Since hitting screens in 1963, Doctor Who has gone from televisual titbit to cultural phenomenon to institution to something approaching a secular religion. It’s older than Star Trek and Star Wars, if not quite as world-renowned; it’s younger than The Twilight Zone, yet more frequent, and frequently successful, in its iterations. True, Doctor Who spent many long years in the wilderness, but then so did Jesus, and things turned out okay for him. You know… eventually.
The show owes its laudable longevity to a series of happy accidents, shrewd moves and fortuitous casting decisions in its formative years, not least of which was the radical re-casting of the main character after William Hartnell became too unwell to continue; a bold gambit that could just as easily have soured the audience and sunk the show as cemented its status as a pop culture behemoth. Thankfully – as well we know – the...
The show owes its laudable longevity to a series of happy accidents, shrewd moves and fortuitous casting decisions in its formative years, not least of which was the radical re-casting of the main character after William Hartnell became too unwell to continue; a bold gambit that could just as easily have soured the audience and sunk the show as cemented its status as a pop culture behemoth. Thankfully – as well we know – the...
- 7/8/2021
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
It’s Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing together in a horror picture, a formula no shock feature fan can resist. Most of us remember staring at the beautiful full-color photo of Chris Lee in monster makeup in Denis Gifford’s picture book about horror movies. Yet this has remained one of the pair’s most obscure items, at least as a quality presentation. Powerhouse Indicator’s expert added value items put all the rumors to rest, including the question that’s been repeated through the years — where’s the legendary 3-D version? Or perhaps more to the point, was there really a 3-D version? And then there’s the other question — is the movie any good?
I, Monster
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 75, 81 min. / Street Date September 28, 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Mike Raven, Richard Hurndall, George Merritt, Kenneth J. Warren.
Cinematography:...
I, Monster
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1971 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 75, 81 min. / Street Date September 28, 2020 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Mike Raven, Richard Hurndall, George Merritt, Kenneth J. Warren.
Cinematography:...
- 10/27/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Happy birthday, Doctor – you don’t look a day over 2,000!
Yes, today – November 23rd – marks 55 years since Doctor Who first aired on British TV screens back in 1963. The first episode to debut was titled “An Unearthly Child” and saw William Hartnell’s First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan taking school teachers Ian and Barbara on an adventure through space and time. Though the show was immediately popular with viewers, no one could have predicted that it would still be going strong over half a century later.
To mark the occasion, the official Doctor Who Twitter account shared a birthday message from the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker, and you can check it out below:
pic.twitter.com/t8XFsejc8L
— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) November 23, 2018
If you’re wondering why we haven’t had a special episode to commemorate Doctor Who turning 55, it’s because while the show frequently celebrates its...
Yes, today – November 23rd – marks 55 years since Doctor Who first aired on British TV screens back in 1963. The first episode to debut was titled “An Unearthly Child” and saw William Hartnell’s First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan taking school teachers Ian and Barbara on an adventure through space and time. Though the show was immediately popular with viewers, no one could have predicted that it would still be going strong over half a century later.
To mark the occasion, the official Doctor Who Twitter account shared a birthday message from the Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker, and you can check it out below:
pic.twitter.com/t8XFsejc8L
— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) November 23, 2018
If you’re wondering why we haven’t had a special episode to commemorate Doctor Who turning 55, it’s because while the show frequently celebrates its...
- 11/23/2018
- by Christian Bone
- We Got This Covered
Pete Dillon-Trenchard Dec 25, 2017
We dig deep into the Doctor Who Christmas special, Twice Upon A Time...
One Doctor dying at Christmas is unfortunate, but two? That’s just cruel. They’re certainly going out on a high though, at least judging by the number of references and callbacks in the episode. It’s our longest one ever, so grab a mince pie, raid the spirits cupboard and join us for our traditional festive viewing notes.
See related Krypton, Gotham and the glut of TV prequels Superman origin series Krypton in development David Goyer interview: Da Vinci’s Demons season 3, cancellation
Spoilers Lie Ahead.
Return to Snowcap
We kick off proceedings with footage from William Hartnell’s final serial The Tenth Planet, which aired from 8-29th October 1966 and was also notable for the introduction of the Cybermen – specifically the ‘Mondasian’ variety last seen in Series 10 finale The Doctor Falls.
The...
We dig deep into the Doctor Who Christmas special, Twice Upon A Time...
