Doctor Who: Tin Dog Podcast (podcast)
The Top Rated Doctor Who Podcast. One fan, One mic and an opinion. What more does anyone need? Daleks, TARDIS, Cybermen, Sontarans, Ood, Classic Series, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Smith and New Who. Home of Whostrology and the Big Finish Retrospective.

Synopsis

"A Doctor, curse his name, threw me down among the dead… but I endure. I am Eldrad… and I must live!

A nuclear icebreaker, foundering in Arctic waters. Seabirds washed up in the fishing resort of Ambermouth, their wings encrusted with crystals. A shining artefact of uncertain provenance, up for sale on an auction site.

All of these things are linked, as the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough are about to discover. Linked to the rebirth of a genocidal tyrant, presumed dead many years ago…

For the sake of the planets Earth and Kastria alike… Eldrad must die!

Written By: Marc Platt
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Mark Strickson (Turlough),Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Stephen Thorne (Eldrad), Nancy Carroll (Mulkris), Pip Torrens (Charlie Gibbs), Jessica Claire (Kate Sherrin), Brian Protheroe (Bob Gell),Mark Field (Jim)

Direct download: TDP_318_Eldrad_Must_Die.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00 AM

Feel Free to tweet this and spread the word - a free play on the kindle 

A Radio Play with werewolves, witches gangsters and booksellers.

In an city that lies somewhere between Newcastle and Fairy land, A Red Clad social worker and witch, Mz. HOOD, meets her odd clients while being stalked by a book collector who happens to bare more than a passing resemblance to Michael Caine-

This is a ‘Radio Play’ Ideal for reading in a group/classroom as well as performing for an audio recording project/ Broadcast. 

This play is a cross between the works of Angela Carter and the 1970’s Gangster Movie ‘Get Carter’ No infringement of any kind is intended. This play was originally submitted to BBC Radio 4.

Below is a direct link to A FREE copy my kindle play - GET ANGELA CARTER. 
PLEASE TWEET/PASS ON THE LINK IT AS ITS FREE FROM 20TH MAY TO 25TH MAY
or tiny url
Enjoy.
Michael M Gilroy-Sinclair


Direct download: TDP_317_FREE_KINDLE_PLAY_GET_ANGELA_CARTER.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 9:26 AM

Doctor Who Tin Dog Podcast Reviews Nightmare in silver.

More to follow

"Nightmare in Silver"[2] will be the twelfth and penultimate episode of the seventh seriesof the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who and is scheduled to be broadcast on 11 May 2013. It was written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Stephen Woolfenden.

The episode will star Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman asClara Oswald. It features the Cybermen, following their last appearance in the sixth seriesepisode "Closing Time".

Production [edit]

Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat contacted Neil Gaiman about writing for the series and asked him to make the Cybermen "scary again". Gaiman thought back to classic series serials The Moonbase and The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967) and decided to "take the 1960s Cybermen and [incorporate] everything that's happened since".[3]Warwick Davis stated that it was a "thrill" to be in Doctor Who, especially in an episode with the Cybermen written by Gaiman.[4] Moffat stated that the Cybermen were redesigned because they did so often in the classic series, and yet had been consistent in the new series.[5] However the new series Cybermen are to make an appearance in the episode as shown in the trailer for the episode.[6]

Some location filming took place in early November 2012 at Castell Coch.[7] During this time, a copy of the readthrough script was found in a taxi in Cardiff. It was marked as being Eve De Leon Allen's copy and had the working title of "The Last Cyberman", which has since changed. The script was found by Hannah Durham, who posted a picture of the script to Facebook with the caption: "found Dr Who script in the back of a taxi. Cheeky spoilers anyone?" It was then posted to Reddit by Dan Rowling with the caption: "Look what a Facebook friend found in a taxi in Cardiff on Monday".[8] Arrangements were then made by Hannah Durham and Dan Rowling to return the script to the BBC.[9][10]

References 

Direct download: TDP_316_Nightmare_in_Silver_2.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00 PM

DOCTOR WHO TIN DOG PODCAST REVIEWS

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
237 – "The Crimson Horror"
Doctor Who episode
Cast
Others
Production
Writer Mark Gatiss
Director Saul Metzstein
Producer Marcus Wilson[2]
Executive producer(s)
  • Steven Moffat
  • Caroline Skinner
Incidental music composer Murray Gold
Series Series 7
Length 45 minutes
Originally broadcast 4 May 2013
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by →
"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" "Nightmare in Silver"

"The Crimson Horror" will be the eleventh episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who. It was written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Saul Metzstein.[3] The episode is also scheduled to be the 100th broadcast episode (not including mini-episodes) since the series was revived in 2005.

