Patrick Stewart (better known to us Star Trek fanboys as Captain Picard) will be showing off his acting skills in Hamlet which will play on most PBS stations tonight at 8pm (check your local listings for Great Performances). Stewart will be playing Claudius, however Dr. Who fans should also take note of this production as David Tennant will be playing Hamlet. In the clip above Stewart talks about making Shakespeare appeal to today’s audiences. And below is a clip of Stewart sharing his feelings on tech issues like Twitter and the iPhone. Read more…
Tragically the Talking TARDIS Cookie Jar doesn’t actually talk — however it does produce Dr. Who approved sound effects. Although if you’re looking for a more authentic experience make sure to fill your cookie jar with traditional English biscuits to enjoy with your tea and favorite Time Lord of choice.
Underground Toys had a killer selection of Dr. Who goodies on the showroom floor. Shown above is a Tardis which isn’t quite full scale but pretty darn close! Below is a smaller version for those of us fanboys and fangurls who live in small apartments: Read more…
The Dr. Who Cell Phone Alert Charm comes in two flavors: Dalek (seen above) and Tardis. The catch is that these cell phone charms only work with 800 – 1600 MHz GSM network cell phones — but if you own one of those models the cell phone charm will light up when a call comes in. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 13, 2010 in Dr. Who
A clever fanboy in the UK edited together this nice mashup video which kitbashes Dr. Who with Lost in Space. Of course having a character called Dr. Smith seemed to help the creative process a bit. In terms of Lost in Space I was never in love with the show although I always watched it in re-runs as a kid, but years later I discovered that the pilot for the show was quite well done and lacked the comedy elements that turned me off as a child.
The above fan mashed video kit bashes together the Dr. Who spacial The Waters of Mars with classic 70s sci fi series Space:1999. What this video reminds me of is just how well the opening titles of Space:1999 hold up — that powerful combination of the music and editing still hold up today.
This wonderful fan made video features a scenario which calls all ten incarnations of Dr. Who into action. The funny thing is that for me this video has the unintended consequence of making you compare all the actors who have played the good doctor since the 60s. I hadn’t realized how much I really appreciated Tom Baker or hated Colin Baker until you see them all side-by-side. And of course with Dr. Who the acting and the script are everything because if you hide behind a high special effects budget the show just lacks its unique flavor. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 16, 2008 in Dr. Who
Ah yes the Daleks are hell bent on exterminating the good Doctor and any soda or beer residue that may stain your beloved coffee table! Of course I know full well that if you’re a real Dr. Who fanboy you’ll never break these Dalek coasters out of their tin case to be shoved under your beverage (and be stained no less!), but instead they’ll proudly gather dust on your bookshelves:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 15, 2008 in Dr. Who
Until I watched this video I had no idea that there was an entire genre of songs inspired by Harry Potter — in this video our friend from England Nerimon takes this concept to the next level with Trock which stands for Time Lord Rock. By the way the idea of writing science fiction folk songs has been around for eons — it’s called filk singing. Any way Nerimon’s work reminds be a slight bit of Perl Jam, just without the guitars and a bit of geek thrown in.
Do you know why Star Trek the Next Generation was so lame? It’s because the coolest thing that they ever came up for the series was the Borg — and that was just a lame second hand copy of the Daleks (well with a little bit of Blade Runner thrown in for fun, but you get the idea). Well now you can celebrate the superior bad guys with your very own Dalek Voice Changer Helmet:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 22, 2008 in Dr. Who
I recently came across a video (see below) which was reacting to an interview with a former writer from Dr, Who who was claiming that Amy Winehouse would make a great Time Lord. While the video blogger in question hated the idea of his beloved character being turned into a mere singer, as a longtime fanboy I approve of the idea with all my heart. Here’s why Amy Winehouse needs to be the next Dr. Who:
1. Tom Baker proved that Dr. Who is about being eccentric: Who else besides Amy has any personality these days in the entire UK?
2. Dr. Who has turned into yet another brand of sci-fi dog food and something needs to be done to reinvent the series. This isn’t about having slick special effects — that was never the point of the show! Only Amy can jump start the show into something interesting.
3. The entire point of Dr. Who is that he isn’t a he! A Time Lord isn’t a human but an alien after all — the next shape that the good Doctor takes on should be a surprise. In fact expecting Dr. Who to be yet another guy is in itself sexist. In fact while we’re on the subject why is Dr. Who always a white dude?
4. While it’s true that Amy lacks any formal acting skills I think a good writer could work with that. It comes down to can she make the character believable? I think given the right scripts and proper straight-man sidekicks that she could pull it off.
5. Some fans may object to Amy’s speaking voice which is seen as “working class” — again this is classic British snobbery! What rule is there at Dr. Who has a degree from Cambridge and goes fox hunting on weekends? First knowing Amy’s vocal range I think she could do anything with that amazing voice — but why not have the character sound street smart for a change? And again I believe that a good script writer could make this work.
6. Some parents might be concerned that Amy is the wrong sort of role model for youth. But when has Dr. Who even been about being a role model? The entire idea behind his character is that he is a non-conformist that does things his own way. You’re talking about a character who travels around in a telephone box — this isn’t about being a role model.
