This week is a short one that is all about the 2015 Christmas Special. All indications are that this year’s episode will be a fun departure form the serious tone of the overall season.
I enjoyed some aspects of the Season Finale but I also had issues with it. In general I wish Clara stayed dead and that instead of using her they spent more time fleshing out the rest of the story.
I also hat the fact that she and Ashildr have a TARDIS now. This goes against everything we’ve been building up to all season. Basically Steven Moffat has once again fallen prey to is penchant for killing characters and then not letting them stay dead. This ending, to me, is as dumb as the Cyber Brigadier ending of last year.
I also thought the defeat and banishment of Rassilon happened too quick and too clean. So overall, I really wanted the story to have more development, more depth and a cohesive structure.
Bt more on all of that in the coming weeks.
THE HUSBANDS OF RIVER SONG
BBC Worldwide has released a synopsis and publicity pictures from the 2015 Christmas special. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Douglas McKinnon.
SYNOPSIS
It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is hiding from Christmas Carols and Comedy Antlers. But when a crashed spaceship calls upon the Doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s (Alex Kingston, Arrow) squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy. King Hydroflax (Greg Davies, The Inbetweeners) is furious, and his giant Robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas, Bridesmaids) survive? And when will River Song work out who the Doctor is? All will be revealed on a starliner full of galactic super-villains and a destination the Doctor has been avoiding for a very long time.
Here is a promo trailer.
Matt Lucas returns to Doctor Who as Nardole, another comedic actor, Greg Davies stars as King Hydroflax. Phillip Rhys plays Ramone and Rowan Polonski also appears as Flemming in the episode.
The BBC released a press release with an interview with Peter Capaldi, Alex Kingston and Steven Moffat about the holiday fun.
What can you tell us about the Doctor Who Christmas special this year?
Well the Christmas special is very Christmassy, which I’m sure everyone will be relieved to hear. It finds the Doctor in a Dickensian kind of world, in a Christmas card sort of world which he’s been brought to in order to do a favour for a king. So there’s quite a festive spirit to the episode. But the favour is more complex and isn’t exclusively for the benefit of the king, but more for the benefit of the king’s consort.
What is your favourite scene from this episode?
I have lots of favourite scenes from the Christmas episode, but I think being met by Matt Lucas on a wonderful wintery Dickensian street with the TARDIS covered in snow was delightful, because it was like a Doctor Who Christmas card. Matt is such a fabulously funny person to have around, so I loved that!
Do you like filming Christmas episodes?
Yes I do like them – last year’s was a bit scarier than this one, this is more openly festive. I like the idea of ghost stories at Christmas and frightening things seem to work rather well in the festive environment.
Would you like to see River Song return?
Yes of course, because Alex is fabulous and it’s always lovely to work with her.
Who is Nardole?
The character of Nardole is played by Matt Lucas so you can expect a lot of laughs and pathos. He is, as ever, a hugely loveable personality, a little naïve, a little out of his depth and quite cosmic.
Alex Kingston commented on her appearance.
What was it like to come back?
I was quite surprised when I was asked to come back, but I was happy to because I just thought it would be great fun. It’s such a great character, she’s become so beloved by lots of fans and I’ve had them saying it would be so great for her to come back and to see her interacting with Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. I was actually thrilled when Steven decided he wanted to explore that too.
What did you think of the script?
It’s a wonderful slapstick caper. There’s a lot of great laughs, there’s a lot of fabulous River one-liners. The fans are going to love the things she says and there’s a lot of play. They’re also fighting a very interesting alien played by Greg Davies. It’s a really great episode and Steven has done my character proud.
Has this episode been challenging?
I’ve been really lucky in this episode as River gets to do an awful lot. She gets to run around in snow, I’ve been flying and have done harness work against a green screen. She’s got quite a few husbands in this episode and there’s a lot of fabulous quick-fire dialogue between her and the Doctor. She gets to snog the most handsome man in the work, his character name is Ramone. It’s all going on!
What were your favorite moments during filming?
The favourite moment so far for me was stepping back on to the TARDIS, because the interior of it has changed yet again. I’ve been on two different TARDIS incarnations, and to walk into this one and know it’s a familiar space but at the same time it’s different, was great. I love this one – everything works which is really fun, I stand there pressing all the buttons, it’s great!
Show runner Steven Moffat has intimated that this could be the last time he writes for the series. However, all signs are pointing to him staying on for at least Season 10.
Can you give us an introduction to the episode you’ve written this year?
The Doctor is an all new man and has been for a while. It may have slipped his mind that out there, in a very tangled and complicated way, is his wife that has never seen this face before and doesn’t even know about this incarnation. We’re about to stand with the Doctor and see what River is like when she doesn’t know he’s looking. We’re about to see what River thinks of Matt Smith turning into Peter Capaldi.
What made you want to write this episode?
