On Saturday, 30th August, Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond. Also known as Jezzer, Captain Slow and Hamster, switched on the Blackpool Illuminations. What spectacular had they in store for the lights 76th anniversary switch on?
The TARDIS outside Borders in Blackpool
A DALEK waiting to be painted
Mark Strickson (born 1961 in Stratford Upon-Avon) is a British Actor best known for his roles as the character of Vislor Turlough companion to the fifth Doctor and as the young Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in his hometown of Stratford Upon Avon, and was also a Chorister at Holy Trinity Church (Shakespeare's Church), where his Father John Strickson was Organist and Choirmaster. He studied drama at RADA in London. After he left Doctor Who, he emigrated to Australia where he studied zoology at university. He now lives in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Strickson is now a documentary producer and director, especially of wildlife documentary programmes. He has produced programmes for, amongst others, the Discovery Channel, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Animal Planet. He was the person who brought Steve Irwin to public attention with such shows as The Ten Deadliest Snakes in the World.
Strickson has reprised the role of Turlough in the Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio dramas. He also took part in the "Celebration" documentary for the "Five Doctors" DVD in 2008.
Janet Fielding (born Janet Mahoney, 1957, Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian actress who is best known for her role in BBC's Doctor Who as Tegan Jovanka. She was a companion of both the Fourth and Fifth Doctor's.
Australian Tegan Jovanka was on her way to start a new job as an air hostess when she entered the TARDIS, thinking it was a genuine Police Box. Shortly afterwards, her aunt was murdered by the Master.
After witnessing the Doctor regenerate into his fifth incarnation, she joined Nyssa and Adric in their travels with the Doctor. Tegan's adventures with the Doctor were especially traumatic: she was present when Adric died, and was mentally assaulted by the Mara on Deva Loka.
Finally sickened by all the death she'd witnessed, Tegan left the Doctor and Turlough, after helping to thwart an attempt by the Daleks to invade time itsel
In the 1990s, Fielding worked as a theatrical agent, at one point representing Paul McGann when he took the role of the Eigth Doctor.
Despite distancing herself from Doctor Who for many years and being vocal in her criticisms of the programme, she returned to the role of Tegan for a Big Finish Productions audio play titled The Gathering released in 2006, once again alongsid Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. Fielding has also provided audio commentaries for several DVD releases of Tegan's Doctor Who stories.
Fielding now works as the head of finance for a major charity organisation
Sarah Sutton (born 12 December 1961 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England) is a British actress. She started her acting career at the tender age of 7 whilst attending the Elm Hurst Ballet School, when she was picked to play the part of Roo in a Pheonix Theatre production of Winnie the Pooh, which she played for 3 Christmases on the trot.
Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford (Born 22nd July 1964) is an English actress and entertainer. She came to prominence as a child star in the early 1970's.
She returned to the role in 1993 for Dimensions in Time, a special charity Doctor Who/EastEnders crossover episode as part of BBC's Children in Need. She continues to reprise the role in audio adventures produced by Big Finish Productions (eleven to date, including the episodes "The One Doctor and "The Firs Of Vulcan")..png){kind=logo}
Langford and Evers appeared again on the programme in the one-off Champion of Champions show which followed series two. They were scored second overall by the judging panel but again the public vote was less favourable and they were amongst the four teams eliminated in the first round of the competition. Langford then toured with Torvill & Dean's Dancing On Ice Live in 2007, a series of 42 shows in which she was the winner 27 times.
In July 2007 she was a judge on the ITV series Baby Ballroom: The Championship. Starting on 16 February 2008, Bonnie was 1 of 5 celebrities making up team Ant for there new team game Ant versus Dec in Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.She survived right up until the final edition, reaching the semi final stage & just missing out on the final which was eventually won by team Dec.
Matthew Waterhouse (born in 1961 in Heresford, England) is a British actor best known for his role as Adric in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. After leaving the series, he began a stage career.
Louise Jameson (born 20th April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is best remembered for her role as Leela, warrior of the Sevateem. First seen in Doctor Who story - "Face Of Evil" alongside fourth Doctor Tom Baker. Louise played Leela for only 9 months but it is the part she is fondly remembered for. An interview with Louise Jameson can be found at: my-tardis.co.uk.
