.m. as Tatiana’s name was read… because we could hear you — loud, proud, and online.

I mean, Canada has already given her her own street, for crying out loud!

Her snubs for the nomination the last couple years have come as quite a shock to most anyone who’s seen the show. It’s not that she’s turning in a great performance each episode; it’s that she’s nailing like 10 different characters and counting—in one show! Geeking out actor-wise, it’s amazing to watch her change vocal intonation, accent, countenance, total physicality and on and on. It took me several episodes before it hit me that these different clones I was following were all the same actress—I mean, I knew it going in but completely forgot about it as I was pulled into the various storylines; each character felt so vastly different. That’s acting at it’s finest.

Maslany will now face Claire Danes (Homeland), Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Robin Wright (House of Cards) in the Lead Actress category this year. Amazing performances from all of them but—and let me be clear—just one each.

I bet Gareth Edwards and the crew working on the Star Wars spin-off under development are kicking themselves if rumors are true that they really have passed over Maslany for the lead. (Here’s hoping, for all our sakes, that it’s not too late to still make it happen.)

BBC America were quick to congratulate their star:

You can check out our full list of 67th Emmy Awards nominees here. And if for some reason you’re one of the sorry few still not acquainted with Tatiana please allow me to let Seth Meyers introduce you (and then go watch Orphan Black):

Go #CloneClub!

The Doctor Who Christmas Special: What Worked, What We Loved And What We Learned!

by S.J. BorgerDecember 27, 2013

Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on Mr. Moffat. He did, after all, give us a nearly note-perfect 50^th Anniversary special. And the David Tennant farewell special was, in our opinion, almost perfect television. Maybe we could curb our disappointment in Matt Smith’s finale—but that is proving difficult, because it could have been so good.

The Christmas Episode was a lot like Christmas—weeks spent in delirious anticipation as the wrapped presents pile higher and higher, followed by an hour and half of slow realization that most people are as stumped as you are in regards to gift-giving, and ending in a sort of bland, vague, obstinate depression that even chocolate can’t seem to fix.

What Worked, Really Worked

What we loved in this episode:

1. Owning Matt Smith’s bald head and pretty-good wig.

2. The rhyme found in the Christmas Cracker. Simple, sad. Like much that is great with the Doctor, it echoes and knocks around and provokes unexpected reactions.

3. The fact that he hasn’t fixed the phone yet.

4. The Papal Mainframe. Could we get a spin-off of that, please?

5. The gentleness of Matt Smith’s final good-bye.

6. The Time Lords are definitely stuck in a pocket universe. No more debate about that.

7. We never have to worry about limited regenerations again.

8. The wooden Cyberman (it was a little goofy but still…)

Clara (JENNA COLEMAN), The Doctor (MATT SMITH) surrounded by all of our favorite bad guys. (C) BBC - Photographer: Ray Burmiston — Clara (JENNA COLEMAN), The Doctor (MATT SMITH) surrounded by all of our favorite bad guys.
(C) BBC – Photographer: Ray Burmiston

A Season’s Worth of Story

It wasn’t that there weren’t great ideas in this episode—indeed, there was a plethora of them—but it felt as if those ideas were never given time to breathe. So many awesome and terrible things happening, and yet the episode never really landed on any of them, making everything seem impermanent and somehow, unimportant. The Church of the Papal Mainframe—what an amazing thing. What an incredible addition to the world of the Doctor. And Orla Brady was luminous in all her dark, mysterious beauty as Mother Superious Tasha Lem (and did anyone else get some Dune flashbacks throughout that whole sequence?), a woman who is neither awed nor frightened of the Doctor; a women with power equal to—if not greater than—his. We could have watched the Doctor and Tasha Lem debate moral imperatives all day. But, like almost all of the things introduced or visited in this episode, it was over too soon and not explored enough.

What other things, you may ask? Well, let’s take the Silence. One of the most intriguing villains created during the Matt Smith era, they are—quite suddenly—decreed to be allies of the Doctor. Via voice over. At one point the Doctor blithely says “oh, them, they’re confessional priests. Engineered to make you forgot everything you’ve confessed” (or something to that effect) which brings a few more questions to mind: How does he know this? Why didn’t he know it before? And what, exactly, is the point of forgetting that one has confessed one’s sins? You don’t forget the sins, and you won’t remember whatever penance you are given, you just forget you’ve confessed? (As a recovering Catholic, this particular throwaway line boggled our mind for quite a while). The idea was very, very cool. Chill inducing, even…but it was brought out, waved about quickly so we couldn’t think about it much, then thrown aside in favor of yet another Doctor/Clara conversation.

Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor--with a random Cyberman head he calls Handles. Courtesy of BBC, — Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor–with a random Cyberman head he calls Handles.
Courtesy of BBC,

Or the whole explanation about the Silence, and the splinter sect set upon destroying the Doctor (essentially all of the Rory/Amy Pond storyline) was just thrown out and forgotten. The moment that should have been chill-inducing—Tasha Lem declaring “Silence Will Fall”—fell strangely flat. The episode hadn’t earned that yet, and it didn’t ring true.

Or what about the town of Christmas? The best episodes of the Doctor are the ones where we, the audience, see clearly what sacrifice is being asked of the Doctor—and understand what each decision costs him. Save the child or the world? Save the last of a species or all of humanity? Lose a planet, to win a war? In “The Time of the Doctor,” we never see what is so special about the town of Christmas. Why doesn’t he just put everybody in the TARDIS and send them somewhere safe? Yes, the crack is there but that doesn’t mean the town is important. Just the crack. And why did the townspeople just sort of shrug and say, ‘ok, I guess we’re at war now. No biggie. We’ll just live in a life-destroying warzone and see our children die young because the Doctor is our Sheriff now’ Why? Did no one ever stop and say, ‘gee, Doctor, maybe one of your spacefaring friends could give us a ride out of here?’ or even, ‘gee, Doctor, you seem like a nice guy, but why are we dying in your private war? That doesn’t seem right…’

What about the truth field? That was an exciting device that also wasn’t used to its full potential. Moments of levity, moments of heartbreak—the truth field could have been utilized so much more, with potentially astonishing results.

Clara’s family dinner (who were the adult couple there? Had we met them before? We were so confused as to who they were and why the Blond one was soooooo unlikeable)—again, it didn’t add anything to the episode (other than a reason for Clara to call the Doctor) and it felt flat and a little trite. And, really, cooking a turkey in the TARDIS is why Clara was with the Doctor when he went to Trenzalore?

The town of Christmas, with it's vaguely Victorian citizens, minutes of daylight, and year-round Christmas decorations. Courtesy of the BBC — The town of Christmas, with it’s vaguely Victorian citizens, minutes of daylight, and year-round Christmas decorations.
Courtesy of the BBC

What–How–What?

Even ignoring some of the leaps of logic the episode forced on us…you know what? We can’t ignore it. Here’s our list of the some of the worst ones, in our opinion:

1. It took 300 years for the TARDIS to come back because Clara was on the outside?

2. The Daleks, who no longer remember anything about the Doctor, still show up, with all the other baddies?

3. What about the Weeping Angels, who were just hanging out in the forest, unwatched by anyone, who never attack, ever, for all those centuries?

The Weeping Angels, who showed up once and then...decided it was time to go home, curl up by the fire and watch TV? Courtesy of the BBC — The Weeping Angels, who showed up once and then…decided it was time to go home, curl up by the fire and watch TV?
Courtesy of the BBC

4. Where did the Doctor get that Cyberman head? Why did he even have it?

5. Did not one person in the Church of the Papal Mainframe send out a distress signal when the Daleks invaded? How is that possible?

