DOCTOR WHO minisode answers question fans have been asking for seventeen years

The Night of the Doctor is a preview 'minisode' for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, Day of the Doctor. It sets up the episode nicely and features an event fans have been demanding to see for seventeen years, just to fill in one of the last remaining continuity gaps in the series.

Great stuff.

Midkemia: The Chronicles of Pug by Raymond E. Feist and Stephen Abrams

Earlier this year, Raymond E. Feist concluded his Riftwar Cycle of epic fantasy novels. The sequence that began in 1982 with the publication of Magician concluded with Magician's End, resulting in a massive series consisting of thirty novels spread over ten sub-series. Six of the novels were co-written with other authors, but the rest are solely by Feist. However, it's less well-known that the world of Midkemia is not Feist's creation, instead being conceived by Stephen Abrams. Abrams and Feist attended the University of San Diego together in the 1970s and Abrams created the world for use in roleplaying games. Feist later (with Abrams's permission) used the setting for his novels, fleshing it out further.

Thirty-five years later, Feist and Abrams have regrouped to deliver a companion book to The Riftwar Cycle, featuring maps, artwork and further information on the world of Midkemia not given out in the novels. Whilst I haven't followed the later Riftwar novels (I bowed out after the quite amazingly boring Talon the Silver Hawk), I did enjoy the early ones and particularly liked the worldbuilding (haphazard as it was) depicted in the books and the spin-off computer games (Betrayal at Krondor and Return to Krondor), so I was looking forward to seeing that background fleshed out.

I was disappointed. As a companion book, Midkemia: The Chronicles of Pug is sorely lacking in almost every department. The first thing that grates is a lack of proof-reading: the book is riddled with spelling errors on both the maps and in the text (Shamata is frequently rendered as 'Shomata', whilst 'Murmandamus' is spelt in several different ways depending on the writer's whim of the moment). The maps are pretty, but difficult to use. The fonts render many names difficult to read and the artist seems to frequently get bored and only fill in the trees around the edges of the forests, making it look like Midkemia's woodlands are all plains surrounded by a ring of trees. Also - though this is a long-standing problem from the book maps as well - the mountains are depicted as quite ludicrously-sized given the scale used. The continent of Novindus continues to look like a small island instead of a huge landmass. There is also a discrepancy between the size of the Empire of Great Kesh on the maps and its reported size in the books (several times that of the Kingdom, whilst the maps show it as roughly the same size), and contradictory statements in the book which say that Kesh is sparsely-populated with the cities separated by vast gulfs of wasteland, whilst the novels report that Kesh has many times the population of the Kingdom. There's also the problem of the maps featuring locations that don't actually exist when the map was supposedly made: Port Vykor (or Vikor, as the maps never seem to agree on a spelling), founded after Rage of a Demon King, is shown on maps pre-dating Magician, more than fifty years earlier. Oh yes, and there's supposed to be two world maps of Midkemia, showing the state of the world at the start of Magician and after Magician's End (both visible on various fansites promoting the book) but only one of the two world maps is actually in the book. The other one seems to have simply been forgotten. This is made more amusing by the surviving book having 'MAP II (2)' written on it with 'MAP I (1)' nowhere to be found (in the UK first edition, it should be noted).

Then there's the actual text itself. Those expecting a book which talks about geography, history, society, customs, cultures and so on will be in for disappointment. The text is a fairly basic plot summary of the events of The Riftwar Cycle. Sidebars and illustrations show there is some potential in this approach: a map of Sorcerer's Isle appears at the relevant point in the text, followed by maps of the Sunset Islands when they first appear and so on. Occasionally the summary of plot elements the reader is probably already familiar with is interrupted by a little bit of background information on politics or culture, but such moments are rare and fleeting. The depth and usefulness of the plot summary amusingly mirrors the general consensus of the quality of the books: the events of Magician are covered in substantial depth, then Silverthorn through Rage of a Demon King in somewhat less detail, and then all of the books afterwards (which is almost two-thirds of them) are covered in just a few pages of confusingly repeated names and events which sound generic to the point of painfulness (having bailed out after Talon of the Silver Hawk, I see I'm not missing very much).

