Doctor Who to get axe in 2008

Courtesy of the Sun Online

May 31, 2007

HIT show Doctor Who will be EXTERMINATED next year — after the fourth series. Boss Russell T. Davies has decided to axe the BBC1 sci-fi drama and concentrate on other projects.

He and senior staff have hatched a plot to hand in a group resignation in summer 2008.

A source said: “The heavy workload — nine months of 16-hour days every year — has started to take its toll.

“It was decided the best thing for the show was go out at the top next year.”

Davies was behind the relaunch of Doctor Who in 2005 — 16 years after it was originally axed.

The series, starring David Tennant as the Time Lord, is watched by eight million every Saturday.

Typical… as soon as we get the really good stuff with Freema Agyeman as companion Martha and last week’s amazing Human Nature, the word is that’s the end of things. Personally, I think it’s a false rumor as the Sun is notorious for printing less than true news pieces in regards to Doctor Who.

In any case, Russel T Davies is going to leave some day and the show itself will not last forever. I just don’t see why both endings would have to coincide. Surely the program can stand to have a new Producer in Russel’s place. While he brought so many great ideas and got Chris Eccleston, the best actor in ages to play the Doctor, these past couple of years have been less than innovative.

In short, RTD has done the hard work… time to let someone else take over.

David Tennant is also only just hitting his stride as the Doctor. It reminds me of Peter Davison who only really started to click for me as the Doctor in his last season. Regardless of my opinion on David, he has held the post of the most recognizable character role on British TV for a couple of years now and he deserve a good send off.

Rather than end the franchise that (handled correctly) could be as successful for the BBC today as it was in the 60’s and 70’s (more successful than any other sci-fi show on TV, seen in several countries and earning a UK viewer rating of 16 Million in 1979, a time many regard as a decline in popularity), I see no reason why another production team should not take over the reigns.

If nothing else, my hope is that this news piece will spur on that progression, rather than act as a portend of Doctor Who’s demise.

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David Cronenberg- Cannes Short

Part of the 33 short films for Cannes, “To Each His Own Cinema”, here’s Cronenberg’s offering: “At the Suicide of the Last Jew in the World in the Last Cinema in the World”

David Lynch-Absurda

This is a short movie directed by David Lynch which was screening at the opening ceremony at Cannes on May 16th. It was part of a series of 33 short films made by 33 directors in celebration of 60 years of cinema in Cannes.

The subject of the films was the principal home theater of the festival.

Spooky, but what’s spookier is that I can hear my mom talking over it in the cinema.

The artwork of James Jean

A Taiwan native, James Jean currently lives in Los Angeles, city of fumbled TV projects. His unique background brings a decidedly ornate touch to his work, making his comic covers really pop out on the rack.

After graduating from SVA (NY School of Visual Arts) in 2001, Jean quickly earned a following with his work as a DC Comics cover artist. With two consecutive Eisner awards, two Harvey awards, two gold medals and a silver from the Society of Illustrators of LA, and a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators of NY, James has worked for numerous magazines from Time Magazine, NY Times and Rolling Stone.

While he has worked on Batgirl, Green Arrow and other DC Comics, he is most well-known for the stunning artwork he’s developed for the Vertigo series Fables. Many of his fans rejoiced at the original 8-page story included in the Fables graphic novel ‘1001 Nights of Snowfall.’

Below is a magazine piece he produced centering on the male obsession with Star Wars.

While he in constantly working on new pieces for trade magazines, he is currently in deep work mode on several long-range projects.

I encourage everyone to look at his blog ProcessRecess to see the amazing evolution of his artwork.

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‘The Dark Knight’ - Joker’s Henchmen

Little did this simple crook with an eye for the dramatic know that one day his whimsical idea to wear purple suits and grin that piano-style smile would encourage such a strong following?

From his first appearance in 1940, The Joker’s ghastly grin (inspired by the genuinely creepy movie ‘The Man Who Laughed’), was the stuff that nightmares are made from.