7. Amy has the best facial expressions! In his heart of hearts Tom Baker always had that element of being a silent screen actor, so much of his acting was physical — his facial expressions were always amazing. We already know that Amy can pull this off from her music videos — there some dangerous about her eyes that would work very well with the character.
8. Being a Time Lord is about dealing with stress! Amy knows this scene first hand, for she has lived it. Amy’s own struggle is to keep her world in balance — I thinks he can bring this energy to the small screen.
9. Back in the day you could tell who Dr. Who was by what he was wearing, this character was never about slick raincoats or looking dashing but standing out and being different. Amy has a sense of fashion and knows how to wear clothing — in that way she’s iconic. I think even if you took away her beehive hairstyle that her strong individuality would come through with the right wardrobe.
10. Amy is already an international star and that would help open up the audience of the show. Dr. Who doesn’t have to be a show stuck on the Sci Fi channel — it can be a series worthy of being on HBO or Showtime.
In fact I’ll go on record to state the following: Without Amy being the next Dr. Who you can shove the show into the rubbish heap of mediocrity. And here’s the video that inspired me:
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 26, 2008 in Dr. Who
It’s funny how all fanboys think alike! In the 70s before I had a VCR I recorded tons of audio tapes of TV show (anything that was science fiction from Twilight Zone episodes to Space:1999). Well it seems some Dr. Who fanboys in England are now using their audio tapes to bring back to life the early lost episodes of the series:
Regenerate! Fans revive 60s Doctor Who An army of enthusiasts is recreating lost instalments of the Doctor’s adventures with hand-drawn and computer animations
“The BBC lists 108 episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s as officially “missing” from its archive. That’s because the original videotapes were either erased or destroyed by the BBC in the 1970s, to make shelf space for newer programming. A catastrophe for fans. But Doctor Who – as fans of the show will know – is luckier than most.
The programme has always had a very loyal, and often talented, fanbase. It was its dedicated fans who in the 1960s weren’t hiding behind the sofa, but holding microphones up to their televisions week after week, that meant that all of the missing 108 instalments still exist as audio recordings; and it has been today’s fans who have, over the past few years, been working on bringing these “lost” recordings back to life through animation.”
I always wondered why the cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy never rescued a fanboy living in Mom’s basement? Although this Dr. Who cartoon by Darryl Cunningham shows what the results may have looked like.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 17, 2008 in Dr. Who
I sometimes just don’t get the folks who do the merchandising! Shown above is limited edition $300 model of Doctor and Davros from the classic 70s Dr. Who episode Genesis of the Daleks. While I loved that episode I just don’t get the appeal of having this on your shelf unless it’s some sort of eBay investment scheme. Why not instead release a model based on sexy sidekick Leela whom every fanboy had a now not so secret crush on? I’m also amazed that in this era of mainstream acceptance of cosplay that the Doctor’s fashion forward isn’t on sale at better apparel shops worldwide…
eBay investors please take note: Dark Horse will be releasing the above model in May.
“Doctor Who’s first producer, and the BBC’s first female TV producer, Verity Lambert, has died aged 71. She was also the youngest person to take charge of a BBC television show when the sci-fi drama started in 1963. Lambert oversaw the first two series of Doctor Who before leaving in 1965. Russell T Davies, the current writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, said: “There are a hundred people in Cardiff working on Doctor Who and millions of viewers, in particular many children, who love the programme that Verity helped create. This is her legacy and we will never forget that,” he added.”
“Daleks have an eyestalk which they use to view the world. But baby Daleks aren’t as lucky. They have eyes in their torso and are quite often captured from their nests and enslaved by larger lifeforms to be used as webcams. The Time Lords have always used Dalek Webcams to talk to each other over large distances of space and time. This could be one reason why the Daleks are always trying to destroy everything.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 19, 2007 in Dr. Who
The Dr. Who fanboy in me (the Tom Baker years of course) loves this little item! For just $60 you can terrorize your co-workers at meetings with your own radio controlled Dalek from ThinkGeek:
“Finally you too can act out your Dalek fantasies with these detailed R/C replicas. Each R/C Dalek stands 12 inches high and is happiest when gliding around your home shouting “EX-TER-MIN-ATE!” and hunting for the Doctor. Complete with tank-like controls and digitized grating dalek voices you’ll feel just like you’re in your own low-budget BBC telly show.”
A clip from the 1965 episode ‘The Chase’ where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki watch the Beatles play ‘Ticket to Ride’ on the Time/Space Visualiser:
…by the way the Beatles were suppose to be on the episode as themselves wearing “aging” makeup representing themselves in the future, however sadly this never came to be due to a schedule conflict.
“We don’t use any old hubs to bolster our USB connectivity. Good grief, no! We use ones shaped liked Doctor Who’s Tardis. Why? Well, for starters we love Doctor Who. But more than that we love the Tardis. This ingenious product of Time Lord technology is surely one of the most iconic objects in sci-fi history.”
Patrick Stewart (better known to us Star Trek fanboys as Captain Picard) will be showing off his acting skills in Hamlet which will play on most PBS stations tonight at 8pm (check your local listings for Great Performances). Stewart will be playing Claudius, however Dr. Who fans should also take note of this production as David Tennant will be playing Hamlet. In the clip above Stewart talks about making Shakespeare appeal to today’s audiences. And below is a clip of Stewart sharing his feelings on tech issues like Twitter and the iPhone. Read more… 