[edit]Production

"The Crimson Horror" will see the return of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax from "The Snowmen". Executive producer Steven Moffat told Radio Times that the story would be from their point of view, for the audience "to see them tackle a case of their own, and stumble across the Doctor's path, quite accidentally".[3][4]

The episode was "specially written" for mother and daughter Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling.[5] It was the first time the two had worked together on screen.[5] Gatiss had worked on a play with Stirling, who mentioned that she and Rigg had never appeared in something together, and Gatiss offered to "tailor" them into his Doctor Who episode, of which he had the basic idea of.[6] Stirling said that Gatiss had written "an on-screen relationship between Ma and I that is truly delicious. We have never before worked together because the offers have not been tempting, but when such a funny and original script comes through you know the time has come."[7] Gatiss also stated that he wanted to write "a properly northern Who" and revealed that Rigg was able to use her native Doncasteraccent for the first time.[6]

The episode began filming the week of 2 July 2012,[7] with location filming done in Bute Town, Caerphilly.[8]

[edit]References

  1. ^http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/wgxsc/doctor-who--the-crimson-horror
  2. ^http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2013/19/doctor-who-PI-week-19.html
  3. a b "Doctor Who Series 7 News Accumulator"SFX. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. ^ Moffat, Steven (30 March - 5 April 2013). Radio Times (Immediate Media Company).
  5. a b Bowie-Sell, Daisy (2 July 2012)."Diana Rigg cast opposite her daughter in Doctor Who"The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  6. a b Mulkern, Patrick (28 April 2013)."Doctor Who: Mark Gatiss sets the scene for The Crimson Horror".Radio Times. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  7. a b Golder, Dave (2 July 2012). "Doctor Who Series 7: Diana Rigg to Guest Star"SFX. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Doctor Who Series 7: Diana Rigg Filming Pics"SFX. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2013.

[edit]External links

Direct download: TDP_314_Crimson_Horror.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00 PM

The violent, volcanic world of Hephastos is home to a colony of composers, painters, authors and poets, all striving to create the greatest works of art the universe has ever seen. But in pursuit of their goal, artistic collaboration has been taken a stage too far...

When the Doctor and Romana arrive, they discover the colonists have neglected their well-being and their once beautiful habitat, which has now succumbed to decay, and they are enslaved to the Babble network which occupies their every waking moment. Every thought, however trivial or insignificant , is shared with everyone else and privacy is now a crime.

The colonists are being killed and the Doctor and Romana begin to suspect that a malevolent intelligence is at work. With time running out, the two time travellers race to discover the truth before they too are absorbed into the endless trivia of the Babblesphere...

PLEASE NOTE: THE CD RELEASE DOES NOT COME WITH A FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE STORY.

Written By: Jonathan Morris
Directed By: John Ainsworth

Cast

Lalla Ward (Romana), Roger Parrott (Aurelius)

Direct download: TDP_314_Babbleshpere_Destiny_of_the_Doctor_4.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:30 AM

DOCTOR WHO TIN DOG PODCAST REVIEWS THE LATEST DOCTOR WHO EPISODE.

UPDATE TO FOLLOW

"Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" will be the tenth episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who. It will be broadcast on 27 April 2013, and will star Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald. This episode was written by Stephen Thompson and is about an adventure in the TARDIS. The episode will also include three brothers from an intergalactic salvage crew, played by Ashley Walters, Mark Oliver, and Jahvel Hall.

Contents

Plot

Clara is lost in the depths of the TARDIS which is invaded by an intergalactic salvage crew who want to sell it for scrap, but the Doctor threatens to destroy the TARDIS by putting it in lock down and activating the self destruct if the salvage crew doesn't help him find Clara.