But what would the Clown Prince of Crime be without his henchmen?

In the 40’s artist Dick Sprang (the creator of the Riddler and the 1960’s Batman TV Show credits) drew the Joker’s henchmen as looking like clowns themselves. Less of a terror and more of a mob imitation of the Joker’s likeness, the henchmen fought the Caped Crusader Batman and his sidekick Robin in warehouses, museums and other such locations too numerous to count up till present day.

In the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film, Bob the Goon (played by character actor Tracey Walter of Repo Man and ‘Frog’ from Best of the West), was simply a scruffy looking  crook in a bomber jacket bearing the Joker’s face as a patch (where do you get that kinda thing done?).

Not exactly a character with much ‘pizazz’ but the first action figure of the Joker’s goon to be made!

In the cartoon Batman the Animated Series, the Joker was assisted by the robotic Captain Clown and a number of obese and skinny men dressed in tights to fight alongside him. Definitely upsetting, but more in an unpleasant way.

The cartoon series set in the far future of Gotham, Batman Beyond, spotlighted the Joker as less of a villain and more of an idea (much in the same way that Matt Wagner approached the concept of evil with his Comico series Grendel). Gangs of bored kids called themselves Jokerz (with a ‘z,’ yes) and attacked the citizens of Gotham with rubber chickens and such.

Jump forward  to 2008 and here’s our first shot at the Joker’s gang from the forthcoming Chris Nolan film, ‘The Dark Knight.’ Now THIS is a step in the right direction. Truly terrifying yet simple, the henchman look appears to be men donned in a simple carnival mask that will surely haunt kiddies (and hang on reduced sale racks in comic shops) for years to come.

Word is that the sequel to Batman Begins will also be the first feature film to be partly shot in the IMAX format (so far the plan is that four action sequences including the intro of the Joker will be filmed in the wall-filling format).

“There’s simply nothing like seeing a movie that way,” Nolan says. “It’s more immersive for the audience. I wish I could shoot the entire thing this way.”

This will give the film a very unique look on regular and IMAX screens.

2008 cannot come soon enough!

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Clone Wars Series Trailer

(Not to be confused with the Genndy Tartakovsky series, Star Wars - Clone Wars(Animated))

Set in the time period between Star Wars - Episode II, Attack of the Clones and Star Wars - Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, the 2008 entirely computer generated Star Wars cartoon series is gaining momentum.

I just watched this trailer premiered at Celebration IV… and from the scream I let out, I’ll need new vocal cords.

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The Adventures of Luther Arkwright

An epic sci-fi comic book series, the story of Luther Arkwright goes all the way back to the 70’s, where it premiered as a short strip in Brainstorm Comix.

Beset by publishing problems, the series was released by several publishers until it was finally collected in The Adventures of Luther Arkwright trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics in 1999 (alongwith the sequel Heart Of Empire: The Legacy Of Luther Arkwright).

Luther Arkwright is a complex and rich story with elements of intrigue, action, and the then relatively unknown genre of alternate histories.

Set in an alternate England, where a Puritanical Parliament has ruled over the land for a hundred years after the English Civil War. Under the harsh rule of a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell, the country is a hellishly cruel land.

In this absurd and dangerous setting, we find our hero, the dimension-hopping Luther Arkwright battling the insectoid Disruptors in their plot to further distort history.

While Luther is haunted by strange dreams and visions, a plot is put into motion to restore the Monarchy by placing Prince Charles on the throne. All indications point toward a second Civil War. With time against him, Luther must ensure that the Disruptors are foiled by making sure the right side wins.

Not just the fate of one world, but that of all realities hangs in the balance.

Bryan Talbot’s series bears a close similarity to Michael Moorcock’s time-traveling assassin, Jerry Cornelius (of The Cornelius Quartet: The Final Program, A Cure for Cancer, The English Assassin, The Condition of Muzak). Both creators have publicly agreed that the similarities are just that, however, and in no way an act of plagarism.