Only one of these maps is actually in the book. Oops.

The book is accompanied by artwork from Steve Stone. These aren't actual illustrations, however, but rather stiff and unconvincing 'photo art' featuring posed models in front of CG backgrounds. Occasionally this is effective (Amos Trask's ship running the Straits of Darkness is pretty good) but most of the time it's awful, not helped by occasional re-use of the same model to depict completely different characters.

There are moments when the book comes to life: the opening couple of chapters feel more inspired and some of the maps expanding on the somewhat-confused geography of Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon are genuinely useful. Occasional bursts of background material hint at much more interesting detail. Getting 'canon' maps of the Keshian Confederacy and the full Empire is also gratifying (though it turns out they are pretty much the same as the ones that have been available on the Elvandar website for many years). But ultimately this is a companion book which tells us almost nothing about the history, chronology, societies and cultures of the world it's named after, which is a baffling choice.

Midkemia: The Chronicles of Pug (**) is a disappointing volume, featuring almost none of the information that I suspect readers will really be interested in or expecting. Instead, it's an unproofed plot summary of books they've already read, interspersed with bad artwork, ill-detailed maps and an astonishing number of spelling mistakes. There are a few, scant interesting nuggets of new information to be found and some maps that helpfully clarify confusing descriptions in the books, but beyond that this book is not really that useful. One for die-hard fans and completists only. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

WARCRAFT movie will not be based on WORLD OF WARCRAFT

Director Duncan Jones has revealed some information about the upcoming WarCraft movie at the recent BlizzCon event in California. The most notable is that the movie will not be based on World of WarCraft, but will instead reach back to the origins of the WarCraft franchise.

Concept art for the WarCraft movie. Clockwise from top-left: Draenor, Dalaran, Stormwind and Ironforge.

The film will pit humans and orcs against one another. The human faction will be led by Anduin Lothar, whilst Durotan (father of Thrall) will command the orcs. Those savvy with WarCraft lore will recognise these names from the 1995 game WarCraft II, in which they played important roles. According to Jones, the movie will present the POV of both the orcs and humans rather than suggesting that one is good and the other evil.

Draenor, Dalaran, Ironforge and Stormwind are the locations for which Jones showed off concept art. Bill Westenhofer, the head of effects, is a regular World of WarCraft player and says that he often logs into the game to drawn on actual locations and environments for inspiration. There is also an urge to do as much as possible in-camera rather than using CGI: the preference at the moment is to use prosthetics for the orcs, for example.

The WarCraft film is currently in active pre-production and will start shooting in Vancouver in early 2014. The film will be released on 18 December 2015, when it will face off against Star Wars: Episode VII.

Blizzard have also confirmed that they are working on new versions of WarCraft: Orcs and Humans, WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness and WarCraft II's expansion pack, Beyond the Dark Portal, which will be compatible with modern PCs.

Doctor Who at 50: The Ninth Doctor (2005)

Christopher Eccleston (1964-  ) played the Ninth Doctor in 13 episodes airing over one season. He had three companions. His short tenure introduced the Face of Boe, the Slitheen and Captain Jack Harkness, as well as the concept of the Time War.

The Ninth Doctor (2005)

With Doctor Who confirmed to be returning to British television screens in 2005, Russell T. Davies began assembling a new production team and making decisions on casting and what villains should return. Early on Davies decided that the new series would pick up after the previous one, but with a fresh slate. Despite the actor being willing and popular with fans, it was decided not to retain Paul McGann and to avoid cumbersome exposition by not filming a regeneration scene. When considering a new lead actor, Davies's first choice was Christopher Eccleston, whom he had worked with on The Second Coming. Having enjoyed his previous work with Davies and excited by the scripts for Doctor Who, Eccleston agreed to take on the role.

Eccleston had built up a reputation as a serious and intense character actor. He had been particularly acclaimed for his roles in TV dramas such as Cracker and Our Friends in the North, as well as The Second Coming. Arguably, he was better-known than any previous actor who'd taken on the role of the Doctor (maybe barring Jon Pertwee). Unlike the previous Doctors, Eccleston's incarnation did not employ a flamboyant costume. However, the same mix of seriousness and whimsy was present.