Leela first appears in the 1977 serial, The Face of Evil, where she was a warrior of the savage Sevateem tribe, who were the descendants of the crew of an Earth Ship that crash landed on an unnamed planet in the far future. The name of her tribe, "Sevateem", was a corruption of "survey team". Although the Doctor at this point was content to travel alone, Leela runs past the Doctor and into the TARDIS as the Doctor shouts at her to get out. As he enters the TARDIS, you can hear him yell at Leela, "DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!", and the TARDIS de-materialises. They travel together until "The Invasion Of Time" . Once the invasion by the Sontarans is ended by the Doctor (President Elect of Gallifrey), Leela decides to remain on Gallifrey after falling for Commander Andred, K-9 stays to watch over his mistress.
Although Leela is a primitive, she was also highly intelligent, grasping advanced concepts easily and translating them into terms she could cope with. Despite the Doctor's attempts at "civilizing" her, however, Leela is strong-willed enough to continue in her savage ways. She usually dresses in animal skins, armed with a knife or a set of poisonous Janis thorns which she does not hesitate to use on people who threatened her, much to the Doctor's disapproval.
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Louise Jameson
Viv has a thirst for life that Shirley can't quite get used to. The pair are now working together and living together, and Viv's doing her best to bring some fun into her new friend's life.
Viv Roberts is a child of the swinging sixties and she's perpetually hanging on to that vibe! She was raised in small town England, and started training to be a hairdresser at the age of 17. She's never been what her family would call 'respectable', and has two children by two different men.
She carved a career for herself in London, as hairdresser to the stars, and has enjoyed an eventful life. She's great fun, full of warmth, and is incredibly sharp. She does have a quieter side but she rarely lets it be seen.
Since moving to Glasgow, she joined Shirley as a partner in Moda Vida, and is determined to bring a lot of light into her new friend's life.
River City was first broadcast on 24th September 2002. It is produced and broadcast by BBC Scotland and set in the fictional Glasgow suburb of Shieldinch. Two episodes are shown every week, with an omnibus edition shown on Sundays. Despite its relative infancy, River City has grown to become one of Scotland's most-watched programmes, often attracting around 600,000 viewers in Scotland alone. Now well established into modern Scottish society, River City recently celebrated its fifth birthday, with special episodes to mark the occasion. Other special yearly events have episodes reflecting their occurrence, including St. Andrew's Day, Hogmanay and Christmas.
Although mostly set in and around Greater Glasgow, River City also includes characters from other parts of Scotland and further afield, such as Aberdeen, the Western Isles, Ireland, Italy, Poland and the USA.
Nicola will be appearing in a stage adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 'Don't Look Now'. The production opens on the 1st September at the Mercury Theatre Colchester. It also stars Peter Amory (Emmerdale) and Rula Lenska. Nicola plays the part of Laura Baxter, a role made famous by Julie Christie in the 1973 film version which also co-starred Donald Sutherland. The film went on to win 8 BAFTA awards. The production will then be touring from early August until late November 2008 in the UK at the following venues:
The latest SFX Special is now on sale and it’s a cornucopia of CG eye-candy as we delve into the world of computer generated special FX. Here’s some of the goodness that awaits you:
* An exclusive cover image designed specially for SFX by the Doctor Who FX team at The Mill (reprinted inside word-free – it seemed a shame to waste it!)
* A free 28-page supplement on the special FX of Doctor Who season four, with many exclusive pics.
* A rare interview with Mamoru Oshii about his CG update of the classic Ghost in the Shell
* The complete history of CGI in the movies
* A massive profile on Pixar, creators of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and WALL-E
* Behind-the-scenes FX features on some the biggest, recent SF and fantasy movies, including Iron Man, Transformers, The Golden Compass and Speed Racer (in features never printed in SFX before).
* The FX of Primeval
* And (long-time readers of SFX might get a thrill out of this one) an old feature makes a return as we ask Isn’t It About Time You Gave Jar Jar Binks Another Chance (and no, we don’t just have a spread saying, "No!")
It’s in the shops now for just £5.99 and comes in a swanky slip case. Go on, you know you want to!