One Doctor dying at Christmas is unfortunate, but two? That’s just cruel. They’re certainly going out on a high though, at least judging by the number of references and callbacks in the episode. It’s our longest one ever, so grab a mince pie, raid the spirits cupboard and join us for our traditional festive viewing notes.
See related Krypton, Gotham and the glut of TV prequels Superman origin series Krypton in development David Goyer interview: Da Vinci’s Demons season 3, cancellation
Spoilers Lie Ahead.
Return to Snowcap
We kick off proceedings with footage from William Hartnell’s final serial The Tenth Planet, which aired from 8-29th October 1966 and was also notable for the introduction of the Cybermen – specifically the ‘Mondasian’ variety last seen in Series 10 finale The Doctor Falls.
The...
- 12/20/2017
- Den of Geek
Is there a doctor in the house? Oh, all of you are. BBC America just dropped the trailer for this year’s “Doctor Who” Christmas special, “Twice Upon a Time,” which will serve as the farewell to Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi. And yeah, yeah, yeah — it’ll get to Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker. Before that ultimate regeneration, however, the First Doctor comes back into our lives circa David Bradley. (The original actor who played the First Doctor, William Hartnell, died in 1975. Hartnell’s initial replacement, Richard Hurndall, passed away in 1984.) Rounding out the annual “Doctor Who” holiday special are Pearl Mackie.
- 12/8/2017
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
Doctor Who Christmas Special Promo Images Gallery 1 of 3
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The jaws of thousands of Doctor Who fans hit the floor on Saturday night when, at the end of the already explosive season finale, the dying Twelfth Doctor encountered his past self – the original, you might say – the First Doctor. Following that shocking reveal, the BBC have now released two new promo images which confirm that David Bradley will be joining Peter Capaldi for the upcoming Christmas special.
This is Bradley’s second time stepping into original actor William Hartnell’s shoes. Bradley – most famous for playing Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies – previously portrayed Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, a biopic based on Doctor Who‘s creation released back in 2013. The character of the First Doctor last appeared in the show itself in 1983’s “The Five Doctors,...
Click to skip
More From The Web Click to zoom
The jaws of thousands of Doctor Who fans hit the floor on Saturday night when, at the end of the already explosive season finale, the dying Twelfth Doctor encountered his past self – the original, you might say – the First Doctor. Following that shocking reveal, the BBC have now released two new promo images which confirm that David Bradley will be joining Peter Capaldi for the upcoming Christmas special.
This is Bradley’s second time stepping into original actor William Hartnell’s shoes. Bradley – most famous for playing Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter movies – previously portrayed Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, a biopic based on Doctor Who‘s creation released back in 2013. The character of the First Doctor last appeared in the show itself in 1983’s “The Five Doctors,...
- 7/3/2017
- by Christian Bone
- We Got This Covered
Mark Harrison Dec 2, 2016
How each Doctor responds to the Daleks for the first time reveals something about them...
Pearl Mackie was announced as the new companion for Doctor Who Series 10 back in April, with a specially filmed clip broadcast during Match Of The Day's Fa Cup semi-final. Aside from befuddling Gary Lineker, the purpose of a trailer like this, as opposed to a press release or a lavish announcement programme, is to show a character in action, and there was really no better way to define the character of Bill Potts than to show how she acted in the face of the Daleks.
See related The Man In The High Castle season 2: new trailer
The Daleks are almost as old as the show itself and different Doctors respond to them in different ways. In some eras, Dalek stories have been an early fixture of a new Doctor’s run,...
How each Doctor responds to the Daleks for the first time reveals something about them...
Pearl Mackie was announced as the new companion for Doctor Who Series 10 back in April, with a specially filmed clip broadcast during Match Of The Day's Fa Cup semi-final. Aside from befuddling Gary Lineker, the purpose of a trailer like this, as opposed to a press release or a lavish announcement programme, is to show a character in action, and there was really no better way to define the character of Bill Potts than to show how she acted in the face of the Daleks.
See related The Man In The High Castle season 2: new trailer
The Daleks are almost as old as the show itself and different Doctors respond to them in different ways. In some eras, Dalek stories have been an early fixture of a new Doctor’s run,...
- 12/1/2016
- Den of Geek
It’s not often you get to describe an event as being fifty years in the making. even less so do you get to mean it. Three Doctors in three timelines converge to give them all a chance to change a terrible moment in their collective past.
