Articles By: Gateway

Sci-Fi Heaven’s resident Stargate and Doctor Who columnist. He’s lovely too.

Doctor Who: November 2009 Special: The Waters of Mars Review

I think I just witnessed a Timelord break down.

I’ll tackle the story beats first.

Perfect Ten arrives on Mars, wanderlust still in full flow and he is, once again, companionless.

It doesn’t take long before he encounters a small group of human colonists living on the planet in regulated facilities and bio-domes. Their reaction is, to put it mildly, suspicious. And the commander of the base, Captain Adelaide Brooke, will not be taken lightly.

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day 5 Review

 
In brief: And that’s why Torchwood is most definitely not like Doctor Who.
In depth:
I feel numb.
That was an emotionally intense hour that [...]

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day 4 Review

In brief: Flashback! Government! Offence! Death!
In depth:
Ok then!
Day 4 spends its first 10 minutes picking up on that dangled plot thread and [...]

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day 3 Review

Technorati Tags: Captain Jack,Torchwood,Doctor Who
In brief: Torchwood “2”. Steal. Tension… tension… more tension…
In depth:
Well that first half hour was fun! Second half… [...]

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day Two Review

 
In brief: What happened next… run!
In depth:
John Fay has perhaps the uncomfortable position of following on from the, dare I say it, [...]

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day One Review

In brief:  Zoom. BOOM.
In depth:
Torchwood is back.
After an undisclosed period of time after the deaths of Owen and Toshiko, [...]

Review: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

In brief:
Boom! Smash! Plot! Smash! Boom!
In depth:
Firstly, a little tip:
Never, ever sit in the front row of the cinema when watching [...]

Who’s Next in the Tardis? Companion Revealed…

On Friday 29th May 2009, the BBC announced that the fifth series’ companion will unfortunately not be Hannah Murray from Skins fame.

Instead, it’s the rather surprising choice of  relative unknown, and I hate to say that because it’s such a horrible term, Karen Gillan.

Karen Gillan

Some official snippets:

“Gillan said: "I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor’s new companion.

The show is such a massive phenomenon that I can’t quite believe I am going to be a part of it.

"Matt Smith is an incredible actor and it is going to be so much fun to act alongside him – I just can’t wait to get started!"

Lead writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, added: "We saw some amazing actresses for this part, but when Karen came through the door the game was up.

Funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy.

Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it.

A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too.""

BBC Official Press Release

What that article doesn’t say is that Karen has actually appeared in Doctor Who previously…. in series 4, no less. Don’t feel bad if you can’t remember her though… she appeared in “The Fires of Pompeii” (good episode, check my review ^_^)  as one of the Sybilline Sisterhood. A lot of makeup, and heavy headwear.

My thoughts?

She looks perfect. Not what I expected, and yet there’s something just quirky enough about how she looks to belong in Doctor Who.

It’s just another indication of how confident the BBC are in Doctor Who as a property and Steven Moffat as a programme producer. The emphasis here is on ability, not star names. I refuse to believe that Moffat would be casting these younger actors if he didn’t believe they were up to the job! He’s a self professed fan of the show. With some of the most critically acclaimed episodes of nuWho under his already ample belt.

All eyes are looking to him and fellow Producer Piers Wenger to keep the show going without RTD.  I’m feeling most especially confident they will do more than just fine.

The only thing I want now is to see Eleven in costume. C’mon cream coloured short style detective anorak coat…

Doctor Who: Easter Special 2009: Planet of the Dead

image In brief: Fun!

In-depth:

One down.

Three more to go.

Let’s get serious people!

To elaborate – this is it folks. Strap yourselves in for this adventure because it’s fun, tongue in cheek and a fast, furious ride. If you’ve read any interviews you’ll know that this is probably what RTD might call his last chance for a ‘light hearted’ romp in the Whoniverse. If you can call strangers on a London bus being dragged halfway across the universe by a wormhole and then being hunted down by an alien swarm ‘light hearted’.

But this episode doesn’t really dwell on the scary moments for longer than, well, a few moments. It’s about crashing through…

Read more…

The Barrowmans and Torchwood Magazine

If you’re a fan of Torchwood then you’re probably already aware that, in the latest issue of the official companion magazine for the show, John Barrowman (you’ve heard of him) and his sister, Carole E. Barrowman, have collaborated on a tale for Captain Jack.

Oh. And it’s a comic strip too.

Bloody brilliant.

TorchwoodImage1

Please see here for the official bits.