Drawn in a unique and very underground style, the series is a landmark in independent comics and perhaps the most succesful sci-fi comic series to date.

Influencing the mind of Grant Morrison who later paid homage to both Talbot’s and Moorcock’s characters with his own devlish dimension-hopper, Gideon Stargrave in Entropy in the UK (The Invisibles, Book 3) series.

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright exploded in the comics world with all the power of an H-Bomb, leaving the fall-out of ideas to drift into the minds of new creators.

Talbot’s series was nominated for eight Eagle Awards in 1988, and won four:

• Favourite Artist
• Best New Comic
• Favourite Character for Arkwright himself
• Best Comic Cover

Hailed by comic book creator Warren Ellis as “probably the single most influential graphic novel to have come out of Britain to date… probably Anglophone comics’ single most important experimental work.”

Ellis, however, is not alone in his accolades as seen by this impressive list!

“A work ambitious in both scope and complexity that still stands unique upon the comics landscape . . . stunning.”- Alan Moore

“I love the illustrative style. Talent is profoundly international and Luther Arkwright should sell on a universal scale. I get a great joy out of it.”- Jack Kirby

“Arkwright is very imaginative and exploratory and is really pushing back the boundaries of the comic medium”- Will Eisner

“Ambitious, dense, exciting, stimulating, Arkwright is a tightly etched vision of the other side of Now presented by a master craftsman.”- Neil Gaiman

“Good classical music to me… stimulating, fresh and better than most of the comic stuff done here, France or America.”- Michael Moorcock

“Luther Arkwright is in a noble tradition of English fantastical fiction. Offbeat and bizarre, it constantly defies expectation.”- Clive Barker

Bryan Talbot and Mark Wright, recently collaborated on adapting the series into an audio drama by Big Finish featuring the vocal talents of several well-known UK sci-fi personalities.

Blakes 7 star Paul Darrow

Doctor Who #10, David Tennant

and former Doctor Who companion to Paul McGann, India Fisher.

A natural for the silver screen, last year it was announced that Arkwright is being looked at for live-action adaptaion.

But the big question is… who will play the title character?

While we wait why not look at the Daily P.O.P. Shop  for recommended books, DVDs, comics and more?

Human Nature (pt. 1)

Part one of Paul Cornell’s two part story featuring the Doctor hiding out in a completely invented persona during World War One on Earth.

I have to wonder about the timing as this is Memorial Day Weekend. The novel was very anti-war and in the televised version we have the Doctor’s  references to a ‘dark shadow’ moving across the planet. So the sentiment of the book is echoed on TV. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a pacifist by nature, but how does the average family accept this during a time when we are asked to ’support our troops’?

It’s a stunning tale with an amazing cast and top notch performances all round. Even some genuinely spooky moments! Just like Doctor Who of the good old days!

In any case, there are lots of weird little nods and winks to the fans this time around. There are even references The Doctor’s parents as being Varity (Lambert) and Sydney (Newman), the creators of Doctor Who in 1963.

Can YOU spot the classic Doctors in his diary?

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Max Headroom

Original Commercial for New Coke

Originally a bizarrely high-priced marketing campaign created by Peter Wagg of Chrysalis Records, CBS decided to develop their creation into the first cyberpunk television series, Max Headroom. The series was set in a dark reality where the excesses of entertainment and corporate power lead to a world where society was made of sheep-like consumers living in their own filth while the planet withered away around them.

The ideas contained in the program carried over into the work of then-contemporaries Mick Farren, K.W. Jeter and of course William Gibson (who was set to write for Max Headroom had it not been canceled).

The influences of Max Headroom can be seen in the Matrix TrilogyMatrix Trilogy, Batman Beyond and the recent film from Office Space and Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge’s film, Idiocracy.

Max Headroom was a very unique program that is still ground-breaking to this day.