When The Sarah Jane Adventures returns to BBC1 for a second series, there’ll be a new face in the regular cast. It’s GCSE year for young actress Yasmin Paige (Maria Jackson), so she’s bowing out. But Sarah Jane’s Scooby gang won’t be short-handed, since new girl Anjli Mohindra is stepping into the breach as Rani Chandra, who moves into the Jacksons’ old house with her parents (pictured left).
SFX went on set in Penarth recently to speak to the cast. Here’s what Anjli had to say for herself:
On joining the cast:
“It’s been really great, because sometimes when you come into a show everyone’s already all tight in a performed group and you feel a bit intimidated but absolutely not at all. I completely feel part of the team, and it’s just fantastic coming into a group of mates that are already formed but welcome other people in as friends.”
On when her character joins the series:
“Fairly near the start, after saying farewell to the third sidekick, I kind of have a bit of a nosey into the lives of the world-saving team and kind of butt my way in!”
On whether she’s seen the series before:
“Well, it is a lot younger than my age range because I’m 18, but I have seen it on TV a few times and got a lot more into it as I found about the auditions. At first I didn’t actually know how popular it was, until you watch a bit more and hear a lot more people talking about it, and you go onto the website and there’s forums and loads of stuff going on around it. But yeah, I thought it was great, because with children's TV it’s normally quite patronising, but not with this at all. There’s no ‘moral of the day’ at the end of every story, it’s just completely the same as Doctor Who, and adults can watch it as well, which I thought was great.”
On whether Rani is similar to Maria:
“The only similarity that she has is that she’s a girl, really, and she lives in the same house, and that’s about as far as it goes. In personality terms I don’t think they’re that similar, apart from they’re both quite strong-willed, but I think there’s a lot less tears from Rani than there were from Maria. I think her relationship with Sarah Jane is a lot different as well. I think with Rani she’s very much an apprentice of Sarah Jane, which is a really nice relationship, I think. But it does take some getting use to because at first you’ll find that Sarah Jane is not really that interested in taking on another child.”
“She’s kind of shadowing Sarah Jane a lot. And you’ll see that if there’s a moment where she doesn’t quite know how to attack a situation, whether to be quiet, whether to be scared, worried, or to be strong, she’ll always watch Sarah Jane. If Sarah Jane goes in being really bolshy, you’ll see a few seconds later she’s up there as well. She’s just really into her fighting - not fighting physically, but fighting mentally! She’s quite strong, really strong-willed. And she’s a girl between two guys at times, which is nice.”
On her favourite story of the season:
“I like the ending, because we’ve got a really nice combination of monsters in that one. And it’s not just one monster either – we’ve got two different monsters, who unite and form an evil pair, so that’s a good one!”
Interviewer: Ian Berriman
The Sarah Jane Adventures returns to BBC One in late September. Issue 174 of SFX (in shops now) includes an interview with the producer about the new series, while issue 175 will include an interview with Elisabeth Sladen.
Most of the time, Eve Myles, Torchwood’s no-nonsense Gwen Cooper, bounds around like an over-excited puppy. On stage at the Rift Convention, she overcomes her apprehension at facing her first convention appearance by regaling fans with tales from the set of Torchwood that quickly have the audience in the palm of her hand. But, as she tells Carole Gordon in a quiet moment later in the day, filming Torchwood was not all fun and games. Losing two of the characters from the show at the end of the second series, people who had over the course of filming become and remain her good friends, was a deeply emotional experience - and one that will continue to affect both her and Gwen.
The second series of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood ended with the aptly-titled episode Exit Wounds, with Jack’s long-lost brother Gray attempting to destroy Jack, the Torchwood team, Cardiff and, just for good measure, the rest of the planet. Jack is buried alive for a couple of millennia while the rest of the team try to save the world. So, just a normal day at Torchwood then. Except that, on that day, both Owen and Toshiko die heroically as they battle to defeat Gray.
Not surprisingly, for Eve Myles and the rest of the team, these were difficult scenes to shoot.
Myles is clearly saddened at remembering the filming of that episode. “It was actually filmed on the last day. You’re doing seven months with people and coming to an end it’s always an emotional thing to say goodbye to people - especially when you have to say goodbye to them for good. To do those scenes was very, very hard.”