Production

Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat gave the concept of an episode discovering the centre of the TARDIS to writer Stephen Thompson. Thompson explained that this was because Moffat was "haunted" by the 1978 story The Invasion of Time, which was set on the TARDIS but used hastily-constructed sets.[1] Thompson was also interested in mathematics and remarked, "anything involving multi-dimensional geometry gets me excited".[1] Moffat left the rest of the story to be developed by Thompson.[1]

The episode finished filming in September 2012[3] Guest star Ashley Walters was in trouble with the producers on the first day of filming when he tweeted a picture of himself in his costume in his trailer with the word "space". The picture was immediately removed.[3]

References

External links

Direct download: TDP_313_Journey_to_the_centre_tardis.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 8:00 PM

DOCTOR WHO - TIN DOG PODCAST REVIEWS Destiny of the Doctors 3 - VENGEANCE OF THE STONES

Two RAF fighter jets are on a training flight over North East Scotland when one of them is plucked from the air and promptly disappears. UNIT are called in, and the Doctor and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart are soon on the scene. They enlist the help of a local military officer - a young lieutenant by the name of Mike Yates.

The Doctor discovers a link to the recumbent stone circles that are plentiful in this part of Scotland. The stones are thousands of years old, and are soon revealed to hold a terrible secret. Then Mike Yates disappears, abducted by an alien race that has a grievance with humanity. Their intention is to harness the power of the stones in order to take their revenge. For the Doctor and the Brigadier, the race is now on to save their new friend Mike and the entire planet Earth. 

PLEASE NOTE: THE CD RELEASE DOES NOT COME WITH A FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE STORY.

Written By: Andrew Smith
Directed By: John Ainsworth

Cast

Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Trevor Littledale (Garlin)

Direct download: TDP_312_Destiny_of_The_Doctor_3_Stones.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:14 AM

TIN DOG PODCAST REVIEWS HIDE 

FROM WIKI

"Hide"[2] is the ninth episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who. It first aired on BBC One on 20 April 2013. It stars Matt Smithas the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald. This episode is based on ghosts and includes Jessica Raine playing a character called Emma Grayling and Dougray Scott in the role of a scientist named Professor Alec Palmer.[3]

Plot

In 1974, Professor Alec Palmer and his assistant Emma Grayling collect photographic evidence of a ghost, known as the Witch of the Well, in the Caliburn mansion; Alec uses Emma's strong psychic powers to create an emotional connection that appears to summon the ghost. They are surprised by the arrival of the Doctor and Clara, claiming to be from military intelligence. The Doctor shows interest in the investigation after Clara points out that the ghost appears in the same position within each photograph. As they investigate, Clara finds that Emma has feelings for Alec but which are seemingly not reciprocated; at the same time, Emma warns Clara about sensing "a sliver of ice" within the Doctor's heart.

The Doctor and Clara find a location in the mansion which is noticeably colder than the rest of the house, and the group feels as if they are being watched. Suddenly, the house grows cold, and Clara feels something holding her hand; the two race back to where Alec and Emma are waiting to see Alec's equipment activating on its own accord. A thin black disc materializes in front of them, and Emma senses something crying "help me" through her psychic abilities before the disc vanishes and the house returns to normal.

The Doctor takes Clara in the TARDIS to examine the specific spot at several points during the Earth's history, and comes to the conclusion that there is a gateway to a pocket dimension there that is collapsing rapidly, and that someone - the person behind the ghost - is trapped within it. The Doctor asserts he cannot use the TARDIS as its energy would be drained as soon as it materialised, and instead helps to prepare a device to stimulate Emma's psychic abilities to open the gateway. He further constructs a tethered vest and means to pull him back across once he crosses over.

When the Doctor crosses over, he finds himself in a forested area, a small bit of land floating in a void. He meets Hila Tukurian, a time traveller and the woman stuck in the pocket dimension, who warns him that something else is there, following them. They race to the gateway, seeing an echo of the Caliburn house appear in the pocket dimension and try to barricade themselves from the creature to give them time to return. The Doctor insists Hila go first, and though she is successfully saved, the gateway closes due to Emma's exhaustion, leaving the Doctor trapped in the forest with the fast-moving creature. Drawn by the sound of the TARDIS' cloister bell, Clara races to the TARDIS, finding it locked. She pleads with the device to let them save the Doctor, and the TARDIS lets her in. The TARDIS briefly appears in the pocket universe, flying close to the ground to allow the Doctor to jump and hang onto it before the creature can grab him. The Doctor and the TARDIS safely reappear in the normal world.