6. Once the Daleks invaded the Papal Mainframe, why didn’t they just wipe the planet out? Why were they still involved in land-based siege warfare?

7. In the hundreds of years the Doctor was there, he couldn’t have built a wall around the town to defend it?

8. Could the Doctor not have shouted through the crack: “Hey, stop sending out this signal, you’re starting Galactic War 14 up here, I’ll let you know when you can come over!” Could he not have at least tried, once? It worked when Clara did it.

9. How did Tasha Lem get the TARDIS? How did she know where to find Clara? How did she know how to fly it?

The phenomenal Orla Brady as Tasha Lem in "The Time of the Doctor." Courtesy of BBC. — The phenomenal Orla Brady as Tasha Lem in “The Time of the Doctor.”
Courtesy of BBC.

10. How did the Doctor not know that the planet was Trenzalore? He’d been there before.

11. What is the point of a Church that requires you to be naked, but is ok with holographic cloths? What is the difference, really, between actual cloths and projected clothes that do the exact same thing, i.e., cover up your nakedness? If you have to be naked to enter, than be naked. Sheesh. And why was being naked so important??

12.Was the Doctor Santa? Because he kept making toys for the Children of Christmas…

The episode creaked along despite those, relying upon Matt Smith’s bravura and Jenna Coleman’s huge pair of brown eyes (where did you think we were going with that?? Naughty!). Moffat’s greatest episodes have always had a few ‘wait-a-minute—how—’ moments, but those were usually minor quibbles that tended to get lost in the epic quality of the events surrounding them; this episode, unfortunately, never reached that epic, breathtaking momentum of “The Day of the Doctor,” or “Demon’s Run.”

Perhaps all of the flaws boil down to the fact that the episode tells us quite a lot; people throw about explanations (a lot of it in voice over) and facts, that tie the basic elements of the plot together, but we are never shown most of it. One example: The Doctor allied with the Silence. Yes, please, show us that. Take the time spent with Clara’s family (ugh) and show us how the Doctor found common ground with the Silence. That would have been worth watching. Or give us more Tasha Lem. Or spend some time in the town of Christmas so we cared about it, even a little.

Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor in his debut during the Doctor Who Christmas Special, "The Time of the Doctor." Courtesy of BBC — Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor in his debut during the Doctor Who Christmas Special, “The Time of the Doctor.”
Courtesy of BBC

Regenerations? As Many As You Want

We did get some answers, the most important was the explanation as to how the Doctor would get past the ‘only 12 regenerations’ rule (SPOILER AHEAD)—Clara pleads with the Time Lords (via the crack) to help the Doctor, and the Time Lords move the crack and give the Doctor more regenerations. Problem solved.

If you are wondering to yourself, why, if the Time Lords could move the crack, why they didn’t do that HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO and solve the whole blockading-the-planet issue, so are we, dear reader, so are we.

The Doctor’s regeneration took out the enemy ships (ok…) and after all the fallout is over, he goes back to the TARDIS. Note, he doesn’t bring the Time Lords through, even though the way is now clear. Not really sure why not.

Clara follows, and Matt Smith’s Doctor appears because apparently the regeneration’s first step was to make him young before, you know, actually regenerating. Because that’s what it does, now.

He then gives what we think was meant to be a heartwarming speech about how we all change throughout our lives (which sounded remarkably similar to a letter we wrote some months ago, you can compare here) but really, it felt both a little clichéd as well as somewhat chiding—we could hear the writer/showrunner instead of the Doctor, telling the fans that change is good for them, so stop whinging and give the new guy a fair shake.

Karen Gillan as Amy Pond says good-bye to Matt Smith's Doctor in "The Time of the Doctor." Courtesy of BBC — Karen Gillan as Amy Pond says good-bye to Matt Smith’s Doctor in “The Time of the Doctor.”
Courtesy of BBC

Amy Pond shows up (the Doctor hallucinates during regeneration now, apparently) and says good bye to her raggedy man.

Then, BAM!, it’s Capaldi. The kidney line was great. The ‘do you know how to drive this thing?’ was, like the episode, too on-the-nose and a little predictable (since Lem had already stated that flying the TARDIS was easy, perhaps a better line would have been ‘who’s been driving this thing?”). And then we ended the episode, not on the 12^th Doctor’s face, in a panic, but rather on Clara’s face, which made it seem like there was more dialogue, or something, supposed to happen. It actually took a minute to realize the episode was over. And then, all we could muster was sort of a huge ‘meh.’ It was no “I don’t want to go.”, that’s for sure. It wasn’t even an ‘I have to kiss you to save you but in doing so I will sacrifice myself!’ regeneration. It certainly wasn’t how we envisioned the end of Matt Smith’s Doctor—the Doctor referred to in “The Day of the Doctor” as the ‘one who forgets.’

We will miss Matt Smith—he who taught us that bow ties and fezzes are cool—and we still have high hopes for Capaldi. But we do wish that this Christmas special had been, well, more about our lovely madman with a box, who had so many rules and so much grief, and who thought every one of us were important.

Still, it was a grand ride, and we’re sad it had to end.

What did you think? Let us know in the comments and follow us at @geekscapedotnet and @sjbwrite!

The Five-Ish Doctors Revisted

by S.J. BorgerNovember 26, 2013

Not sure how we missed this (well, with all the hullabaloo over the actual special, maybe we can be forgiven).

It’s a full 30-minute (ish) short with the ‘classic’ doctors (Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Paul McGann with a VO cameo by Tom Baker) attempting to get involved in the 50th anniversary special. The full “reboot” can be found at the BBC Website, and just for giggles here’s the trailer (keep an eye out for Capt. Jack!):

Are You Ready? It’s Almost the Day of the Doctor

by S.J. BorgerNovember 19, 2013

In case you weren’t excited enough, BBC America is winding things up to a fever pitch with a series of programming all week, culminating in the live simulcast of the Day of the Doctor on Saturday, November 23rd at 2:50 p.m. EST (that’s 11:50 a.m. for those of us on the West Coast). There’s been a slew of information coming out about it, so we here at Geekscape thought we’d put everything we know all in one place for you! Aren’t we nice?

BBC Programming

BBC America will be doing all-Doctor all-the-time this week (they’re calling it Doctor Who Takeover Week. Not as catchy as Shark Week, right?), starting on Monday (yes, yesterday, sorry–if you missed something, check your local on-demand). Here’s the line-up (all times EST unless otherwise stated):

Monday 11/18:

9 a.m. to 9 p.m.: The Doctor Revisited Marathon (specials on each of the Doctors for the past 50 years)

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Doctor Who: Tales from the Tardis

10 p.m.: The Science of the Doctor with Brian Cox

Tuesday, 11/19:

10 a.m. to 10 p.m.: The Ninth Doctor Marathon

10 p.m.: The Christmas Invasion (2005 Christmas Special)

11 p.m.: The Runaway Bride (2006 Christmas Special)

Weds, 11/20:

Midnight: “Blink” Yes, that episode with Angels. The first one.

