British manned space flights; an insidious threat from outer space; a man mutating into an evil alien, his human consciousness being eaten away; and a scientist - utterly anti-Establishment, courageous and cerebral - the only man who can fight it. No, not Doctor Who, but his highly distinguished predecessor, Prof Bernard Quatermass. A decade before Doctor Who first aired, the
The Quartermass Experiment was the first science-fiction TV serial produced for adults, and a
live-to-viewers BBC production, to boot. The show ran for six episodes in 1953, of which
only the first two episodes are known survive. The short sci-fi series spun off
three original sequels and
a radio drama-documentary, along with movie re-makes of the
first three series by
Hammer Films. BBC brought back live TV with a
2005 adaptation of the original 1953 series. You can watch the various series on online (in parts on Daily Motion), thanks to
fans of The British Rocket Group.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Jul 23, 2011 -
21 comments
After Kad & Olivier sign off and the Satisfaction production logo fades, viewing audiences are oftentimes treated to a cold open of an empty talk show set... one that quickly becomes the impromptu dance floor for a shameless Frenchman making an absolute giddy fool of himself while lip-syncing pop songs alongside a menagerie of...
wait, *what*?! That's right.
The Late Late Show's Craig Ferguson appears to have
a not-so-secret French admirer -- one who's not above ripping off both his opening titles and
his signature dance sequences (including
the iconic animal puppets):
"ABC" by The Jackson 5,
"Flashdance" by Irene Cara,
"On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull,
"Waka Waka" by Shakira,
"Men in Black" by Will Smith,
"Let's All Chant" by the Michael Zager Band,
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!,
"It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls, and
"Vive Le Vent (Jingle Bells)" by Tino Rossi.
Luckily, Ferguson's sense of showmanship is
more prodigious than litigious -- he responded to Arthur's "
homáge" by booking a pair of translatlantic crossover shows, with Arthur visiting LA that week and Ferguson flying out to Paris just last month. Video of both shows (plus lots more) inside!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jul 11, 2011 -
12 comments
A Doctor World: A beautiful mashup of Doctor Who and A Softer World. (Note that some posts contain major spoilers for "A Good Man Goes to War.")
posted by rhiannonstone
on Jun 13, 2011 -
29 comments
Blogging the Hugos: Decline (
part 1,
part 2,
part 3), is a series of blog posts covering some dystopian trends in recent Hugo nominees and itself
winner of the of the BSFA award for non fiction. Meanwhile the 2011 Hugo finalists
have been announced, with Mefi favorites featuring strongly: In Best Novella
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (
previously), In Best Short Story
The Things by Peter Watts (
previously). Doctor who features heavily under Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (
too many posts to mention), but has strong competition from
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury.
posted by Artw
on Apr 24, 2011 -
27 comments
I'd like to welcome you all lords and ladies, gentlemen, ladies, time-ladies, time-lords, aliens and those of you in the cheap seats to a documentary produced and aired by WYES-TV New Orleans in 1986, focusing on Panopticon, the first US Doctor Who convention. (
1,
2,
3) (MLYT, in authentic multi-copy VHS fuzz-o-vision!)
[more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Apr 14, 2011 -
17 comments
The BBC and toy company Character Options will be putting a new
Doctor Who themed series of construction toys on store shelves around the world in the next few months. Just when you thought Matt Smith and Karen Gillan couldn't get any
cuter...
posted by BZArcher
on Jan 19, 2011 -
62 comments
Geeky Bibliopegy. Custom hand-bound journals and albums, featuring Buffy, Firefly, Doctor Who, etc. Check the
blog for additional details on many of the volumes.
posted by kmz
on Dec 13, 2010 -
5 comments
Back in the 80s when
Doctor Who was mired in a creative and ratings slump, the programme's creator Sydney Newman was asked how to revive it. His
answer - regenerate the Doctor as a woman.
[more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry
on Oct 12, 2010 -
102 comments
For the original 1963 airing of
Doctor Who, composer
Ron Grainer worked up an early electronica experiment for the
main title sequence which remains entrancing
to this day. With the 2005 reincarnation, composer
Murray Gold remained
thankfully faithful to
Grainer's composition, but the rest of his score has been highly character specific. See:
Rose,
Martha,
Donna,
The Ninth/Tenth Doctors,
Amy, and finally the sweeping, epic theme for the
Eleventh Doctor.
posted by Navelgazer
on Jun 26, 2010 -
261 comments