As the Doctor and Clara prepare to leave, the Doctor tells Emma the real reason he stopped at this point was to ask Emma if she could sense anything unusual about Clara, but Emma reveals that there is nothing strange, but does reveal that Clara is, "more scared than she lets on". The Doctor offers Hila a lift to any other place in history, but as he discusses the matter with her he reveals that she is the future descendant of Emma, and the blood connection is what allowed Emma to open the gateway to rescue her. Further, he states that Hila is also the future descendant of Alec. Contemplating the bonds that love can create, the Doctor then realises that there is another entity within the Caliburn house. He implores Emma's help one last time to rescue the creature from the pocket dimension and reunite it with its mate.

[edit]Continuity

The blue crystal is from Metebelis III; the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) had stolen a blue crystal from the planet in The Green Death and returned it in Planet of the Spiders.[4][5] The Doctor mentions the Eye of Harmony, which was introduced in The Deadly Assassin.[4]The Doctor puts on the orange spacesuit he wore originally in "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" and wore on a number of occasions up to "The Waters of Mars".[4] As in earlier episode Let's Kill Hitler, the TARDIS employs an emergency holographic service to communicate, though it did not previously broadcast this outside of its' control room.

[edit]Cultural references

Clara introduces herself and The Doctor as Ghostbusters.[4] The Doctor recites in his dialogue the lyrics "Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it" from "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" by Cole Porter.[4]

[edit]Production

Tyntesfield House, which was used as a filming location of the mansion.

Writer Neil Cross was a Doctor Who fan, but had never had the time to write an episode. Executive producer Caroline Skinner, who was new with the seventh series, knew him and offered to work his schedule around writing an episode; he was willing to do it.[6] Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat was pleased to have Cross join, as he was a showrunner in his own right with Luther.[6] Cross also wrote the seventh episode of the series, "The Rings of Akhaten", which he was invited to do after the producers enjoyed "Hide".[7]

Cross wanted to write "a really old-fashioned scary episode of Doctor Who" targeted especially at children nine to twelve, which was how he remembered Doctor Who at that age.[8] He aimed to show suspense and tension, as he felt it was more terrifying than "full-on shock horror blood and gore".[9] Cross was inspired by The Quatermass Experiment and its sequels, and originally intended to have the Doctor meet Bernard Quatermass, though this was not possible due to copyright reasons.[8] Cross was also inspired by Quatermass writer Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape.[8] The Crooked Man was something Cross said lurked in his imagination.[9]

Cross wanted to tell the story with "a small cast and as few locations as possible".[8] Jessica Raine was offered the part of Emma Grayling, and later said that she had not realised "what an institution Doctor Who is" until she arrived on set.[10] She said it was produced very differently from her series Call the Midwife.[10] Raine had also worked with Matt Smith before on a play.[10] Cross said that Raine and co-guest star Dougray Scott were good at filling out their characters, as he found it difficult to fully "evoke the history of a quite complex relationship" between their characters with just the script.[8] Subsequent to filming her appearance in this episode, Raine was cast as Doctor Who's original producer, Verity Lambert, in the anniversary special An Adventure in Space and Time.[11]

"Hide" was the first episode Jenna-Louise Coleman filmed as Clara.[7][12] Scenes were filmed in Margam Country Park in June 2012.[12][13] Tyntesfield, a National Trust property near Bristol was used as the mansion.[14] The scenes in the forest were filmed in a forest in Wales, with artificial mist.[9] The Crooked Man's movements were done in reverse and then played forward, to give it an unnatural movement.[9]

[edit]Broadcast and reception

"Hide" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 20 April 2013.[15] Overnight ratings showed that the episode was watched by 5 million viewers live.[16]