1 a.m.: “Voyage of the Damned” (2007 Christmas Special)

2 a.m: The Tenth Doctor Marathon, Part 1 (Ep 1-4, Season 4)

8 a.m.: The Tenth Doctor Marathon, Part 2 (Ep 4-13, Season 4)

5 p.m.: The Tenth Doctor Marathon, Part 3

Thursday, 11/21:

9 a.m. The Eleventh Doctor Marathon, Part 1

Friday, 11/22:

9 a.m.: The Eleventh Doctor Marathon, Part 2

8 p.m.: Doctor Who Explained

9 p.m.: An Adventure in Space and Time

Saturday 11/23

1 a.m.: The Eleventh Doctor Marathon, Part 3

11:30 a.m PST/2:30 p.m. EST: 50th Anniversary Live Pre-Show

11:50 a.m. PST/2:50 p.m. EST: “The Day of the Doctor” 50th Anniversary Special

7 p.m.: “The Day of the Doctor” 50th Anniversary Special Encore Primetime Broadcast

10 p.m.: Graham Norton Show with Matt Smith and David Tennant

Sunday, 11/24:

9 a.m.: Matt Smith Countdown (Top 11 Episodes)

8 p.m.: The Doctor’s Revisited—The Eleventh Doctor (U.S Premiere)

What The Internets is Doing

And just to whet your appetite a little more, but here’s what’s popped up on the internet this week:

Official Mini-Episode: “The Night of the Doctor”

And the new trailer here:

And, catch interviews with the cast (asking such questions as “What Would Matt Smith Steal from the Tenth Doctor?” here; and celebrities (Nathan Fillion, what??) wishing the Doctor a Happy Birthday!

Let us know what you’re most excited about–or your theories on what the answer will be–in the comments! And tune in to our live twitter feed (@geekscapedotnet and @sjbwrite) during the Simulcast!

Fox to Remake ‘Broadchurch,’ David Tennant to Star!

by S.J. BorgerOctober 2, 2013

David Tennant as DI Hardy in the UK version of Broadchurch. Photo Courtesy of the BBC — David Tennant as DI Hardy in the UK version of Broadchurch.
Photo Courtesy of the BBC

Fox announced last summer that it was remaking the eight-episode Broadchurch, the critically acclaimed BBC series about a horrific crime in a small seaside town, now, according to EW.com, they have confirmed that David Tennant will be reprising his role of the lead detective for the American version.

Tennant, well known for his portrayal of the Tenth Doctor in the Doctor Who series, will be playing an American detective in the Fox version; the series is expected to follow the original closely. Chris Chibnall, the series’s creator, says: “I’m very, very fascinated to see this story in a different landscape with an acting ensemble that’s just a strong but taken from really great American actors.”

No news yet on any other casting decisions, though.

Broadchurch’s finale drew more than ten million viewers when it aired on ITV in the UK; the drama also recently aired on BBC America, drawing critical praise on both sides of the pond. The BBC is planning a second season but no word yet if Tennant and his co-star, Olivia Colman, will be returning.

Fox is set to air the US version in the 2014-2015 season. Chibnall is on board to write the premiere episode, while Dan Futterman (Capote) and Anya Epstein (In Treatment) have joined as executive producers and showrunners.

A Letter To The 12th Doctor

by S.J. BorgerSeptember 23, 2013

To the Twelfth Doctor:

It’s hard, changing. People don’t react well to someone who is different—we like conformity. We like to keep our boxes neatly partitioned and separate, sealed and shut once we ‘know’ someone. You may have noticed, Doctor #12, a certain reaction to the announcement of your regeneration. Please don’t take it personally. You have to understand, this cycle is normal. This is what we do.

We don’t like change, humans. We like to keep things as close to stagnant as we can.

We don’t like people breaking out of our notions of them.

We fear that change will make us unimportant, irrelevant.

That in the cataclysms we will lose our anchor.

We view change as death.

It’s why, perhaps, fanatics react so pugnaciously to changes. Fandoms are built around a world, a person, a myth that resonates so deeply that for that world to change means that nothing is sacred. Being part of a Fandom is a religious experience, in that metaphor becomes myth becomes dogma and Fandoms worship—critically, intelligently, but wholeheartedly—at the altar of personality and story.

Most authors/creators of worlds with a Fandom following take altering the fabric of that world very seriously. Or take a demented joy out of ensuring that the readers/viewers/followers never know who’s safe (looking at you, R.R.Martin, Whedon) but either way, the world remains secure. Fans take a glee in knowing that Games of Thrones is really Don’t Get Attached; some get a perverse sense of enjoyment being martyrs to a fandom whose leaders declare: ‘No one is safe. Anyone can die.’ But at the end, Westeros still stands in conflict; Serenity flies again.

But, Doctor, you’re different.

You don’t die. You change. You become unrecognizable, retaining only certain core values. You see the world differently; you approach problems with different tactics. You like different foods. You are unarguable different.

But not.

Not really.

You’re still you, aren’t you?

You’re an anomaly. You don’t make sense. A fandom shouldn’t follow a character through twelve cast changes, through long gaps of silence, for over fifty years, and still care so deeply, so wonderfully, so closely as your fandom does.

Why do they care so much? About a raggedy man, a time traveler with a screwdriver in a dodgy blue box and somewhat crap special effects?

What is it about you, Doctor, that captures our imaginations and our allegiance not just once or twice but twelve times over fifty years?

Fifty years. That’s three generations, fathers to daughters to grandsons…aunts to nephews to cousins. There are countries who haven’t lasted that long.

Why, Doctor?

Maybe it’s because, as much as humanity fights change, we know, deep down, that change is constant. Change is everywhere. Every moment alters our perceptions, our opinions, our judgment—if we are an amalgam of what we have experienced then every heartbeat make us someone new.

The child we were is unrecognizable to the adult we are now; the girl in high school is a stranger. Our twenties feel like they happened to someone on TV; last year is a memory of who we had been.

Perhaps we react to the Doctor because we know, instinctively, what it is like to sit up and wonder ‘am I a ginger?’ because sometimes in the morning, caught between the alarm clock and start of day, we don’t remember. Are we the child? The fifteen-year-old caught making a 37-point turn on our driving exam? The 21-year-old clubbing in New York City? The young wife or the stern teacher? When we open our eyes at the blare of the clock, will we suddenly remember why we loved sour candies as a child, even though we can’t eat them now?

Doctor, you may get a new face, but so do we. Lines appear, freckles fade, our hair turns grey, then white. We get taller, than shorter, we get thinner or fatter. We change, every year, so that sometimes we are unrecognizable to ourselves.

Courtesy of BBC, Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.

So when you regenerate, Doctor, and each time you find your footing—each change is a successful you—it comforts us. It eases that deep worry that as we have changed, we have lost.

Doctor, you prove to us that as we change, we only gain. We only improve. We have not lost the five-year-old who could play, naked, happy, joyful, for hours in a haystack. We have only gained all the other us-es.

The Doctor allows us to look forward to who we will be become, and encourages us to let go of who we were—holding onto only that which serves us for the now, but never forgetting what we owe to all that we did before.

So, Twelfth Doctor, the fandom may be querulous now, but they are reacting only to the fear in their own lives—we will grow to champion you. And accept you. Just as we—hopefully—grow to accept and champion ourselves.

You show us that change is not death, only different.

So, welcome, Doctor.

And thanks.

Geekscape’s Guide To The 2013-2014 TV Season

by S.J. BorgerSeptember 4, 2013

Below is the definitive list of new and returning shows on network and cable (excluding the smaller niche channels such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon) that could possibly have a fandom, be near a fandom, or be fandom adjacent…

Peruse through the list, watch some trailers (though not every show has a trailer yet), and have fun!

So. Alphabetical order. Nice and neutral.

Starting with:

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

ABC, Tues, 8 to 9 p.m. Air Date: 9/24

Whedon’s back on the small screen, folks, and he’s brought Coulson. And Lola. While not necessarily a super-hero show (Coulson runs a small team of normal, if talented, people who track and contain—if needed—new superhuman talent), it lives and breathes at the intersection of Marvel and Whedon so really, anything could happen. Whedon has said that the new series is Avengers adjacent, taking place after the events of The Avengers, but focusing on the normal people on the peripheral of the super-hero action. It is expected that the show will interact with both Captain America: The Winter Soldier as well as the upcoming Avengers sequel.