That’s not to say that Owen (Burn Gorman) and Toshiko (Naoko Mori) didn’t go out with a bang – in more ways than one. There were, Myles says, positives to their departures and she can’t speak too highly of her colleagues.
“They had a incredible exit. They are fabulous characters that will always be remembered. They’re legends. They are wonderful. It’s a very hard thing to say goodbye to people, isn’t it?”
Although no longer in the show, Owen and Toshiko are not forgotten. Myles confirms that the up-coming BBC Radio 4 one-off drama, written specially to coincide with the launch of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and set around that event, addresses the loss of the two team members. The others will always be affected by this tragic loss, but Myles thinks Gwen will be particularly affected as she’s newer to Torchwood and the constant dangers they face.
“She really grasped onto those two characters,” says Myles. “As far as Jack and Ianto are concerned, they are used to everyone dying young in Torchwood. It’s part of the job.”
Of her own work on Torchwood’s second year, Myles is particularly proud of the episode Adrift, in which Gwen discovers a major secret that Jack has been keeping about people being taken and returned by the Rift, leading her to re-evaluate herself and her approach to her role on the team. The episode was, Myles says, more drama than strictly science fiction, more about the relationships between mother and son, and between Jack and the rest of the Torchwood team.
“I am very proud of that because it was a very different episode and I think it was a huge diversion from where everybody thought Torchwood Series 2 was going, a huge diversion. It anchored Gwen again as being human. She learned about the do’s and don’ts. Sometimes, never mind how much good you think you are doing, actually sometimes it’s better just to stay in the background. That’s a big, big thing that goes against everything that Gwen is. Sometimes,” Myles says with a smile, “it’s better to mind your own business.”
Myles particularly enjoyed the scenes she played with John Barrowman, showing another side to the enigmatic Captain Jack Harkness.
“You can see another side of Jack in how he’s been dealing with humans who have been taken by the rift. How he described it to Gwen was rather beautiful. And how he dealt with it was quite cold but that’s the only way he could deal with it. It was wonderful for the contrast between Gwen and Jack - you could see the time traveller and the human girl from Cardiff. A beautiful contrast.”
And Adrift definitely contrasts with Myles’s other favourite episode of the series. Something Borrowed saw Gwen finally marry her long-time boyfriend, Rhys (played by Kai Owen). But, in the best tradition of television weddings, all does not go to plan. On the day of the wedding, Gwen wakes up pregnant with an alien baby and has to fight off the baby’s shape-shifting mother, who ends up in the guise of Gwen’s mother-in-law.
Myles giggles as she describes the episode, which gave her the chance to show her comedy skills – and to blast into oblivion one of Liverpool’s most famous daughters, former Liver Bird Nerys Hughes. “I got to shoot Nerys Hughes of all things! You don’t do that every day at work, do you?!”
Away from Gwen and Torchwood, Myles can be seen later this year in a new adaptation of Dickens’ Little Dorrit, starring Andy Serkis from Lord of the Rings, Spooks‘ Matthew Macfadyen and Doctor Who and Torchwood star, Freema Agyeman. And in Merlin, also airing in the Autumn, Myles will appear as a 130-year-old witch.
What about Gwen’s future? If there is a third series of Torchwood (and at the time of writing, the BBC have not officially confirmed they have commissioned more episodes), Myles sees Gwen going from strength to strength.
“In terms of character,” Myles says excitedly, “she’s bloody Wonderwoman! She goes home, she deals with her lover, she has a normal life, she goes to work, she saves the world every day. She’s an ordinary girl in an extraordinary situation. And she’s awesome! She’s absolutely brilliant! I’m exhausted playing her, but she is quite special.”
And how about that musical episode that John Barrowman keeps suggesting? With John, Kai Owen (Rhys), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto) and Captain John (James Marsters) all being accomplished musicians, would Myles also be up for it?
“Oh god, no!” she says, insisting she can’t sing but then with a grin adds she could do some hip-hop.
“I’ll chuck some shapes out in the background,” she laughs. “It’s like a musical anyway – they don’t stop bloody singing on the set all the time!”