[edit]Critical reception

The episode received positive reviews. Neela Debnath of The Independent praised how the episode blended a haunted house story with a science fiction tale, highlighting the twist at the end of "ugly aliens have feelings too".[17] The Guardian reviewer Dan Martin said that it had "the hallmarks of an episode that will be discussed for years to come", including the guest stars and atmosphere. He praised the direction, but criticised some of the dialogue.[18]

Daisy Bowie-Sall of The Daily Telegraph gave "Hide" four out of five stars.[19] Radio Times reviewer Patrick Mulkern gave "Hide" a positive review, highlighting Smith's performance and the spookiness. While he praised Raine and Scott, he felt that Hila was "shortchanged", and also criticised the "love story" ending.[5] The A.V. Club's Alasdair Wilkins gave the episode an A-, praising the way it changed direction and the subtle hints about the Doctor.[20]

Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy gave the story four out of five stars, writing that it flowed better than Cross' last episode, "The Rings of Akhaten", and allowed for the exploration of several themes. While he was positive towards the way the story was tied back to a time traveller, he felt that the ending was "perhaps less interesting than what's come before, simply because it feels more familiar", though it was still "solid".[21] IGN's Mark Snow gave the episode a score of 8.4 out of 10. He praised the smaller scope and focus on character, but wrote "the left-field genre detour didn't completely convince, and felt jarringly underwhelming considering the spooky set-up, but at least it tried something unique".[22] Jordan Farley of SFX gave "Hide" four out of five stars. Farley felt that the science fiction element left too many answers, but said that it excelled as a love story.[23]

[edit]References

  1. ^ "Doctor Who Series 7 - 10. Hide"Radio Times. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Radio Times Doctor Who"BBC Doctor Who. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  3. ^ DW - List of characters with actors "DW - Credits"Doctor Who, Retrieved on 20 April 2013.
  4. a b c d e "The Fourth Dimension: "Hide"". BBC. 20 March, 2013. Retrieved 20 March, 2013.
  5. a b Mulkern, Patrick (20 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Hide review - "Hide is about as creepy as modern Doctor Who can get"".Radio Times. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  6. a b Radish, Christina (27 March 2013). "Steven Moffat Talks DOCTOR WHO, His Favorite Upcoming Episodes, Writing the Doctor and Sherlock Holmes, the 50th Anniversary, and More". Collider. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  7. a b "Doctor Who "The Rings Of Akhaten": Writer Neil Cross Interview"SFX. 5 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  8. a b c d e Jewell, Stephen (16 April 2013). "Doctor Who "Hide" Writer Neil Cross Interviewed"SFX. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  9. a b c d "Behind the Scenes of Doctor Who: Hide" (Video). BBC. 20 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  10. a b c McAlpine, Fraser (16 January 2013). "'Call The Midwife's Jessica Raine: "'Doctor Who' Is Magical""BBC America. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  11. ^ "David Bradley to play William Hartnell in Celebration of Doctor Who"BBC Online. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  12. a b Golder, Dave (1 June 2012). "Doctor Who Series 7: Over 40 Locations Shots Including New Companion"SFX. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  13. ^ Eames, Tom (11 June 2012). "'Doctor Who': Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman in new photo"Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  14. ^ Mulkern, Patrick (14 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Call the Midwife's Jessica Raine previews Hide"Radio Times. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Doctor Who — Hide". BBC. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  16. ^ "Doctor Who "Hide" Overnight Ratings"SFX. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  17. ^ Debnath, Neela (20 April 2013). "Review of Doctor Who 'Hide' – Series 7, episode 9"The Independent. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  18. ^ Martin, Dan (20 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Hide — series 33, episode 9"The Guardian. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  19. ^ Bowie-Sall, Daisy (20 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Hide, BBC One, review"The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  20. ^ Wilkins, Alasdair (20 April 2013). "Hide"The A.V. Club. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  21. ^ Jeffery, Morgan (20 April 2013). "'Doctor Who': New episode 'Hide' review"Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  22. ^ Snow, Mark (20 April 2013). "Who Does Horror"IGN. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  23. ^ Farley, Jordan (20 April 2013). "Doctor Who 7.09 "Hide" Review"SFX. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
Direct download: TDP_311_Hide_Smith_13_4_Meta_Wrong_on_Broadcast.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:50 PM

DOCTOR WHO TIN DOG PODCAST REVIEWS COLD WAR

reprinted from wiki

"Cold War" is the ninth episode of the seventh series of the British science-fiction drama Doctor Who. It first aired on BBC One on 13 April 2013. The episode starsMatt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor and Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara Oswald. It is the first TV episode to feature the Ice Warriors since the Third Doctor serial The Monster of Peladon in 1974.