Clark Gregg reprises his role as Phil Coulson (you could hear the screams of joy as far as Montana when he was revealed as being alive at the 2013 South by Southwest Festival this year). He is joined by Ming-Na Wen (Mulan, Stargate Universe, Eureka), fan favorite J. August Richards (Angel), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother, Avengers), and Ron Glass (Firefly, Serenity) along with a host of new, interesting characters that round out the team of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Quite possibly the most anticipated show airing this season—the pilot has gotten high scores at IGN as well as positive reaction from the San Diego Comic Con crowd—its pedigree and fan base should guarantee significant support—the question is will it appeal to a larger audience? Hopefully its adventure-of-the-week, underdog format will make it accessible enough for both the fans and the soon-to-be fans.

Once Upon A Time in Wonderland

http://youtu.be/vqOwV-2B5_w

ABC, Thurs, 8 to 9 p.m., 10/10

A spin-off of ABC’s hit Once Upon a Time, now in its third season, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland follows a now grown-up Alice, almost convinced her adventures were the ravings of an insane mind, as she escapes from a Victorian London insane asylum and goes back down the rabbit hole.

Wonderland, however, is also a victim of the same curse as the residents of Storybook, Maine, prompting Alice into new and—hopefully— thrilling adventures.

The show is expected to cross over with Once Upon A Time and share characters and settings, as well as having the blending of ABC/Disney mythology that Once Upon a Time is known for (Once Upon A Time deals entirely with the Disney version of fairytales, stretching the premise as far as possible to include other characters, such as Mulan, Peter Pan, etc.).

Once Upon A Time had a similarly exciting premise that was never fulfilled, stuck instead in a mire of bad dialogue, over-exposition, predictable ‘twists’ and flashbacks with painfully obvious ‘lessons’ (only Rumpelstiltskin, played by Robert Carlyle, was ever able to convincingly play both sides of his characters). Hopefully Alice will not be plagued by the same issues.

Created by the same team as Once Upon a Time, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (who were also responsible for Tron: Legacy), Alice stars newcomer Sophie Lowe as Alice, with Emma Rigby (Hollyoaks, Prisoners Wives) as The Red Queen, John Lithgow (Third Rock from the Sun to name one….) as the voice of the White Rabbit, and Naveen Andrews (The English Patient, Lost, The Adventures of Sinbad) as Jafar.

Midseason

ABC also has two shows slated for a midseason premiere which skate along the borderline of geekdom:

Mind Games

http://youtu.be/s2P9Qc5tgzo

ABC, Sundays, 10 to 11 p.m., 3/9/14

From Kyle Killen (Lone Star, Awake), Mind Games stars Christian Slater and Steve Zahn as brothers who use psychological manipulation to help their clients solve problems; from the preview it looks a little like Franklin and Bash meets Leverage with some Lie to Me thrown in for good measure.

Resurrection

http://youtu.be/8MFrquHzlWA

ABC, Sunday, 10 to 11 p.m., Limited Series, 2/24/13

Based on Jason Mott’s novel The Returned, and co-produced by a long list of people including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Resurrection stars Omar Epps (House), Francis Fisher (Eureka, Sons of Anarchy, Torchwood: Miracle Day) and Kurtwood Smith (That ‘70’s Show, Star Trek IV, 24). The show follows the lives of the citizens of Arcadia, Missouri as their loved ones begin returning from the dead—not as zombies, but as living, breathing, alive people the same age as they were when they died.

Castle returns to ABC on Monday, Sept. 23rd.

Returning Shows:

With renewals for both Once Upon a Time (Sun 8 to 9 p.m., 9/29) for its third season, and Castle (Mon, 10 to 11 p.m., 9/23) for its sixth season, ABC is a strong second among the networks for geek friendly fare.

BBC America—known for quality geekfare such as Merlin, Torchwood, Orphan Black, Being Human, Misfits, Vex, Spaced, Black Books and, of course, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy—only has one new offering for the Fall 2013 season.

Atlantis

BBC America, Saturday, 11/23, Time TBA

Atlantis is a fantasy adventure program created and written by Howard Overman (Misfits and Vexed) and Johnny Capps (Merlin). The show’s main cast reads like a Guide to Greek Myths (Jason, Hercules, Medusa, The Oracle) and the series is set to be one of the most expensive projects on the BBC Wales studio. There is no official preview/trailer yet, but numerous six-second teasers can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/bbcatlantis

Atlantis looks to be very much in the BBC Sword-and-Sandals adventure genre, and we can safely expect well written, well-acted episodes with the occasional extremely cheesy special effect.

Midseason

The Musketeers is slated for midseason debut, but there is little information on it other than the newest incarnation of the Doctor, Peter Capaldi, was filming the show (he’s Cardinal Richelieu) when he was offered the role of the Doctor. Also starring Santiago Cabrera (Heroes, Merlin) and Luke Pasqualino (Skins).

The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary is slated for 11/23/13

Returning Shows

While disappointingly low on the new shows slate this season, the returning shows more than make up for it. With the Doctor Who 50^th Anniversary special on 11/23/13, as well as season 8 coming up (and a new Doctor), Orphan Black returning midseason (March 2014), and of course, the ubiquitous Top Gear (I won’t say which season, its re-run so much it’s nearly impossible to tell).

Sherlock Holmes will return for its third season as well, but will air in America on PBS.

CBS is next in our little alphabetical list…and they have nothing. Not the geek-friendliest network, CBS. Mid-season has a new show coming out called Intelligence (Mon, 10 to 11 p.m., air date 2/24/14), which basically looks like a not-as-funny Chuck. Which makes sense for the network that also has The Mentalist, which is basically a not-as-funny Psych.

Ah, the CW. Where else could we find such unabashedly sexy fare? As well as very, very, very geek friendly. And quantity, one might say, over quality. We have to at least give them credit for trying: of all the networks, the CW continuously has the most fantasy/sci-fi/speculative/comic-book based shows every season. And they don’t even require proficient storytelling or decent ratings when it comes to renewing them. This throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach has brought us Arrow and Beauty and the Beast; but it also brought us Supernatural and Nikita.

However, it has to be said that most CW shows can be boiled down to “pretty (mostly white) people with (Insert bad guy/thing here) problems hook up with each other while maintaining bouncy, shiny hair and flawless skin.”

This year the CW gives us five—that’s right, five—sci-fi/fantasy shows. Three premiere this fall, the other two have mid-season dates. True to mold, they all have a large cast of young, nubile and extremely good looking people who seem to spend a lot of time with their shirts either off or unbuttoned. Not to complain: sometimes it’s nice to sit back and watch the pretty.

The Originals

http://youtu.be/WTKj52BUEeU

CW, Sneak Peek: Thurs, 9 to 10 p.m., 10/3; Regular Timeslot: Tues, 8 to 9 p.m., 10/8

A spin off of the popular Vampire Diaries, The Originals follows the lives of various supernatural characters (vampires, witches, werewolves, half vamp/half wolves…) in hot, steamy New Orleans. For some reason that sounds really familiar…but we just can’t place where we’ve seen something like that before.

The series focuses on the Klaus (Joseph Morgan), Elijah (Daniel Gillies) and Rebekah (Claire Rhiannon Holt) Mikaelson, vampire siblings–and the world’s original vampires–as they return to New Orleans—a town Klaus founded, centuries before—and enter a power struggle with the local supernaturals to reclaim to city.

The Originals has a sneak peek immediately after the season premiere of The Vampire Diaries before it moves to its normal timeslot on Tuesdays, leading into Supernatural.