It boggles the mind how a corporate sponsor could star in a series about TV mind control plots set into motion by evil gigantic corporations.

UK’s Channel Four commissioned ‘The Max Headroom Talking Picture Show’ which featured character actor Matt Frewer as the ingeniously fake CGI character ranting on videos. The ingenious bit comes from the fact that ‘Max’ was actually a flesh and blood actor in very painfully applied makeup, his footage cut-up and edited in a way to make him appear to stutter, re-iterate and jump ahead in his speech, something that is common practice today but at the time was quite bizarre and hypnotic.

A conceptual success, Wagg and company decided to create his ‘origin story’ with a full TV pilot movie. The storyline featured a future society set ‘20 minutes into the future,’ where television viewing was compulsory.

The main character was TV reporter Edison Carter, a hard-hitting character similar in many ways to the Question and after Steve Ditko’s heart, investigating the devious Channel XXIII’s corporate practices. While attempting to flee the corporate headquarters, he struck his head on a barrier (reading ‘Max. Headroom’).

In a desperate attempt to regain his knowledge teen wiz kid Bryce Lynch creates a recording of Carter’s brain patterns, which becomes quite frazzled in the process, resulting in the affable Max Headroom who assisted his walking alter-ego Edison Carter in his attempt to uncover corporate corruption… so was born a cult phenomenon.

CBS Max Headroom series promo

It wasn’t long before the character was picked up CBS in 1987 as the central character in a mid-season replacement series. Certain plot points were changed in the US pilot, with a slightly amnesiac Edison Carter joining Network XXIII as a reporter rather than running off to join the off-grid TV rebels ‘the Blanks’ as he did in the original version.

Max Headroom series intro (complete with annoying 1980’s guitar riffs)

Unfortunately only 14 episodes of the series were made, with the last story ‘Baby Grobags,’ unscreened in the US.

The series was incredibly bizarre, with virtual reality traps that captured your mind in a dream-like fantasy to the total reliance on television for all knowledge to the point where a book is a complete rarity, referred to in hushed tones as a “non-volatile storage medium” by the colorful character Blank Reg.
Each episode function on multiple levels. As an action series, commentary on the current and upcoming culture, and weekly comedic monologues by Max himself to close out each episode.

On Insecurity Guards

A pop-culture icon, Max Headroom eventually made his way back to music commentary, but this time as a performer in the music video for Art Of Noise (the 1980’s pop-synth group behind ‘Closer to the Edit,’ the remake of ‘Peter Gunn,’ and the group’s unfortunate death knell, the remake of ‘Dragnet’).

Art of Noise-“Paranoimia”

Perhaps just as bizarre as a revolutionary anti-establishment character being used to sell soda pop was his likeness being utilized in the most surprising and to this day unprecedented act of television piracy.

On 11/22/87, an unknown pirate took control of a Dr Who broadcast on Chicago TV station WGN.

A program before its time, Max Headroom is STILL not available on DVD for some reason. Perhaps we’re expected to just suck it up and get a pirated copy.

It’s what Edison would do, certainly.

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Star Wars Celebration Hasbro Preview

Looking online this evening, I spotted a few pics on Jedi Insider of the upcoming plastic offerings to our savior, George Lucas.

Ofcourse a plethora of Clone Troopers adorned the display cases… Must be a mind-trip to see a miniature trooper in a glass disply, then a life size version walks by.

Never drop acid at a Star Wars convention.

Some figures based on the troopers from the upcoming Star Wars video game were there are well!

Some very odd looking McQuarrie concept figures of Obi-Wan, Yoda…

a Snowtrooper (from Empire Strikes Back)

and Han Solo??!!

Are you like me, strapped for gift ideas for Father’s Day?

Why not surprise Dad with a gift that says ‘I know you want to destroy me or seduce me into your philosophy, but I’m a whiny son who will always forgive you… you dark lord of the Sith, you.’

Whodathunk that Star Wars would save your bacon with Dad?

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