The Day of the Doctor
by Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran
The Doctor is in the present, in his most recent incarnation, picking up Clara, when he gets picked up himself, by Unit, to investigate a mystery at the National Museum. Meanwhile (well, I say meanwhile…) in his previous incarnation, he’s investigating a mystery in Elizabethan Britain, an attack by the Zygons that could lead all the way to the Queen herself. And in another part of the Universe entirely, The War Doctor is making a decision that will put the lives of countless innocents in his hands, a choice that...
The Day of the Doctor
by Steven Moffat
Directed by Nick Hurran
The Doctor is in the present, in his most recent incarnation, picking up Clara, when he gets picked up himself, by Unit, to investigate a mystery at the National Museum. Meanwhile (well, I say meanwhile…) in his previous incarnation, he’s investigating a mystery in Elizabethan Britain, an attack by the Zygons that could lead all the way to the Queen herself. And in another part of the Universe entirely, The War Doctor is making a decision that will put the lives of countless innocents in his hands, a choice that...
- 11/24/2013
- by Vinnie Bartilucci
- Comicmix.com
I’m sure most current Doctor Who fans can name all the actors who’ve played Doctors. Yes, Eccleston, Tennant, Smith and soon, Capaldi. Older fans can roll their eyes a bit and add Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Baker, Davison, Baker (no relation), McCoy and McGann. However Real fans will then smirk and add Cushing, Atkinson, Grant, Broadbent, Grant (no relation and twice), Lumley, Warner, Jacobi, Bayldon, Jayston, Eddings, Weir and Jones.
Yes, through theatrical movies, audio stories, an internet series and even some TV appearances there have been several non-canonical Doctors; Doctors that weren’t. As the 50th anniversary approaches, let us revisit the once-were, the might-have-been, and the never-was. And please note, I’m only including actors who were playing their own, different incarnation of the Doctor. So no Richard Hurndall, for example, who once played the First Doctor. Now on with the show!
Dr. Who – Peter Cushing (1965, 1966)
Back during the 1960s,...
Yes, through theatrical movies, audio stories, an internet series and even some TV appearances there have been several non-canonical Doctors; Doctors that weren’t. As the 50th anniversary approaches, let us revisit the once-were, the might-have-been, and the never-was. And please note, I’m only including actors who were playing their own, different incarnation of the Doctor. So no Richard Hurndall, for example, who once played the First Doctor. Now on with the show!
Dr. Who – Peter Cushing (1965, 1966)
Back during the 1960s,...
- 10/18/2013
- by Chris Swanson
- Obsessed with Film
An introductory viewer’s guide to the classic series, here is a list of important episodes: the essential, the exceptional, the merely expository (as, sadly, the very best episodes and those that are important to the overall series continuity are not always the same), and the execrable.
You can find Part 1 here:
Comments, criticisms and contrary opinions from other veteran viewers are, of course, welcome. But if you’re one of those fans who started watching Doctor Who when it came back in 2005, or who came onboard only as recently as the Tennant or Smith eras, who’s curious about past Doctors, past episodes, and the long and winding mythos of a series that has become an international phenomenon, but doesn’t know where to start, this guide is for you…
How does a show that had become a national institution in Britain, and a cult phenomenon worldwide, recover after...
You can find Part 1 here:
Comments, criticisms and contrary opinions from other veteran viewers are, of course, welcome. But if you’re one of those fans who started watching Doctor Who when it came back in 2005, or who came onboard only as recently as the Tennant or Smith eras, who’s curious about past Doctors, past episodes, and the long and winding mythos of a series that has become an international phenomenon, but doesn’t know where to start, this guide is for you…
How does a show that had become a national institution in Britain, and a cult phenomenon worldwide, recover after...
- 8/9/2013
- by Matt J. Popham
- Obsessed with Film
Feature Cameron K McEwan 22 May 2013 - 07:00
Cameron gives us the run-down on 11 other versions of the Doctor, featuring robots, Dream Lords, and more...
Warning: contains a major spoiler for The Name of the Doctor.
With the curtain-closing, hair-raising Doctor Who finale in the past and now but a fond memory, The Name of the Doctor threw up a new Doctor Who for us all to enjoy (and rampantly speculate about for the next six months). But this is not the first time fans have had to unexpectedly encounter a new, or "other" Doctor. Here's my favourite eleven below (apologies to Richard Hurndall and all the Morbius Doctors, you just missed out).