Reign

CW, Thursdays, 9 to 10 p.m., 10/17

CW’s attempt at The Tudors; Reign follows the young Mary, Queen of Scots, as she is courted by rival princes: the French (Catholic) and English (not-so-Catholic). The history of Queen Mary is fascinating. She had a legitimate claim to the English throne and was backed by English Catholics; she was married three times and was viewed as a powerful player in the socio-religious politics of the time; she survived multiple assassination attempts and was put under house arrest by Elizabeth I of England for eighteen years before eventually being executed for treason.

Unsurprisingly, the CW’s version is about high school age girls being flirted with by high school age boys who all just happen to be princes and princesses. Lots of pretty costumes and slow motion while a song that sounds a whole lot like Bones from MS MR plays underneath (clearly a lot of people saw the Game of Thrones season three preview and said, wow, we should make ours look just like that).

Oh, and Nostradamus as an articulate, court-going prophet. Who knew?

That’s not to say it couldn’t be the surprise hit of the season. Stranger things have happened.

The Bible, airing on the History Channel, was the surprise hit of the 2012-2013 season.

The Tomorrow People

http://youtu.be/3wi0PnEIdjc

CW., Weds., 9 to 10 p.m., 10/9

A remake of the popular 1970’s BBC show of the same name, The Tomorrow People follows a group of young, pretty people who are the next stage in human evolution. The Tomorrow People have psi powers that ran the usual gamut of telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis, etc., and the use them to fight the good fight against evil, bigoted humans.

It’s unclear how closely it will follow the BBC show, where the group was not only involved in saving humanity from threats on a weekly basis but also part of a galactic organization that monitored and assisted telepaths—the trailer features a lot of Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer from Supernatural)–random trivia, he’s the uncle of Stephen Amell, aka Arrow–as Jedikiah Price chasing down our super-evolved heroes because, as Price says,: “I’m systematically rounding up your kind and wiping you out, because I am evil.”

While the shows seems to be gleefully stealing from all manner of sci-fi before it (the teleporting looks a lot like Jumper, at one point there is a force lift, followed by a frost-shock, followed by a force choke, and the hidden subway station HQ has been seen, well, everywhere) and there are clear parallels to Alphas as well as X-Men (Marvel even used the term Tomorrow People, starting in 1963, as a taxonomic designation for the X-Men and other Mutants in the Marvel Universe).

The Tomorrow People was created by Phil Klemmer (Chuck, Veronica Mars) and stars Robbie Amell (cousin to Stephen Amell of previously mentioned Arrow fame) as Stephen Jameson, Luke Mitchell as John Young and Peyton List as Cara Coburn.

Midseason

Not content with just three new casts of incredibly good-looking people with powers, The CW has The 100 and Star Crossed set to premiere midseason.

The 100 is based on the book of the same name by Kass Morgan, and it centers on 100 petty thieves and criminals (all young and pretty, with excellent muscle tone for people born and raised on a space station) who are sent from their space station homes to post-apocalyptic Earth to see if mankind can survive on the harsh surface.

Star Crossed looks rather like District 9, if the aliens were all super-hot models who were trying to integrate into all-human US High Schools. The trailer seems to have a lot of imagery that’s set to invoke the civil rights battle of the 1960s, which doesn’t quite ring true as the only seemingly physical difference between humans and aliens are an abundance of six-packs and some tattoos. There’s also a Romeo and Juliet plot between a human girl and an alien boy. Because why else would you travel light years across galaxies if not for true love?

Supernatural returns for season 9 on The CW in October.

Returning Shows

The CW has renewed The Vampire Diaries (Thurs, 8 to 9 p.m., 10/3), Beauty and The Beast (Mon, 9 to 10 p.m., 10/7), Supernatural (Tues, 9 to 10 p.m., 10/8), The Arrow (Weds, 8 to 0 p.m., 10/9) and Nikita (Fall 2014, no air date as of yet).

FOX, which seems to be aware that it will never, ever, ever make up for cancelling Firefly, is trying to retain some geek cache with two new shows this Fall.

Sleepy Hollow

FOX, Monday, 9 to 10 p.m., 9/16

The second most anticipated show of the Fall, directly behind Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sleepy Hollow is created by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Fringe, Transformers, Star Trek) and is based on the short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving.

Sleepy Hollow follows Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison from Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, One Day, Parade’s End) as he is mysteriously transported to modern day Sleepy Hollow, and attempts to hunt down and stop the Headless Horseman (in the original story the Horseman is an 18^th century German mercenary brought in by the English to fight during the revolutionary war) who was brought to the future as well.

Ichabod must join forces with local Sheriff Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie, Shame, 42) and adjust to cultural, societal and technological difference of the 21^st century (including radically changing his racial and gender stereotypes) in order to stop the Horseman’s nightly killing spree.

With a strong cast and an all-star writing team, expectations are high the Sleepy Hollow will be the show to watch this Fall.

Sleepy Hollow rounds out its cast with Orlando Jones (Godzilla, Evolution, MadTV) as Captain Frank Irving and John Cho (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Go On) as Andy Dunn.

Almost Human

http://youtu.be/ykwxg534yAw

Fox, Mon, 8 to 9 p.m., 11/4

JJ Abrams—who doesn’t seem to be content unless he has four or five projects going—is producing this sci-fi procedural starring Karl Urban (Star Trek, RED, Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick, Doom) and Michael Ealy (Sleeper Cell, Flash Forward, Underworld: Awakening) as unwilling partners in the LAPD thirty-five years in the future.

It’s typical buddy cop formula: an off couple forced to work together and eventually growing to trust and even like each other.

The twist? Karl Urban’s tough-as-nails cop, John Kennex, doesn’t trust Michael Ealy’s Dorian for one good reason: Dorian is a robot. And not just a normal, super-efficient robot, but a slightly malfunctioning one.

While the trailer gives a Deus Ex meets I, Robot vibe, and doesn’t really introduce any new themes or arguments that sci-fi fans won’t already be thoroughly versed in, both Urban and Ealy are worth watching and the trailer certainly captivated interest.

Almost Human was created by J.H. Wyman (Keen Eddie, Fringe) and J.J. Abrams is one of the executive producers, so hopes are high.

With Neil deGrasse Tyson hosting, Cosmos is set for Jan 2014 debut.

Midseason

Midseason has two more shows set to debut; Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey and Wayward Pines, though the air dates are still not announced.

Cosmos will star Neil deGrasse Tyson and was produced by Seth McFarlane and Carl Sagan’s widow (the original show was hosted by Sagan and aired on PBS). When it does air, it will air simultaneously on Fox and the NatGeo channel, expecting to launch in 48 countries in over 140 languages. Also, the bridge of Tyson’s ship looks almost exactly like the Illusive Man’s from Mass Effect. Just saying.

Wayward Pines brings Blake Crouch’s mystery/thriller novel of the same name to the small screen. M. Night Shyamalan has developed it as a multi-part series for Fox. It has been compared to Twin Peaks by just about everybody, and Fox hasn’t released very much information other than a 2014 release.

24--and Jack Bauer--are back on Fox in May 2014. — 24–and Jack Bauer–are back on Fox in May 2014.

Returning Shows

Fox does not have much in the way of the Geek returning; The Following is set for a midseason premiere on Mondays, 9 to 10 p.m.; and under the heading of old-shows-don’t-die-they-go-to-mini-series, 24 is slated to return as a limited run in the Spring.

NBC is not offering much this year for us geeks, with only one offering in the Fall. We’re hoping this is an improvement; previous years, which have had a glut of nerd-tastic shows, perhaps in some desperate attempt by NBC to gain some geek-cred (The Cape, The Event, Flash Forward, V, Bionic Women, Journeyman). This make anything with a slightly Lost-like feel strategy hasn’t fared well for the Peacock, so maybe just one new show means NBC knows it has a hit. And it case it doesn’t, it has two midseason shows ready to wash the taste from your mouth.