© Carole Gordon 2008 Eclipse Magazine
As you may already be aware, Sarah Jane Adventures Series 2 will see some changing around of the main characters, with Maria Jackson and her father moving away from Sarah Jane Smith's neighbourhood.
Apparently this is due to exams, with young actress Yasmin Page being ready to sit her GCSEs during shooting of Series 2; similarly, Luke Smith actor Tommy Knight is set to sit a lot of GCSEs in 2009 which may affect his presence should production on Series 3 be underway by then.
There have been rumours also that Maria Jackson and her father are being completely written out - if this is the case it would seem to be a bit of a missed opportunity to expand on Sarah Jane's horizons.
On the bright side however, we're likely to be introduced to Clyde's parents in Series 2, along with new character Rani Chandra and her family. No chance of getting through this information without making reference to a former rival Time Lady who also went by the name Rani, either.
So new season and new dynamic. Actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong has also returned to voice supercomputer Mr Smith - although he is expected to feature less.
At the weekend we reported on the possibility of a return to Doctor Who from Catherine Tate. Verification on the information below is very difficult - as such these should be considered strong rumours with high spoiler potential, and you read on at your risk...
These spoilers mainly concern the 2009 specials. Things start off nicely, with expectations that the first special will be televised in April 2009, running to an hour and completing a bit of Whoniverse seasonal fun as it will likely air the same week as Torchwood: Children of Earth.
This get interesting when we then learn that the second special will be broadcast on Christmas Day 2009. This again will run to an hour.
"But what of the other 2 specials?" I hear you ask!
If these rumours are true, these will each be 45 minutes long - the length of a standard two parter - and air sometime between Boxing Day and January 1st 2010. That's right - the fourth '2009 Special' may in fact be broadcast in 2010.
Rumoured to be appearing in these specials are:
• CATHERINE TATE and BERNARD CRIBBINS
• JOHN SIMM as THE MASTER.
• BRIAN BLESSED
• GEORGIA MOFFETT returning as the Doctor's daughter, Jenny.
• THE SEA DEVILSPlus the obligatory Paul McGann rumour:
• PAUL MCGANN to return as the Eighth DoctorNow... we can take all of this with a very big pinch of salt. David Tennant is performing Hamlet still, and shooting isn't set to start on any of this lot for weeks yet.
However: Catherine Tate hasn't ruled out a return to Doctor Who and commented before this year's series that Tennant wouldn't do another series. Meanwhile, why have a two-part Christmas time special before a presumed series launch in the spring of 2010 if not for a regeneration to introduce a new Doctor?
Remember - food for thought, but not by any means gospel.
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Due to transmit in 2009 on BBC One, the series – called Torchwood: Children Of Earth – sees the team embarking on a single action-packed adventure as they battle for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered.
The highly-motivated Torchwood team are John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones.
Other regular cast involved in their high-octane adventure are Kai Owen as Rhys Williams, Gwen's husband, and Tom Price as PC Andy.
Special guests in the five part series are Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who, The Thick Of It, Skins), who plays the role of Mr Frobisher – a civil servant who is hiding a terrible secret; Paul Copely (Coronation Street, The Bill) as Clem – the survivor still haunted by his past; and Liz May Brice (Bad Girls, The Bill) as Johnson – the cynical covert government agent determined to expose Torchwood.
Russell T Davies said: "The new series of Torchwood is hugely bold and promises to be bigger and better than ever – the audience is in for an amazing ride.
"This series is one big serial and the most ambitious story we've ever made, and we've got plenty of surprises in store."
Julie Gardner, Head of Drama, BBC Wales, said: "We hope to make Torchwood a gripping and surprising TV event with storylines that push our team into greater danger and sacrifice.
"Joining our main cast are some fantastic guest artists who will only add to making this unmissable TV."
The first two series of Torchwood have received global critical acclaim and the hit drama has been sold to more than 20 countries.
The second series of the BBC Wales-produced series, broadcast on BBC Two earlier this year, attracted audiences of around 3.4 million, peaking at 4.2 million for the first episode. Including viewers on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer the consolidated audience was 5.1 million.
When it launched on BBC Three in October 2006, it attracted the channel's highest viewing figures, with an audience of 2.5 million for the first episode.
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