11. The Fatal Death Doctor
Okay, this is a slight cheat but if you want to know why he's on the list, I'll explain later. Steven Moffat penned a delightful Doctor Who mini-story for Comic Relief back in 1999; a...
Cameron gives us the run-down on 11 other versions of the Doctor, featuring robots, Dream Lords, and more...
Warning: contains a major spoiler for The Name of the Doctor.
With the curtain-closing, hair-raising Doctor Who finale in the past and now but a fond memory, The Name of the Doctor threw up a new Doctor Who for us all to enjoy (and rampantly speculate about for the next six months). But this is not the first time fans have had to unexpectedly encounter a new, or "other" Doctor. Here's my favourite eleven below (apologies to Richard Hurndall and all the Morbius Doctors, you just missed out).
11. The Fatal Death Doctor
Okay, this is a slight cheat but if you want to know why he's on the list, I'll explain later. Steven Moffat penned a delightful Doctor Who mini-story for Comic Relief back in 1999; a...
- 5/21/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Foyle's War
By Kieran Kinsella
Earlier this year Acorn Media bought the rights to the British detective series Foyle’s War. The cast and crew are currently working on a new series of the war time drama but in the interim Acorn Media have put together a new DVD box set of the Best of Foyle’s War.
The show centers around Detective Chief Inspector Foyle who is doing his best ignore the ravages of war and focus on solving grizzly crimes. Michael Kitchen plays the lead role and he is in the mold of classic British actors and he is well suited to playing the stiff upper lipped Dci Foyle. Kitchen apparently selected the six stories that are featured in the six disc set. The cast involvement in the DVD doesn’t end there. Kitchen’s cast mates Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell both sat down with Acorn for...
By Kieran Kinsella
Earlier this year Acorn Media bought the rights to the British detective series Foyle’s War. The cast and crew are currently working on a new series of the war time drama but in the interim Acorn Media have put together a new DVD box set of the Best of Foyle’s War.
The show centers around Detective Chief Inspector Foyle who is doing his best ignore the ravages of war and focus on solving grizzly crimes. Michael Kitchen plays the lead role and he is in the mold of classic British actors and he is well suited to playing the stiff upper lipped Dci Foyle. Kitchen apparently selected the six stories that are featured in the six disc set. The cast involvement in the DVD doesn’t end there. Kitchen’s cast mates Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell both sat down with Acorn for...
- 6/25/2012
- by Edited by K Kinsella
I’m sure by now most of you have already read or heard the fascinating news from the BBC. Apparently a very, very early draft version of Doctor Who has surfaced. How early? 1956, making it a full seven years before the series actually aired.
From what it sounds like, this idea never really made it past the concept stage. They never did any filming or casting, though they had some people in mind, and never wrote any stories, but they did have some outlines. The series was to go into production in 1957, in an effort to capitalize on the success of The Quatermass Experiment. BBC budget cutbacks early that year prevented this from happening, which was for the best, as you’ll see. The BBC article is quite long, so I’ll summarize it for you tl;dr people.
The series appears to have been the creation two low-level BBC...
From what it sounds like, this idea never really made it past the concept stage. They never did any filming or casting, though they had some people in mind, and never wrote any stories, but they did have some outlines. The series was to go into production in 1957, in an effort to capitalize on the success of The Quatermass Experiment. BBC budget cutbacks early that year prevented this from happening, which was for the best, as you’ll see. The BBC article is quite long, so I’ll summarize it for you tl;dr people.
The series appears to have been the creation two low-level BBC...
- 4/1/2012
- by Chris Swanson
- Obsessed with Film
In 2013, Doctor Who will celebrate its 50th anniversary. That may be a mere blip for a 900-plus-year-old Time Lord, but it’s a long time for us mere humans. And you know how we love to commemorate anniversaries. And this is a big one: half a century. Why, that’s even longer than Star Trek! Ya gotta know that Steven Moffat -- and the BBC -- are cooking up something major to honor this milestone. But what should it be? It’s a sure bet that whatever we get, it won’t be like the 10th anniversary, which was marked in 1973 by a special episode that reunited the first two Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, with the then-current Doctor, Jon Pertwee, in “The Three Doctors.” (Hartnell, who was very ill, appeared only briefly.) And so it probably won’t be like the 20th anniversary tribute, either: 1983’s “The Five...
- 6/7/2011
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
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