River Song meets the Capaldi Doctor, that’s got to be fun – I’d like to write that. That’s what made me want to write. I knew it had to be a big romp for Christmas day and there’s nothing like River Song to make that evident – River brings a whole storm of camp glamour to it.
Is it any different writing a Christmas episode of Doctor Who?
Yes, you need to have a bit of Christmas in it, but that’s never felt to me like a tremendous impediment, it’s a hook to hang it on. Sometimes we go very Christmassy – ‘A Christmas Carol’ was incredibly Christmassy, so was ‘The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe’ and ‘The Snowmen’ had the appearance of Christmas without being very Christmassy. Last Christmas is actually the least Christmassy episode we’ve ever done, except for the fact it actually had Santa Claus in it – I rather loved last Christmas. This year’s episode starts Christmassy and has a comedy romp!
Do you enjoy writing a Christmas episode?
I like Christmas specials – I know some people don’t. Some friends of mine don’t like Christmas specials very much and they’re always complaining about all the tinsel, the goodwill and the twinkly stars, and the lovely snow on the rooftops. I love all that, I love Christmas as a day and as a festival. I love that it’s dark, twinkly and rich red, all those things I adore so it’s no hardship for me at all.
Who is King Hydroflax?
King Hydroflax is a very bad King, who as it turns out is mostly cyborg – in fact only his head has remained. He’s a vicious, terrible and deeply stupid man and a dreadful tyrant.
CAPALDI TALKS SONIC SCREWDRIVER
One of the most exciting things to come out of the series finale is the debut of a new sonic screwdriver. As seen in the clip below Peter Capaldi had some input in the new one, which has more than a nod to the TARDIS in its design.
The new sonic will be seen further in this year’s Christmas Special.
MALE COMPANION NOT IN THE CARDS?
Peter Capaldi discussed his thoughts about a male companion with The Radio Times.
When it comes t companions, the 12th Doctor likes to kick it old school.
I quite like the idea of classic Doctor Who, which I must probably identify as Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker. Which is Jon Pertwee with Katy Manning and Elisabeth Sladen; and Tom Baker with Elisabeth Sladen, I just think that combo of the slightly strange and alien Time Lord with the intelligent, enthusiastic and inquisitive girl is a good combo. I don’t know why, but it just seems to work.
HELL BENT RATINGS
The preliminary ratings are in for last week’s story which saw 4.8 million viewers tune in for the Season 9 closer.
The overnight ratings also show that Doctor Who was the fifth highest rated program for December 6th.
Hell Bent tallied an Audience Appreciation score of 82 for the season finale, which is down a tad from Heaven Sent.
THE UNDERWATER MENACE GETS NORTH AMERICAN RELEASE DATE
Patrick Troughton’s The Underwater Menace is being released in North America on March 1, 2016.
The fifth story of Season Four was broadcast in January and February of 1967. It was written by Geoffrey Orme directed by Julia Smith.
Episodes Two and Three have been remastered for this release with Episodes One and Four being included as telesnaps.
The Black Hole
The Second Doctor returns for a new adventure in Big Finish’s Early Adventures Line. The Black Hole features Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling and Rufus Hound along with guess stars Janet Dibley and Andrew Keetch. The audio also features narration from David Warner.
Currently available now, the audio was written by Simon Guerrier and directed by Lisa Bowerman.
Synopsis
On a research station near a black hole, time keeps standing still. Investigating the phenomenon, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria discover a power far greater than any of the monsters that have challenged them on their travels… The Doctor’s own people.
With the safety of thousands balancing out the need to flee, and a policeman from his home planet working at his side, the Doctor reluctantly finds himself involved in a race against time.
But nothing is ever as simple as it appears. And if you can use the Doctor’s compassion against him, you have the makings of a perfect trap…
THE ISOS NETWORK
The Early Adventures continues in January with a new story from Nicholas Briggs, The ISOS Network. Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury return as Jamie and Zoe with a supporting cast consisting of Rachel Bavidge, Richard James and Kieran Hodgson.
Synopsis
The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are leaving Earth after having successfully defeated a Cyberman invasion… The Cyber-fleet is still exploding… But something is escaping through the mass of vaporising debris.
In hot pursuit, the Doctor and his friends find themselves drawn to a mysterious planet where strange beasts slither through the streets of a deserted city… And an old enemy lurks beneath the streets.
As a force of heavily armed aliens arrives, a battle to save the entire galaxy from invasion begins.
REGENERATION WHO
Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred, Nicola Bryant, Wendy Padbury, Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines are among the guests in attendance for Regeneration Who, the Mid-Atlantic’s largest convention. Held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Hunt Valley, Maryland from March 18-20, 2016, this event features panels, autographs, cosplay and Big Finish related content.
For more information visit their website. Link: https://regenerationwho.com
Next time…A look at Season 9
The post Doctor Whooligan: The Husbands of River Song, The Underwater Menace, Convention News, 2nd Doctor For Big Finish appeared first on Tardistopia.net.