Dracula

http://youtu.be/Z1jVcmDH43Y

NBC, Friday, 10 to 11 p.m., 10/25

A limited series with only a ten episode run, Dracula is a retelling of the classic tale by Bram Stoker. Created by Cole Hadden, with Daniel Knauf (Carnivale) as showrunner, Dracula stars Jonathon Rhys Meyers (The Tudors, Mission Impossible III) as Dracula, who returns to Victorian London to seek revenge for a betrayal years before. This is another show whose trailer draws heavy inspiration from Game of Thrones.

The plot stays somewhat in line with the book; Dracula falls for the lovely Mina, there’s a Van Helsing on hand to fight him…there’s a lot of pretty people in period clothing walking around dark London streets. If they weren’t all in their thirties it’d be a CW show.

Dracula stars Katie McGrath (Merlin), Nonso Anozie (Ender’s Game, Game of Thrones) and Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, The Pianist, Blade II, 24).

Midseason

Two shows are slated for a midseason release: Believe, another J.J. Abrams produced show, directed by Alfonso Cuaran (Harry Potter) about a little girl with special powers and the ex-con who has been tasked to protect her (Sundays, 9 to 10 p.m.); and Crossbones, created by Neil Cross (Luther) and starring John Malkovich as the pirate Blackbird. Slated to air in 2014 on Sundays, from 10 to 11 p.m., there is little other information out there as of yet.

NBC also recently announced a mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s Tommyknockers in 2014, but no dates or casting information has been forthcoming.

Returning

Returning to the Peacock this Fall are Revolution (Weds, 8 to 9 p.m., 9/25) and Grimm, Fridays, 9 to 10 p.m., which if you are not watching, start—there’s still time to catch up before the new season airs on 10/25. Community is slated for a midseason release.

Black Sails is set to debut on Starz in 2014.

Networks Waiting for Midseason to Debut All Their Geekery

Not every network has new content slated for the Fall, but midseason will serve up some highly anticipate premieres:

SyFy announced Helix with a premiere date of Jan, 2014. Ronald D. Moore (BattleStar Galactica) created the series about a group of CDC scientists sent to the Artic only to discover the fate of mankind may rest in their hands. Starring Billy Campbell (Eureka, The Killing, The 4400) and Hiroyuki Sanada (Speed Racer, Lost, The Wolverine).

TNT is bringing two shows that may not deal with a fandom in their content but certainly do with their talent: Mob City (formerly Lost Angels) stars Simon Pegg and is written and directed by Frank Darabont. The series follows the LAPD/Mob wars in Los Angeles in the 1940’s.; and Legends with Sean Bean as the best-of-the-best undercover agent who is struggling to find where his cover ends and he begins. Both shows are slated for 2014 premiere.

Simon Pegg in Frank Darabont's new cable drama, Mob City, on TNT. — Simon Pegg in Frank Darabont’s new cable drama, Mob City, on TNT.

The Last Ship isn’t set to premiere on TBS until Summer 2014, but this Michael Bay produced end-of-the-world-via-virus show looks to be next summer’s big cable hit. The show stars Adam Baldwin (Firefly, Serenity, Chuck) and Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy).

Penny Dreadful is set to premiere on Showtime in 2014. Called a pschyo-sexual horror series, produced by John Logan (writer: Rango, Gladiator, Skyfall) and Sam Mendes (director: Skyfall, American Beauty) it stars Josh Hartnett, Eva Green and Billie Piper. The series will be set in turn-of-the century London and will deal with the origins of literary horror monsters such as Dorian Gray, Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster.

Starz has Black Sails set to debut in January 2014. It is a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Treasure Island, set twenty years before the events in the book. Fan reaction at the San Diego Comic Con was so strong Starz has already ordered a second season. It’s got pirates, islands, beaches and rum, so all things point to a hit.

The Outlander is also set to premiere in 2014 on Starz. Based upon the bestselling novels by Diana Gabaldon, the series follows the adventures of time-traveler Claire and her Scottish husband, Jamie Fraser, as they live through historical events from the Scottish revolt under Bonnie Prince Charlie to the revolutionary war. Lots of adventure, lots of romance (and sex, to be clear) and a great deal of historically accurate details made the books a must-read; if Starz follows HBO’s example and lets the novels guide the show than expectations should remain high.

This image--and a short clip--have been teasing the internet about J.J. Abrams new show for weeks now. — This image–and a short clip–have been teasing the internet about J.J. Abrams’ new show for weeks now.

Rounding off our report are two shows which are nothing more than whisper and rumor at the moment:

The Stranger, J.J. Abrams’ bit of marketing masterpiece: just a grainy black and white video with no information at all.

The Sector is a Ridley Scott produced, sci-fi procedural a la Blade Runner. Originally picked up by Cinemax, it was dropped in 2011 but the Science Channel recently announced it is picking up the series.

American Horror Story: Coven premieres on Oct 23rd.

Returning Shows to Keep An Eye Out For

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, Oct. 13th at 10 p.m. Season four has yet another new showrunner in Scott Gimple, who will guide the show through a season set to introduce a host of new characters joining our ragged crew in the prison as they attempt to shore up and defend against walkers and humans alike.

The American Horror Story: Coven will be returning to F/X on Weds., October 9th, at 9 pm. Continuing the tradition set in season 2, season 3 will have returning actors but a completely different st of characters and plot. Returning this season are Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Francis Conroy and Dermot Mulroney; Kathy Bates, Patti Lupone and Angela Bassatt round out an all star cast. Coven focuses on the secret society of witches and an outside evil which is attacking them. The season will flash between modern day and 1830’s.

http://youtu.be/TkPwDPt4JOA

HBO will be bringing back Game of Thrones in the Spring of 2014. Be prepared, the show’s finished seasons are now more numerous then the remaining books…R.R. Marting better write fast.

SyFy is bringing back three shows this season: Being Human, slated for a Jan. 2014 premiere; Warehouse 13 will come back (if only for six episodes) for its fifth and final season in 2014; and Haven premieres its fourth season on September 13 at 10 p.m. (with a guest star stint from everybody’s favorite Sheriff, Colin Ferguson).

Starz has renewed Da Vinci’s Demons for a 2014 premiere. If you didn’t see season one, now’s the time to go back and watch (the complete season can be pre-ordered on iTunes). Created by David S. Goyer, co-writer of the The Dark Knight Trilogy, Da Vinci’s Demons is a solid show steeped in mythology and renaissance Italian/Catholic politics.

TNT is bringing Falling Skies Back for a fourth season in late Spring/Summer 2014, so check back for more information on what will happen to Mason and his regiment later.

That’s it! We hope you enjoyed our guide, and be sure to let us know if there are any titles that we missed!

The New Doctor Has Been Revealed!

by Derek KraneveldtAugust 4, 2013

Briefly: After what seems like weeks (and weeks) of waiting, pondering, and speculation, BBC has finally revealed just who will take up the reins as Doctor Who‘s new Doctor.

The network has chosen 55-year old Scottish actor and Torchwood / World War Z star Peter Capaldi to portray the twelfth Doctor, whose role will officially begin after Matt Smith’s final performance in this year’s Christmas special.

I (still) have never seen an episode of the series in my entire life (despite having it recommended to me almost daily), so I really have no thoughts on the casting choice. Fans, are you looking forward to seeing Capaldi in action? Will he be a worthy replacement of Matt Smith, or is it simply too early to tell? Be sure to sound out below!