Contents

  [hide

[edit]Plot

The episode opens on a Soviet submarine sailing near the North Pole in 1983 during the Cold War. A nuclear weapons launch drill they are running is interrupted by Professor Grisenko. In the submarine's cargo hold a sailor prematurely begins to defrost a block of ice that Grisenko believes contains a frozen mammoth and is attacked.

The submarine begins sinking as the creature in the ice escapes and runs amok. The TARDIS materialises inside the submarine; Clara and the Doctor tumble out, believing that they are in Las Vegas. Although the sailors restrain them the Doctor convinces Captain Zhukov to maneuver the submarine to the side, landing it safely and preventing it from imploding. During this the TARDIS inexplicably dematerialises. The Doctor tells the captain and his crew that he and Clara are time travelers. They then encounter the escaped Ice Warrior, Grand Marshall Skaldak. The Doctor convinces them that they must be peaceful, but a frightened soldier shocks Skaldak with a cattle prod knocking him out cold. The chained Skaldak calls for his brothers to find him.

The Doctor convinces Captain Zhukov that someone must speak to Skaldak. The Captain insists but the Doctor refuses, saying that as an enemy soldier, Skaldak will not talk to him. Zhukov refuses to let the Doctor do it. As the only one who knows the Ice Warriors, the Doctor is too valuable to risk. Clara volunteers, and although reluctant, the Doctor allows her to go. She relays the Doctor's words to Skaldak but he knows that the Doctor is listening. After learning that he has been encased in the ice for 5000 years Skaldak laments the loss of his daughter and his people. Skaldak escapes from his armor, and stops broadcasting the signal to the other Ice Warriors, believing himself to be the only one of his kind left. The Doctor surmises that, thinking himself alone in the universe, Skaldak has nothing left to lose.

Skaldak manages to grab and kill three members of the crew. Having learnt of the ongoing Cold War and the mutually assured destruction, Skaldak plans to use the submarine's nuclear missiles to provoke a global thermonuclear war and destroy humanity as revenge for the humans attacking him, as under Martian code humanity as a whole has declared war on the Ice Warrior race. Reaching the bridge, he is able to connect himself to the sub's missile guidance systems and activate the missiles. The Doctor and Clara attempt to persuade Skaldak to show mercy when the sub is rocked by a tractor beam from above. The Ice Warrior's people have arrived over the site of the submarine's undersea grounding, and haul it to the surface.

Skaldak is beamed aboard the Ice Warriors spaceship, though the missile launch system is still active. Showing mercy, Skaldak deactives the missiles remotely. When the Doctor's sonic screwdriver informs him the TARDIS has reappeared, he informs Clara that it had "relocated" automatically as part of the H.A.D.S. (short for "Hostile Action Displacement System") at the South Pole. The Doctor sheepishly ask Zhukov for a lift.

[edit]Production

Writer Mark Gatiss had been lobbying to bring back the Ice Warriors, and came up with new ideas which finally sold the episode.

The Ice Warriors were a well-known villain of the original Doctor Who series. They appeared alongside the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) in The Ice Warriors (1967) and The Seeds of Death (1969) and returned in the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) storiesThe Curse of Peladon (1972) and The Monster of Peladon (1974).[1] Showrunner Steven Moffat had originally been hesitant to bring back the Ice Warriors, worrying that they were seen as "the default condition for what people thought of as rubbish Doctor Whomonsters — things that moved very, very slowly and spoke in a way that meant you couldn't hear a word they said."[2] Writer Mark Gatiss, however, was a fan of the Ice Warriors' stories and had been campaigning to bring them back.[1][2] In a phone conversation with Moffat that was originally supposed to be about their show Sherlock, Gatiss pitched new and "very clever ideas" of what to do with the Ice Warriors, and Moffat agreed.[3] What sold Moffat were the submarine setting and seeing what the Ice Warriors looked like underneath their suits.[4] Gatiss felt that the Ice Warriors had a lot of gaps in their timeline and had not been featured in a while, which allowed a lot of room to explore them.[5]

