Doctor Who: 47 Years in 6 Minutes!

This video, my friends, is brilliant. 47 years of Doctor Who history in six minutes:



The new season of Doctor Who starts April 23rd on BBC America - it's almost here! Squee!!! :)

Lennon on Masterpiece Contemporary

For anyone who is interested, Masterpiece Contemporary kicks off this Sunday with the premiere of the new drama Lennon Naked. I personally have never been a Beatles fan, so even though this production features Doctor Who and Torchwood alums, there is a 99% likelihood that I won't be tuning in. However, if you do watch this production I'd love to hear your thoughts! Here's a bit about the story:

The new MASTERPIECE CONTEMPORARY season debuts Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010 at 9pm on PBS with Lennon Naked (check local listings). Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) channels John Lennon in this acclaimed recreation of Lennon's turbulent years with the Beatles. Naoko Mori (Torchwood) co-stars as Yoko Ono. (One episode, 90 minutes, TV-14)

Masterpiece Contemporary 2010 Schedule

Well, PBS has finally released the Masterpiece Contemporary schedule for this year. With the extra long Mystery season we've had this year, I was beginning to wonder if they'd have time to show any contemporary dramas - and they've come through with three - two new films and one encore. Here are the details:


November 21:

Lennon Naked

Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) channels John Lennon in this acclaimed recreation of Lennon's last turbulent years with the Beatles, co- starring Naoko Mori (Torchwood) as Yoko Ono, the woman blamed for breaking up the band, and Christopher Fairbank (Tess of the D'Urbervilles) as Freddie Lennon, John's absentee father. (90 minutes)

December 19:

Endgame (Encore Presentation)

A nation teeters on the brink of civil war in this real-life political thriller about the negotiations that led to the end of apartheid in South Africa. Seemingly doomed to failure, the secret talks were held against a backdrop of terrorism, spying, blackmail, and escalating unrest. The international cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (American Gangster, Kinky Boots) as President Thabo Mbeki; William Hurt (Damages) as Professor Will Esterhuyse; Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) as British businessman and negotiator Michael Young, Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park) as Young’s boss, and Clarke Peters (The Wire) as Nelson Mandela. (120 minutes)

December 26:

Framed

An eccentric Welsh village learns that London's National Gallery is storing its entire art collection in a nearby mine during the museum's renovations—leading to curious encounters between the village locals and the gallery's urbane, lovelorn curator. Trevor Eve (David Copperfield) and Eve Myles (Little Dorrit) star in this gentle comedy, based on Frank Cottrell Boyce's best-selling novel. (90 minutes)

Generally, I'm all about the Classic and Mystery seasons and can take or leave the Contemporary shows - however, I'm quite intrigued by the description of Framed. It sounds like a sweet, fun story - and it'll be great to see Eve Myles on-screen again. Since Torchwood: Children of Earth she's been AWOL from TV screens. (Actually, this Contemporary season is so sci-fi heavy it's kind of funny. We have two Torchwood team members - Myles and Naoko Mori - and the ninth Doctor Who - Christopher Eccleston!)


You can download a .pdf copy of the schedule here.

Brilliant Doctor Who video

Ruth over @ Bookish Ruth sent me the link to this video on Facebook today, and I just had to share it. I absolutely LOVE it. The editing is genius, and the marriage of one of my favorite Coldplay songs and Doctors Nine & Ten is sheer perfection. Enjoy. :) It's a great reminder of how brilliant Christopher Eccleston was in his single season as the Doctor, and David Tennant - oh, how I'll miss you when you regenerate. *sigh*



And yet another video from Ruth...this one is fantastic as well! (Brought tears to my eyes, I cannot deny it!)

Review: Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner

Winner Takes All
By: Jacqueline Rayner
Publisher: BBC Books
ISBN: 0-563-48627-9

About the book:

Rose and the Doctor return to present-day Earth, and become intrigued by the latest craze – the video game Death to Mantodeans. Is it as harmless as it seems? And why are so many local people going on holiday and never returning?

Meanwhile, on another world, an alien war is raging. The Quevvils need to find new means of attacking the ruthless Mantodeans. Searching the galaxy for cunning, warlike but gullible allies, they find the ideal soldiers – on Earth.

Will Rose be able to save her family and friends from the alien threat? And can the Doctor play the game to the end – and win?

Review:

Winner Takes All is only my second Doctor Who read, and my first to feature the adventures of the ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose (Billie Piper). Rose convinces the Doctor to make a quick trip back to present-day Earth to visit her mother, Jackie, who’s just won a holiday in a sweepstakes competition. The Doctor, who has little patience for Rose’s family and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Mickey, soon suspects that this trip to Earth may not be wasted time after all. The newest videogame craze, Death to Mantodeans, is taking Rose’s neighborhood by storm, and when people start disappearing – including Jackie – the game turns out to be a very real, very alien threat to humans. Since Christopher Eccleston only brought his unique and unforgettable spin to the Doctor’s character for only one season, it’s nice to have additional adventures available that help flesh out his time and relationship with Rose. This story itself started off a tad slowly for me, and it took a couple of chapters for me to really get “hooked.” Once Rose and the Doctor reach the Mantodean stronghold for the final showdown, Rayner had my attention – particularly in the superb way she revealed just how much Rose’s friendship has grown to mean to the Doctor over the course of their time together. Rayner does a fantastic job with all of the series’ character voices – the Doctor, Rose, Jackie, and Mickey are all true to character and fit seamlessly within the context of how they are portrayed on the show. The new characters – especially Robbie, with his Harry Potter-esque fantasy life – fit well within the context of the story and interact well with the canon characters. While porcupine-like aliens are a trifle silly, even by Who standards IMO, this novel works immensely well as a ninth Doctor adventure and I – somewhat surprisingly – thoroughly enjoyed it.