The Other Clone Saga: A Look at ‘Orphan Black’

by Andy HinesApril 8, 2013

As geeks, we know a little something about clones, either being really cool or whole thing going horribly wrong. Cases in point; Star Wars (both the concept of Jango Fett clones and the Clone Wars animated series) and the Spider-Man Clone Saga (not that great). When we hear things about a BBC series based on the concept of clones, consider our interest piqued for better or worse. Now, when you add a beautiful actress as the main protagonist (and playing several different parts), your fishing trip is over. We’re basically in the boat at this point. This is essentially what BBC America has given us all with their new sci-fi series, Orphan Black.

Tatiana Maslany, as the main protagonist, Sarah.

As I explained to my editor when “pitching” the story, “it’s basically the Clone Saga with a beautiful woman and no powers, or in other words…interesting.” That’s possibly the best part of this series, the fact that it puts the “science” back into modern science fiction. There are no powers, no aliens, and no space ships. It’s a show about science run amok, albeit with the sciencey bits happening largely off-screen. While it is about cloning (and we haven’t even gotten into the ethical issues yet in the series), it’s a very human story about a woman learning these things about herself and at the same time, making a better life and trying to make things right for her and her daughter. The discovery that she’s been cloned and the struggle to reunite with her daughter, Kiera, makes this a wonderful story to be serialized in a television series. Especially when the BBC are the ones producing it.

Tatiana Maslany and Dylan Bruce in Orphan Black

With any luck, the show will move beyond just the first series, which I’m sort of obligated to call it since it’s a BBC production. The fact that one of the main characters, played by Kevin Hanchard, is a cop, and one of the clones’ partners should make for a very compelling show. It’s science-y at points, but the real magic hits in the very real interaction with the various characters, a third of whom are played by Maslany. This is thanks in no small part to co-creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett who pull double duty (shut up) as writer and director, respectively. None of it feels forced or phoned-in, which certainly helps, as there will be at least 10 confirmed episodes for the first series. I know it’s normally called a season here, but it’s a British thing and we’re discussing a BBC show, now hush and drink your Earl Grey.

Are You Ready? Watch A New Trailer For The Return Of ‘Doctor Who’!

by Derek KraneveldtMarch 19, 2013

The show looks amazing, and I’ve still never seen it; what’s a guy to do?

BBC has released a new trailer for next week’s return of Doctor Who. It looks exciting, it looks intense, and I have no idea what’s going on in any of it.

Watch the new trailer below, and let us know just how excited you are for the good Doctor’s return! The new series premieres with The Bells of Saint John on March 30th!

Doctor Who: A Teary Farewell To The Ponds

by T.TonnuSeptember 29, 2012

If you haven’t watched tonight’s episode of Doctor Who, I suggest you do so now. The episode, titled The Angels Take Manhattan, was the fall series finale as well as Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory’s (Arthur Darvill) final adventure with the Doctor (Matt Smith). The ending was extremely heart wrenching, and if you are a Who fan, I, as well as the Doctor, expect you to “have a lump in your throat somewhere by the end of it. And if you don’t, then you’re an alien.” And if you are an alien, then the Doctor will be coming to get you.

Below is a 12-minute tribute video to the Ponds featuring Smith, Gillan, and Darvill, along with Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner. It timelines the Ponds’ adventures with the Doctor from the beginning to the extremely tearful goodbyes.

And all we’re saying is… we told you this had to happen a year ago.

Benedict Cumberbatch Speaks On Last Season’s Sherlock Finale

by T.TonnuSeptember 12, 2012

In last season’s finale of Sherlock, the ending came as a surprise when Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) jumped off the top of a building to his supposed death. Was this to be the end of our favorite detective? Well, we know that season 3 will begin sometime next year, so maybe we haven’t lost him just yet.

Since the episode aired in January, there have been a lot of speculations as to what really happened when Sherlock took the jump. Fans have come up with wild ideas as to how he could have survived the fall and have spoken up about their many theories. In a recent interview with Cumberbatch, he explained his surprise to all of the reactions from the apparent death in the season finale. He said,

“The level of obsession with it was nuts. When I read that in the script I got the biggest kick of my life. I remember ringing Martin and going, “Oh my f**king God. Have you read this?”

He also joked about the many theories that had been circulating among the fans:

“All the homeless people in London caught me [laughs]. They formed a human mattress and it was lovely. It was like getting the bumps on your birthday, I didn’t feel a thing. Seriously though, I did that jump. I was on a wire and went off the edge of the building. I was jumping off about three metres into a bunch of cardboard boxes with only a railing separating me from the real drop. We did it about two or three times in the rain with people filming opposite, and it was f**king amazing. I’ve skydived three times and it was nearly as thrilling. I even did a sky dive while I was in New Zealand, which I shouldn’t be telling anyone, but there you go.”

Cumberbatch, unfortunately, didn’t let slip any hints on exactly how Sherlock survived his fall, but he did let us know that Steven Moffat plans to begin filming in January of next year. Looks like we’ve still got more waiting and theorizing to do between now and then.

Jenna-Louise Coleman’s Unexpected Character Debut On ‘Doctor Who’

by T.TonnuSeptember 3, 2012

Series 7 of Doctor Who premiered the other night on BBC America’s Sci-Fi Saturday with the debut of a new character played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. We had all expected to see her later in the series as the Doctor’s new companion, so her appearance last night came as quite a surprise.

Even though there had been four separate screenings of Asylum of the Daleks, there were no leaks about Coleman’s character from the press or fans. Steven Moffat, Executive Producer and Head writer, expresses his gratitude for their silence:

“I hope you all got a nice surprise when Jenna popped up in Doctor Who several months early. If so, that surprise came to you courtesy of the frankly magnificent ladies and gentlemen of the press, and of the many Doctor Who forums and blogs too. This show has been seen at four separate screenings, across four different countries and yet not one person gave one spoiler. From all of us on Doctor Who, a heartfelt thank you for helping us tell our story.”

What other surprises do you think we can expect in the rest of the series?

Moffat Releases 3 Key Words To Season 3 Of ‘Sherlock’

by T.TonnuAugust 27, 2012

Not too much information has been released about the next season of Sherlock, but Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) has been kind enough to give us some key information about what we can expect. This past Friday, August 24th, Moffat Tweeted, “The three words for the next run of Sherlock…Rat. Wedding. Bow.” These three words correspond with the three upcoming episodes in next seasons run of the show.

Last season, the three words that Moffat released were woman, hound, and fall. The episodes that were released later in the year ended up being A Scandal in Bohemia, The Hounds of Baskerville, and The Final Problem. Now, the little hints given this year make us think that the stories we can expect will be The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire or The Giant Rat of Sumatra, The Noble Bachelor, and The Last Bow. Exciting, right? Well, maybe not. Chronologically speaking, The Last Bow was the final story in the Sherlock Holmes series by Conan Doyle and happens to be the story where Holmes retires. This sudden end of the series could be due to the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (Watson) have received more film offers and their schedules, including Moffat’s, have become bogged down. Not a very pleasant thought for all us Sherlock fans out there…

Even with these subtle clues, we have information that could prove otherwise. Mark Gattis, co-writer of Sherlock, had previously confirmed that The Adventure of the Empty House would be the first episode of the returning season. The storyline would confirm the survival of Holmes and his reunion with Watson, as well as the remaining threats of Moriarty.

Perhaps this means the end of our dynamic duo, but since Moffat, Cumberbatch, and Freeman have all expressed interest in continuing the series, it does give me some hope.

BBC’s ‘Copper’ Has Critics In Love!

by T.TonnuAugust 26, 2012

After last weeks premiere of the BBC America original Series Copper, the critics have fallen in love with the show and lead man Tom Weston-Jones. With 1.8 million viewers, the show holds the spot of the highest rated series premiere on BBC America. Since it’s debut, The Los Angeles Times believes the production to be “an impressive piece of work.”

