New Doctor Who companion revealed?

According to AMC’s the Sci Fi Scanner, this may be the face of the latest companion to serve alongside David Tennant in the hit BBC Wales revival show Doctor Who.

Dubbed the ‘chav queen’ by the press, pop singer Lily Allen could easily follow in the footsteps of other city dwelling companions Rose Tyler and Martha Jones. 

Daughter of film producer Alison Owen (Elizabeth) and comedian Keith Allen, Lily Allen (now only 22) began her career in music by working at a Plastic Fantastic record shop.

Her first foray into music was made thanks to her father’s connections at Warner Music, but the opportunity flopped when these same connections left the company lost interest in Allen. Yet another success thanks to the Internet, Allen only really found acceptance by posting her demos to her MySpace page and gaining a sizable following.  After The Observer Music Monthly reported on her online popularity, Warner Music decided to give her a second chance. Her first album, Alright, Still, saw remarkable success and earned her the attention that she had been working at for so long… and the label of ‘chav queen’ (to Americans, this is the rough equivalent to saying she is supreme white trash, not exactly a compliment). This ‘title’ is hardly unique in Allen’s brief career. Rated number 10 in BBC Three’s Most Annoying Person of 2006 and nominated in NME‘s Worst Album of 2007, not all of her press has been positive.
Though I know it’s silly, I yearn for the days of a companion like Turlough, Ian Chesterton or Barbara Wright. Even Vicki was lots of fun though she was admittedly giggly. They all had a certain charm, screen presence and endurance that is necessary for the companion.

Well… maybe not Turlough, but still.

Doctor Who Season Four Rumor

From The Daily Star:
(do not read if you want to remain in the dark…)

DOCTOR Who bosses are set to call back FOUR of the Time Lord’s favourite assistants – including Billie Piper – for a sensational showdown. The old cast members will be reunited to help the Doc fight evil Dalek creator Davros in an explosive finale to the next series.

Leading the way in the line-up will be Billie (Piper) as Rose Tyler along with the rest of the Tyler family; they will hook up with the Tardis traveler’s latest assistants Martha Jones and Donna Noble. Also on hand to help out the Doc will be his old companion Sarah Jane Smith as well as Torchwood boss Captain Jack Harkness. Even the Time Lord’s dog K-9 will make an appearance.

The TV source said: “This is the daddy of all shows. The writer Russell T Davies really wants to pull out all the stops for the finale next year.”

The series finales in Doctor Who have become more and more overblown each year.

In 2005 we had the Doctor fighting an army of flying Daleks in a TV broadcasting satellite, Rose undoing all of their damage and the Doctor regenerating.

In 2006 there were Daleks fighting Cybermen… not that you’d notice since this was sidelined for Rose‘s departure.

2007 was the Master‘s final destruction of 10% of the Earth’s population… and his iPod.

With the future of the program in the air and rumors of a feature film starring Tennant and Piper, producer Russel T Davies has decided to pull out every last stop and just go whole hog with the biggest and loudest finale yet.

If The Daily Star is right, that is.

Super Cool Sontaran

Small Screen Monsters and Critics just dropped revealed a very big secret to Doctor Who fans anxious about what classic series monster is coming next year.

Christopher Ryan, best known for playing super-cool Mike in the classic comedy series The Young Ones, was cast for a guest-starring role in an upcoming Series Four “Doctor Who” adventure.

Ryan will play a Sontaran leader in the story, due to begin filming in the next few weeks, reports the BBC.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be appearing in this new Doctor Who,” Chris revealed to the BBC. “The last time I appeared in Doctor Who was in 1986, Colin Baker was the Doctor and I was still a Young One.”

“The story in question was the Trial Of A Time Lord, where Chris starred as the slug-like Mentor Kiv alongside Trevor Laird, who played Martha’s dad in 2007,” writes the BBC.

The Sontarans are amongst the greatest villains from the classic series of “Doctor Who.“

A military, warlike species, able to clone vast armies of themselves, the Sontarans are locked into an eternal struggle with their enemies the Rutans.

Now, the thing that confuses me here is that Chris is, if memory serves, a tiny fella. This made sense when he appeared as a slug in Trial of a Timelord. However, the Sontarans are large blokes similar in stature to boxers or rugby players.

How does that work?

Rumored to appear in the New Series since it’s first season in 2005, the Sontarans were created by classic series author Robert Holmes (also creator of the Master). Designed to be the ‘perfect soldiers’ Sontarans are clones based on an ideal specimen many generations ago. A statement on the futility of war, the Sontarans are locked in an eternal battle with the Rutans (which appeared in The Horror of Fang Rock as a shape-changing balloon with sticky tape clinging to it).

Appearing in four stories and battling four incarnations of the Doctor, the Sontarans are your usual Doctor Who monsters; creepy vaguely phallic creatures who shout a lot and stumble about until they get blown up or turned into green ooze.

While I enjoy the Sontarans, I hardly view them as one of the series most popular monsters. What do you think?

The Doctor returns to Rome

Many readers are still sore that there will be a break in the series, so to lift your spirits, here’s the first image from the Doctor Who season four story set in Ancient Rome (previously mentioned here).

In the episode filmed in Cinecitta Studios, The Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii in 79 AD, just before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They are then faced with a dilemma of whether to warn the locals and risk altering history or just let them fend for themselves… but how can they just stand by and watch an entire civilization get wiped out?

A story that has been waiting to be told since the New Series Season One, this should be an interesting historical adventure much in the vein of classic stories such as The Aztecs.

David Tennant vs. Batman

In a public statement, actor David Tennant of Doctor Who told the press that he is a big fan of the revived Batman film franchise. In fact, he’d like to play the Riddler or some other ‘freakish’ villain.

“I’d love to play the Riddler and be bad to Batman. It was so much fun to watch. I thought the Riddler was one of the most freakish of the villains, especially with that wild laugh,” the actor said.

How do you think that would work? He’s certainly got the mad energy of a young Frank Gorshin.

Doctor Who bits and bobs

Over at the excellent AMC Sci-Fi blog, there are two recent posts about the famous Timelord that should get your attention.

First, a Halloween idea that would make designer Ray Cusick proud… until he realizes he’ll get no money from this one either (the designer of the Daleks was cheated out of any residuals by now exterminated but still wealthy writer Terry Nation).Dalek Jack O’ Lantern

Second, a source for all those remixes of the Doctor Who signature tune. The instantly recognizable tune by Ron Grainer (also responsible countless other theme songs including The Prisoner) and Delia Derbyshire has been adapted so many times I’ve lost count… thankfully not everyone has.

For the record, the recent rewrite by Murray Gold leaves me quite cold. I prefer the alien/weird tune from the 60′s-70′s to the full Welsh Orchestra.

Doctor Who remix