For the first time in the show's history, the role of the companion was billed as the series lead alongside that of the Doctor.

Whilst Davies was keen for the new show to follow on from the original, he wanted to introduce an in-universe reason to separate the two out. He decided that a massive Time War had been fought in the interim between the Daleks and the Time Lords, of which the Doctor was one of the few survivors. Initially the Terry Nation Estate was unwilling to let the BBC re-use the Daleks, but intense negotiations resulted in permission being given late in the day; one script (which later became the episode Dalek) had two versions written, one featuring a Dalek and another a new alien. Davies decided that the new series would consist of stand-alone episodes and a couple of two-parters (so the classic Doctor Who cliffhanger could be retained), but it would also employ tighter, ongoing continuity as was fashionable in modern SF dramas. In this case, the Doctor would constantly encounter references to something called 'Bad Wolf' that would only be explained in the season finale. The series also employed an ongoing development of the relationship between the Doctor, his new companion Rose Tyler (played by ex-pop star Billie Piper) and her boyfriend and family back home.

The new season - officially the first season of a new series, but counted by many fans as Season 27 - debuted in March 2005. The first episode, Rose, picked up 10 million viewers and positive reviews. The thirteen-episode season was overall well-regarded, though criticisms were made of an occasionally juvenile tone, most notably with regards to the 'farting aliens', the Slitheen, and rapidly-dating references to contemporary British culture. The latter part of the season saw an upswing in quality, with the Doctor and Rose joined by a new companion, Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) and confronting a resurgent force of Daleks in the two-part season finale.

The Daleks proved to be instrumental in the storyline for the new series.

Even before filming of the first season was complete, Christopher Eccleston decided to leave the role (despite early interviews suggesting he might stay for two or three years). He cited the show's filming schedule and workload (it took over six months to record the series, with the Doctor in a majority of scenes) as something he was uncomfortable with. Though sorry to see him go, Davies did take advantage of the fact to give the new viewers their very first regeneration scene. For the role of the Tenth Doctor, Davies again did not have to look very far. His mini-series Casanova had been in production simultaneously with Doctor Who and Davies had been very impressed by the performance of lead actor David Tennant, himself a keen Doctor Who fan. Tennant was offered the role during a press screening of Casanova and accepted. He quickly filmed an insert for the regeneration scene (which had been filmed months earlier) showing the completion of the transformation.

Despite the bump of Eccleston's relatively abrupt departure, Doctor Who's return was an unqualified success. Ratings hovered around the 10 million mark, an impressive feat for a drama show airing on Saturday evenings, and reviews were mostly solid. The show was showered with awards for that year, including two BAFTAs and three National Television Awards. However, the success was initially confined to Britain: the American Sci-Fi Channel showed the series a year after the original transmission, but it attracted little attention in the States at this stage.

Season 27/Series 1: 23/3/05-17/6/05 (13 episodes)

1.1: Rose ***

1.2: The End of the World ***½

1.3: The Unquiet Dead ***½

1.4/1.5: Aliens of London/World War Three (2 episodes) *½

1.6: Dalek ***

1.7: The Long Game ***

1.8: Father's Day ***

1.9/1.10: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2 episodes) ***½

1.11: Boom Town ***½

1.12/1.13: Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (2 episodes) ***½

The Ninth Doctor regenerated at the end of The Parting of the Ways after absorbing the energies of the Time Vortex to save his companion, Rose.

The Ninth Doctor's Companions & Recurring Allies

Rose Tyler (Billie Piper): Season 27-  (1.1-  )

Adam Mitchell (Bruno Langley): Season 27 (1.6-1.7)

Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman): Season 27 (1.9-1.13)

Doctor Who at 50: The Wilderness Years

The 2003 animated story Scream of the Shalka, starring Richard E. Grant as the Doctor and Derek Jacobi as the Master, was the most notable project made between the TV movie and the new series.