The submarine was Gatiss's idea; he felt that Doctor Who called out to be set on a submarine.[4] Executive producer Caroline Skinner described the story as "Letting a huge Ice Warrior loose at the heart of a classic Hunt For Red October style submarine movie."[1] Gatiss chose the time period because he was "kind of obsessed" with the Cold War, and felt that there were several times in the 1980s where the danger was close.[4] Gatiss also described "Cold War" as a "love-letter" to the base-under-siege stories that were common during Troughton's time;[6] the episode even contains a reference to Troughton's The Krotons, which was the last time the TARDIS' HADS had been mentioned.[7]

The read-through for "Cold War" took place on 6 June 2012, with filming beginning on 13 June.[8] For the submarine setting, the cast would be sprayed in between every take.[9] The scenes in which the characters are drenched in water were achieved by constantly pouring "gallons and gallons of water" on the cast. Coleman found the experience fun, while Smith said that it made acting easier.[4]Coleman said, "The whole make-up process was reversed as they would damp us down in the morning and rub my mascara off!"[9] For the shots of the submarine in the ocean, a model was used. It was suspended upside-down with "shredded feathers" blown at it to give the effect of being under the sea.[4] Unlike some other returning monsters, the Ice Warriors were not heavily redesigned. Gatiss insisted upon keeping the fundamentals of the original[5] and Moffat explained that the original design was not well-known enough to put a new spin on it, and so Skaldak's shell is just a "super-version of the original".[3] Of the original design, Millennium FX's Neill Gorton said, "My problem with the old ones is they had Lego hands and weird, spindly arms but a bulky body and these strange saddlebag hips, almost feminine. They had fur sticking out everywhere. So all of that together didn't suggest "ice warriors." They should be much beefier and stronger. We gave it more of a bodybuilder physique, changed the hands and styled the body to make it look more like armour-plating, even though it's reptilian."[10] The costume was made of flexible urethane rubber instead of the fibreglass like the original, as it would damage less easily and be more comfortable to wear. The costume was made to specially fit Spencer Wilding.[10] Though only some of the Skaldak's real appearance was shown on-screen, Gorton stated that they created a full animatronic body.[7]

[edit]Broadcast and reception

"Cold War" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 13 April 2013.[11] Overnight ratings showed that 5.73 million viewers watched the episode live,[12] a 28.8% audience share.[13] The episode also received an Appreciation Index of 84.[14]

[edit]Critical reception

The episode received generally positive reviews. Dan Martin of The Guardian wrote that "Cold War" was "easily the best of this new series so far, and Mark Gatiss's finest contribution yet." He praised the reinvention of the Ice Warrior and felt that the elements came together to form a "tense, tightly wound, claustrophobic but also full of heart."[15] Zap2it's Geoff Berkshire said that "Cold War" was better than Gatiss' previous episodes "The Idiot's Lantern" and "Victory of the Daleks". He praised the guest cast, but wished "their characters had a bit more meat to them."[16] The Independent reviewer Neela Debnath described the story as "slick and intelligent" with "cinematic aesthetics and tone."[17]

Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times found an inconsistency with the TARDIS translation matrix, but overall was positive towards the acting, visual aspects, and story.[7] The Daily Telegraph reviewer Gavin Fuller gave the episode four out of five stars, describing it as "finely crafted" and "thrilling." He praised the setting and the dialogue, but felt that the Russian characters were "perilously close to being ciphers."[18] Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffery awarded the episode five out of five stars, saying that it was "fresh and exciting" but also had a "wonderfully old-school tone." He wrote that it had "one of the best guest casts to have graced Doctor Who since the show returned in 2005" and also praised the reintroduction of the Ice Warriors and the production values.[19] Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club gave "Cold War" a grade of A, highlighting the tense atmosphere, the "bold new direction" taken with the Ice Warriors, the guest performances, and Clara's importance.[20]