Weston-Jones plays the clever and morally complex Detective Kevin Corcoran. In a recap of the first episode, Surviving Death, The Wall Street Journal gives insight on what type of character Corcoran is:

“[Corcoran] is a police officer who doesn’t play by the rules, but that’s OK because it’s 1864 and there doesn’t seem to be too many of them.”

The show was created by Barry Levinson and Tom Fantana (producers of the HBO series Oz) and centers around Weston-Jones’s character, an Irish immigrant cop who patrols the Five Points in 1860s New York City. Throughout the series he will be dealing with the aftermath of the American Civil War along with social inequality within the aristocratic and African-American societies.

An amazing time period drama filled with corruption, whore houses, and violence…how exciting. Episode two, Husbands and Fathers, will be airing Sunday, August 26 at 10 pm pacific time. Make sure to check it out if you haven’t already!

Doctor Who Series Premiere Date Released!

by T.TonnuAugust 16, 2012

After all the rumors that have been circulating around about when the Doctor will return, BBC has finally confirmed that the new series of Doctor Who will premiere on Saturday, September 1. They have also released the official synopses for the first three episodes!

Asylum of the Daleks

“Kidnapped by his oldest foe, the Doctor is forced on an impossible mission – to a place even the Daleks are too terrified to enter… the Asylum. A planetary prison confining the most terrifying and insane of their kind, the Doctor and the Ponds must find an escape route. But with Amy and Rory’s relationship in meltdown, and an army of mad Daleks closing in, it is up to the Doctor to save their lives, as well as the Ponds’ marriage.”

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

“An unmanned spaceship hurtles towards certain destruction – unless the Doctor can save it, and its impossible cargo… of dinosaurs! By his side a ragtag gang of adventurers; a big game hunter, an Egyptian Queen and a surprised member of the Pond family. But little does the Doctor know there is someone else onboard who will stop at nothing to keep hold of his precious, prehistoric cargo.”

A Town Called Mercy

“The Doctor gets a Stetson (and a gun!), and finds himself the reluctant Sheriff of a Western town under siege by a relentless cyborg, who goes by the name of the Gunslinger. But who is he and what does he want? The answer seems to lie with the mysterious, Kahler-Jex, an alien doctor (yes another one!) whose initial appearance is hiding a dark secret.”

What we can also expect is the death of one of the TARDIS crew members midway through the season and the addition of another, Rory’s Dad, played by Mark Williams (Mr. Weasley of the Harry Potter franchise.) A new companion will also be joining the Doctor partway through the season once the TARDIS crew parts ways in episode six. Carla, portrayed by Jenna-Lousie Coleman, is rumored to be the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who was played by the late actor Nicholas Courtney.

Other rumors that have been circulating as of late is the revamp of the TARDIS in honor of the Doctor’s 50th Anniversary and that Neil Gaiman, writer of The Doctor’s Wife in series 6, will be returning to write a few episodes (perhaps episodes 12 and 13) of series 7.

Doctor Who Series 7 Teaser

by Stephen PrescottMarch 26, 2012

They only just started shooting a month ago, but lucky enough for fans the Doctor Who team had enough in the can to pull together this fantastic teaser trailer for series 7 just in time for the official convention in Cardiff this past weekend. Robo gunslingers in the old west, egyptian dressed ladies, Farscape‘s Ben Browder and is that a Dalek eye stalk?!? Autumn can’t get here fast enough.

New Doctor Who Companion Announced

by Stephen PrescottMarch 21, 2012

Jenna-Louise Coleman, 25 year old actress from Emmerdale and Waterloo Road was announced this morning as the newest companion to travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS after the Ponds take their in episode 5 of the coming series. Episode 5 Moffat has said will feature “a final encounter with the Weeping Angels in ep 5. Not everyone gets out alive & I mean it this time.”

Jenna’s first official episode will be the 2012 Christmas special which will be followed by 8 more episodes of series 7 in 2013. All of this of course leading directly into the 50th anniversary of the show in November 2013.

The only other information we currently have on the new companion is this quote from Steven Moffat, “It’s not often the Doctor meets someone who can talk even faster than he does, but it’s about to happen. Jenna is going to lead him his merriest dance yet. And that’s all you’re getting for now. Who she’s playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her, are all part of one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters. Even by the Doctor’s standards, this isn’t your usual boy meets girl.”

You can read BBC America’s press release here

“The Fades” Series 1 Blu-Ray Review

by Stephen PrescottMarch 5, 2012

BBC America has been doing great recently bringing quality UK shows to the US. What they haven’t been great at though is bringing them to cable on demand in HD. I know this because I tried very hard to watch The Fades on on demand, but the standard quality video mixed with the dark lighting and color tones made it nearly impossible to enjoy. I could tell though that underneath there was a quality show so I of course jumped at the chance to get my hands on a copy of series 1 on blu-ray to review. I’m glad I did because it is a really good show.

The Fades is about Paul (Iain De Caestecker, Coronation Street) a geeky and awkward 17 year old who it turns out is an Angelic, a being with special powers that allow him to see ghosts trapped on earth known as Fades. Fades can not be seen, heard, or touched by regular people but one fade in particular has found a way to change that and in doing so is mounting a war against the humans.

The key to the show though is the intricately interwoven cast of supporting characters featuring Paul’s mother (Claire Rishbrook, Doctor Who), twin sister Anna (Lily Loveless, Skins), love interest Jay (Sophie Wu, Sucker Punch), Angelic mentor Neil (Johnny Harris, This is England ’86), history teacher Mark (Tom Ellis, Doctor Who), and best friend Mac (Daniel Kaluuya, Skins)

Mac is the really stand out character of the show and can be easily described as someone who would hang out in the forums of this very website. He speaks in movie and geek references and not only provides much needed comic relief, but gives, at least this viewer, a character on which to hang the hat of relate-ability. It makes sense then that the special features on the blu-ray would mainly focus on his character.

The blu-ray features the standard set of special features: Behind the Scenes, Outtakes and Deleted scenes, but it also features 2 sections that focus heavily on Mac. The first is the “Mac Explains” web videos.

These shorts feature Daniel Kaluuya in character explaining aspects of the show such as “What are the Fades?” and “What are Angelics?” I believe they originally aired on the BBC3 website and in the context of marketing the show while it was running on television they make a lot of sense. Have the favorite character explain the details directly to the audience. Except that I feel that they are executed kind of poorly. None of what makes the character funny or interesting comes through in these videos and we’re left with what is essentially an actor reading wikipedia pages. It’s great that they are included on the blu-ray for posterity’s sake, but for anyone who actually watches they show they don’t add anything as the concepts are explained pretty clearly in the narrative.

I did however enjoy the extra scenes included on the blu-ray. I don’t know exactly what constitutes an “extra scene” as opposed to a “deleted scene,” but these extra scenes highlight the friendship between Paul and Mac as they sit and have geeky conversations in their local café that could easily have come out of a Kevin Smith movie. I would say that if anything was missing from the series as a whole it would have to be more moments like these extra scenes. While the relationship between Mac and Paul is definitely fully realized within the context of the series the quieter moments of them simply geeking out and being teenaged boys would have still been very appreciated.

The Fades is a great show. The episodes run a little slow and long in places, but the mythology being created is a fairly rich and interesting one. There are some great surprises that happen throughout the course of the series as well that I would be remiss to spoil here. If you are a fan of the current crop of supernatural shows running on British television these days such as Being Human or Bedlam I highly suggesting picking up this set and giving it a whirl. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

The Fades, series 1 is out now on 2-disc DVD and Blu-Ray for an MSRP of $34.98 and $39.98 respectively.