The Doctor Who TV movie starring Paul McGann aired in May 1996, attracting little interest (and poor viewing figures) in the United States but scoring impressive viewing figures of over 9 million in the UK. The BBC responded positively to the news (most of those responsible for canning the show in 1989 having moved on) and there was a definite feeling that Doctor Who's return as a regular, on-going TV series was now inevitable. This was bolstered by a renewed interest in science fiction elsewhere: the BBC's SF sitcom Red Dwarf was also now one of the most popular shows made by the corporation, scoring viewing figures in 1997 and 1999 (for its seventh and eighth seasons) that would impress on BBC-1, let alone on the sister channel.

Despite this, it took a startling nine years - following the seven-year gap between the end of the classic series and the TV movie - before Doctor Who finally returned to the screens.

 Russell T. Davies

After Fox failed to pick up Doctor Who for a full season order, the production rights reverted to the BBC in 1997. In 1998 Mal Young, a fan of the show, took over as Head of Continuing Drama at the BBC. Peter Salmon, the Controller of BBC-1, was in agreement that the show should return and they worked on various ideas. They agreed that to bring the show back they would need a strong personality to work as executive producer and showrunner. Young recommended Russell T. Davies, an up-and-coming writer noted for his work on the ITV dramas The Grand and Touching Evil. He had also worked for the BBC earlier in the decade, working on the well-received children's dramas Century Falls and Dark Season (which featured the first screen appearance of Kate Winslet). Davies, an enormous fan of Doctor Who, was enthusiastic but also distracted by a series of new projects for ITV and Channel 4.

In February 1999 Davies's latest project, Queer as Folk, began airing on Channel 4. It was almost immediately a massive critical and commercial hit, and Davies became one of the UK's most in-demand writers. The BBC was keen to work with him and news of the Doctor Who discussions leaked, with a title of Doctor Who 2000 mooted for a relaunched version of the show. However, these plans were sabotaged by the BBC itself.

For almost twenty years, the BBC's commercial arm had been keen to make a big-budget Doctor Who feature film. Various discussions with American partners had come to nothing, with some deals being apparently discouraged by the ongoing status of the TV show. With the TV show off the air, BBC Enterprises had stepped up attempts to make a film and the success of the 1996 TV movie provided a springboard for some more substantial discussions. Getting wind of the proposed TV relaunch, BBC Enterprises themselves shut down the discussions on commercial grounds. Attempts to overcome the problems failed, and in 2000 Peter Salmon left the BBC, draining momentum from the project.

The Eighth Doctor Novels was the successor range to the Virgin New Adventures, eventually encompassing 73 novels published over eight years.

In the meantime, Doctor Who continued to flourish off-screen. The success of the New Adventures novels had inspired the BBC to take over the novel licence themselves and since 1997 had published a large number of books featuring the Eighth Doctor (despite his brief on-screen appearance, Paul McGann was still the 'current' Doctor) and previous incarnations. Despite a dearth of new TV material for more than a decade, Doctor Who Magazine continued to sell impressively. The arrival of the DVD format in 1998 provided the impetus for relaunching the Doctor Who video range on the new format. A company called Big Finish began producing full-cast audio dramas featuring both McGann and previous Doctors and companions. The show's 40th anniversary was also approaching, which would renew interest in the franchise.

Peter Salmon's successor at the BBC, Lorraine Heggessey, proved equally enthusiastic on bringing the programme back. Several further series proposals, one by another up-and-coming TV writer called Mark Gatiss, had stumbled on the rights issues. Heggessey, supported by Jane Tranter (the head of BBC Drama), finally overruled BBC Enterprises by pointing out that since a film version was not in serious development, there was no reason not to pursue the TV option. This was encouraged in July 2003 by the success of Scream of the Shalka, an original animated episode for the BBC website starring Richard E. Grant as the Doctor and Derek Jacobi as the Master.

Christopher Eccleston in Russell T. Davies's 2003 drama, The Second Coming.

BBC Enterprises relented and Heggessey called in Russell T. Davies for a meeting. Davies's star had risen yet further, having written a successful ITV drama-comedy called Bob and Rose and a controversial religious drama named The Second Coming, in which the son of God (played by Christopher Eccleston) returned to Earth. At the time of the meeting Davies was developing an ITV mini-series called Casanova, to star the then-unknown David Tennant.