Russell Lewin of SFX gave "Cold War" four out of five stars, praising the set and direction as well as the Ice Warrior. On the other hand, Lewin noted that, as a base-under-siege story, it did not play with the narrative form or "go anywhere we couldn't have predicted," with the exception of the Ice Warrior breaking out of its suit.[21] IGN's Mark Snow gave the episode a rating of 8.3 out of 10. Snow praised the reintroduction of the Ice Warriors and called Skaldak "the show's most memorable villain in a while, thanks to his stern, occasionally psychopathic approach to problem solving, and an environment that helped make the bulky, heavy creature design imposing rather than laughably naff." However, he felt that some of Skaldak's effects were "laughably rubbery" and that his motivations were "psychotically random."[22]

[edit]References

  1. a b c "SFX EXCLUSIVE: Official! Ice Warriors to Return to Doctor Who this Year"SFX. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  2. a b "Doctor Who's Steven Moffat: I wasn't keen on bringing back the Ice Warriors"Radio Times. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. a b Setchfield, Nick (18 March 2013). "Doctor Who Press Launch Revelations"SFX. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. a b c d e "Behind the Scenes of Cold War" (Video). BBC. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  5. a b Setchfield, Nick (9 April 2013). "Mark Gatiss Talks The Return Of The Ice Warriors"SFX. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  6. ^ Gatiss, Mark (13 April 2013). "Doctor Who's Mark Gatiss: Why I wanted to bring back the Ice Warriors"Radio Times. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  7. a b c Mulkern, Patrick (13 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Cold War review — Mark Gatiss's Ice Warrior revival is a classic in the making"Radio Times. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  8. ^ "The Fourth Dimension: Cold War"BBC. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  9. a b "Interview with Jenna-Louise Coleman" (Press release). BBC. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  10. a b Mulkern, Patrick (7 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Cold War preview — the Ice Warriors' return offers something for both newcomers and fans"Radio Times. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  11. ^ "Doctor Who Cold War". BBC. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  12. ^ Golder, Dave (14 April 2013). "Doctor Who "Cold War" Overnight Ratings"SFX. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  13. ^ Hilton, Beth (14 April 2013). "'Britain's Got Talent' makes triumphant return to ITV with 9.35m"Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  14. ^ "Cold War AI:84"Doctor Who News Page. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  15. ^ Martin, Dan (13 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Cold War – series 33, episode 8"The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  16. ^ Berkshire, Geoff (13 April 2013). "'Doctor Who' Season 7 episode 8 review: 'Cold War' reintroduces the Ice Warriors".Zap2it. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  17. ^ Debnath, Neela (13 April 2013). "Review of 'Cold War'"The Independent. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  18. ^ Fuller, Gavin (13 April 2013). "Doctor Who: Cold War, BBC One, review"The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  19. ^ Jeffery, Morgan (13 April 2013). "'Doctor Who': New episode 'Cold War' review"Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  20. ^ Wilkins, Alasdair (13 April 2013). "Cold War"The A.V. Club. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  21. ^ Lewin, Russell (13 April 2013). "Doctor Who 7.08 "Cold War" Review"SFX. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
  22. ^ Snow, Mark (13 April 2013). "Back in the USS-TARDIS"IGN. Retrieved 14 April 2013.
Direct download: TDP_310_Cold_War_Smith_13_3.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 6:00 AM

They call him The Pugilist.

It is the dawn of a new century and a vigilante is on the loose. The scourge of the criminal underclass. The saviour of the virtuous and the protector of the weak. The police are baffled, the public enamoured…  but Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago are on the case. Or at least they will be when they've finished their beer.

What is the source of The Pugilist's spectacular supernatural powers? Is he alone in his noble quest? And what is his connection to the spate of corpses discovered around London?

As they descend further into a nefarious netherworld, the infernal investigators may be out of their depth. They're going to need help if they're to get out of this alive. The help of an old friend and his new assistant. The help… of the Doctor and Romana.

Written By: John Dorney
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), Trevor Baxter (Professor George Litefoot), Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago), Mark Goldthorp (Bobby Stamford), Rosanna Miles (Mary Brown), Ben Bishop (Stone), Adrian Lukis (Harvey Marsh)

Direct download: TDP_309_Justice_of_jaxlar_.mp3
Category:podcast -- posted at: 5:30 AM