On 26 September 2003, two months shy of the show's 40th anniversary, the BBC formally announced that Doctor Who would be returning as an original, ongoing TV series with 13 episodes to air in 2005. Davies would be the new executive producer and showrunner. The fandom greeted the news with cautious optimism.

86th Academy Awards Animated Shorts Shortlist

A few days ago the Academy announced that from the fifty-six (56) films that qualified, ten (10) Animated Shorts will advance in the voting process.

After watching all available materials my first impression is that Feral and Mr. Hublot are the ones that absolutely call my attention for the story and the execution.

The following are the shortlisted films.

Feral, Daniel Sousa, director, and Dan Golden, music and sound design (Daniel Sousa), USA, 13 minutes
A wild boy is found in the woods by a solitary hunter and brought back to civilization. Alienated by a strange new environment, the boy tries to adapt by using the same strategies that kept him safe in the forest.



Get a Horse!, Lauren MacMullan, director, and Dorothy McKim, producer (Walt Disney Feature Animation), USA, 6 minutes
Get a Horse! begins traditionally enough: Mickey and friends are enjoying a ride through the great outdoors when they are waylaid by antagonist Peg-Leg Pete. Till this point, the picture mimics the look and feel of vintage, Steamboat Willie-era Disney: black and white, simple shapes, and a rubbery consistency to the limbs and movements of the characters. This portion of the short features hand-drawn animation supervised by veteran Eric Goldberg, who designed the Genie in 1992's Aladdin, and the picture is intentionally degraded with artifacts and filters to give it a vibe of authentically aged film stock. Completing the illusion is Walt Disney himself as the voice of Mickey Mouse, a feat accomplished by piecing together audio recordings from studio archives. Shortly after Pete arrives on the scene, the fourth wall is broken, and things really get interesting. As Mickey and his cohorts jump off the screen, out of their black-and-white world, they dive into a widescreen universe of color where they become fully realized as CG-animated characters. A series of chase scenes finds them quickly alternating between the two realities, with the hand-drawn and CG elements deftly mixing in a surprisingly seamless way.

Gloria Victoria, Theodore Ushev, director (National Film Board of Canada), Canada, 7 minutes
Recycling elements of surrealism and cubism, this animated short by Theodore Ushev focuses on the relationship between art and war. Propelled by the exalting “invasion” theme from Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony (No. 7), the film presents imagery of combat fronts and massacres, leading us from Dresden to Guernica, from the Spanish Civil War to Star Wars. It is at once a symphony that serves the war machine, that stirs the masses, and art that mourns the dead, voices its outrage and calls for peace.

Gloria Victoria par Theodore Ushev, Office national du film du Canada

Hollow Land (Terre d'écueil), Uri Kranot and Michelle Kranot, directors (Dansk Tegnefilm, Les Films de l’Arlequin and the National Film Board of Canada), Denmark, Canada and France, 14 minutes

With their old bathtub in tow, a displaced couple arrives in a new land, where all is not as they expected it to be. Awaiting the birth of their first child, and in their effort to adjust to an oddly oppressive environment, they are challenged by cultural/gender roles and customs. “Hollow Land” is a brilliant animated film that captures the disruptions, and corrosive anxieties that are part of daily life for so many immigrants, refugees and misfits around the world. Asburd, dark and awkardly playful; it is an insightful story about humans.




Watch full short here.

The Missing Scarf, Eoin Duffy, director, and Jamie Hogan, producer (Belly Creative Inc.), Ireland, 7 minutes

On a quest to find his missing scarf, Albert the squirrel unearths problems far beyond his own.


The Missing Scarf – Teaser from Eoin Duffy on Vimeo.

Mr. Hublot, Laurent Witz, director, and Alexandre Espigares, co-director (Zeilt Productions), Luxembourg and France, 11 minutes

Mr Hublot is a withdrawn, idiosyncratic character with OCD, scared of change and the outside world. Robot Pet's arrival turns his life upside down: he has to share his home with this very invasive companion...




「九十九」 Tsukumo (Possessions), Shuhei Morita, director (Sunrise Inc.), Japan, 14 minutes

One night in the 18th Century, deep in the mountains, a man loses his way and comes across a small shrine. As he enters, the space transforms into a room of a different world. (Short is part of Katsuhiro Otomo and Sunrise's anthology Short Peace at Annecy film Festival)



Requiem for Romance, Jonathan Ng, director (Kungfu Romance Productions Inc.), Canada, 8 minutes

A modern-day couple’s secret love affair comes to a bittersweet end during an evening phone call. Cell phone static creates distance between them as they anguish over details of their relationship. But the visuals of the film reveal something entirely different: the epic re-imagining of their relationship set in feudal China, where family influence, cultural pressures and their lust for adventure makes more sense. Coming this spring, love goes to war over art.



Room on the Broom, Max Lang and Jan Lachauer, directors (Magic Light Pictures), UK, 25 minutes

To the annoyance of her cat a kindly witch allows a dog,a bird and a frog who have helped her retrieve things she has lost to ride on her broomstick,making it top heavy. The broom is destroyed by a fire-breathing dragon who threatens to eat the witch but the creatures band together to impersonate a monster and save her. As a result she fashions a luxurious new broom with seats on which they can all ride comfortably.



Watch full short here.

Subconscious Password, Chris Landreth, director (National Film Board of Canada with the participation of Seneca College Animation Arts Centre and Copperheart Entertainment), Canada, 11 minutes

In this short animation, Oscar®-winning director Chris Landreth uses a common social gaffe - forgetting somebody’s name - as the starting point for a mind-bending romp through the unconscious. Inspired by the classic TV game show Password, the film features a wealth of animated celebrity guests who try (and try, and try) to prompt Charles to remember the name. Finally, he realizes he will simply have to surrender himself to his predicament.

Subconscious Password by Chris Landreth, National Film Board of Canada

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

D&D movie rights battle escalates

A few months ago open (legal) warfare broke out over the ownership of the movie rights to Dungeons and Dragons. Sweetpea Entertainment, the production company responsible for the disastrous 2000 movie starring Jeremy Irons and two (even worse) direct-to-DVD sequels, announced they were developing a new, big-budget movie with Warner Brothers. Hasbro, who own the D&D tabletop game via their subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, fired back that Sweetpea's film rights had expired and Hasbro was now developing a film franchise with Universal Pictures. Hasbro then sued Sweetpea to stop their project going into development.

The point of contention is that the D&D movie rights were sold in the late 1990s, when TSR (the original company that created the game) was sinking into financial ruin and was in dire need of funds. Their deal with Sweetpea, in the person of Courtney Solomon, was born of desperation and featured clauses that Wizards and Hasbro (who bought TSR in 1997) disagreed with, but were unable to contest. However, the deal also included clauses forcing Sweetpea to release a new D&D movie every five years or see the rights revert to the licence-holders (in this case, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro).

According to Sweetpea, the second and third D&D movies (entering production in 2005 and 2010 respectively) fulfilled this obligation. However, Hasbro has claimed that the second movie being a TV movie (it debuted on SyFy just before it was released on DVD) and the third being a direct-to-DVD movie did not satisfy the clause, due to them not being theatrical releases. As a result, Hasbro claim that the rights have lapsed, leaving them free to develop a new project.

Sweetpea have now counter-sued Hasbro, demanding that their ownership of the movie rights be respected and seeking a ruling preventing Hasbro from using D&D branding and all use of copyrighted D&D elements included in the original deal in any future film project. A hearing has been set up for 25 March, 2014.

If Sweetpea wins the legal case, it leaves Hasbro in the awkward position of being able to proceed with a film based on spin-off properties (including the Forgotten Realms setting and the Drizzt Do'Urden character) but only if they do not use any core elements included in the original Sweetpea deal, including most of the iconic D&D monsters and spells.

Hopefully the March ruling will clear up the mess. As for who to back, I think three disastrous films in succession show that Sweetpea and Solomon should not be allowed to continue developing the film franchise. There's not much Hasbro can do to make things worse, and at least they'd make sure the new film would have a big budget and likely a name director. Sadly, aesthetic and creative arguments will not carry the day, with both sides deploying big-hitting Hollywood lawyers to make their case in court.