Radio Times
type: channel
link: https://www.radiotimes.com
date: 2023-04-17T10:14:08.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor ★★★
items: A Day in the Life of Doctor Who: a 50th anniversary review
items: Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Nightmare in Silver ★
items: Doctor Who: The Crimson Horror ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Journey to the Centre of the Tardis ★★
items: Doctor Who: Hide ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Cold War ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Rings of Akhaten ★
items: Doctor Who: The Bells of Saint John ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Snowmen ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Power of Three ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy ★★
items: Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Closing Time ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The God Complex ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Girl Who Waited ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: Night Terrors ★★
items: Doctor Who: Let’s Kill Hitler ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People ★★
items: Doctor Who: The Doctor’s Wife ★★★★
items: Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot ★★
items: Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon ★★★★★
items: Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol ★★★

Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor ★★★
type: item
date: 2013-12-25T19:30:00.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: A flash-bang handover from Matt Smith to Peter Capaldi with loose ends tied up – but can we stomach this much Christmassy Who?
encoded: Story 241 Christmas special 2013 “I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear. I will always remember when the Doctor was me” – the Doctor Storyline A mysterious message echoes out across the stars from the planet Trenzalore. Daleks, Cybermen and the Doctor’s old friend, Tasha Lem, are among those who respond. With the planet under threat of attack, and having discovered the crack in time there too, the Time Lord must protect the inhabitants of a town called Christmas. He remains for many years, until he reaches old age. He tells Clara this is his final incarnation but, as death approaches, she pleads with the Time Lords through the time fissure and they bestow a full new set of regenerations. The old Doctor uses his regenerative energy to wipe out his assailants and is transformed into a new man – seemingly unable to fly the Tardis... First UK broadcast Wednesday 25 December 2013 Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara – Jenna Coleman Tasha Lem – Orla Brady Dad – James Buller Linda – Elizabeth Rider Gran – Sheila Reid Mark Brighton – Colonel Albero Rob Jarvis – Abramal Tessa Peake-Jones – Marta Jack Hollington – Barnable Sonita Henry – Colonel Meme Tom Gibbons – Young Man Ken Bones – Voice Aidan Cook – Cyberman Kayvan Novak – Voice of Handles Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Cybermen/Daleks Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg – Daleks Ross Mullan – Silent Dan Starkey – Sontaran Sarah Madison – Weeping Angel Karen Gillan – Amy Pond The Doctor – Peter Capaldi Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Jamie Payne Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Brian Minchin RT review by Patrick Mulkern So farewell, fair Doctor! After 44 episodes spread across four years, magnificent Matt Smith discards his bowtie and lets it drop, poignantly, to the floor of the Tardis. And – after a rather protracted regeneration – in pounces Peter Capaldi. Gaunt, lizard-like and with frou-frou hair. Was anyone else put in m…

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A Day in the Life of Doctor Who: a 50th anniversary review
type: item
date: 2013-11-24T09:45:00.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Who aficionado Patrick Mulkern charts the highs and lows of The Celebration, The Episode, The Afterparty and The Five(ish) Doctors...
encoded: The Celebration "I did conventions in the 1980s and generally loathed them," says Patrick Mulkern. "They were often tacky, odorous and nearly all male. But this Celebration was bliss. Organised chaos, yes. But everyone having a wonderful time" “No pressure then,” I said to Steven Moffat, when I was jammed up against him at the bar last weekend at Doctor Who Magazine’s 50th bash – just one week away from The Day of the Doctor, and with what must have felt like, for him, the eyes of the world watching, waiting, hoping desperately to be impressed by whatever his feverish imagination could deliver. The Moff shrugged, gave me that disconcerting saturnine look he has, halfway between a smile and a scowl, and then… well, then we had quite an interesting conversation that I cannot, would not repeat here. We were both off duty. It would be ungentlemanly. But I realised this is a man who loves Doctor Who as passionately as I do, and what has shone through in this anniversary week is how so many people really do adore and care about this daft 50-year-old television programme. Beyond the blanket coverage on the BBC, in the press and online, what has impressed me is the true adoration of the fans who not only watch but who make the show. Mark Gatiss’s fan “love letter” to Doctor Who, An Adventure in Space and Time, was an utter joy and has made me laugh and blub on each viewing. And then this weekend there’s been the live event, the Doctor Who Celebration, BBC Worldwide’s unwieldy beast of a convention (although they’re not calling it a “convention”) at London’s ExceL. I did conventions in the 1980s and generally loathed them. They were often tacky, odorous and nearly all male. But this Celebration was bliss. Organised chaos, yes. Queue central. But everyone having a wonderful time. The main hall was like an airport mall during an air traffic controllers’ strike, except every aisle, every stand, every inch was groaning with Who ephemera: costumes, monsters, props… Merchandise st…

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Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-11-23T20:10:00.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Doctors past, present and future unite to resolve the Time War – in Steven Moffat's superb, game-changing special, dripping with golden moments
encoded: Story 240 50th Anniversary Special “No, sir. All 13!” – Time Lord Storyline Clara, now working at Coal Hill School, joins the Doctor just as the Tardis is airlifted by a Unit helicopter to Trafalgar Square. Kate Stewart, the Brigadier’s daughter, wants to show the Doctor a 3D painting in the National Gallery called Gallifrey Falls. And in a secret Under Gallery, there are more 3D landscapes from which figures have escaped… In the English countryside, 1562, the Doctor’s previous incarnation finds himself proposing marriage to Queen Elizabeth I while trying to avert a Zygon menace. The shape-shifting aliens plan to invade the future – 21st-century Earth – after being held in stasis by the 3D images. An even earlier incarnation, having renounced the title of “Doctor”, is present for the last day of the Time War. He’s decided to end the conflict between the Daleks and the Time Lords by activating “The Moment”, a galaxy-eating weapon of mass destruction. But in the Gallifreyan desert, he is plagued by a “conscience” from the Moment’s interface, embodied in the form of Rose Tyler. The conscience generates a time fissure so that the “War Doctor” can join his future selves and reconsider his actions… First UK broadcast Saturday 23 November 2013 Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt (also credited: Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, William Hartnell) Clara – Jenna Coleman Rose Tyler – Billie Piper Kate Stewart – Jemma Redgrave Elizabeth I – Joanna Page Osgood – Ingrid Oliver Tom – Tristan Beint Time Lord soldier – Chris Finch Androgar – Peter De Jersey The General – Ken Bones Arcadia father – Philip Buck Time Lord – Sophie Morgan-Price Lord Bentham – Orlando James McGillop – Jonjo O’Neill Atkins – Tom Keller Zygons – Aidan Cook, Paul Kasey Dalek & Zygon voices – Nicholas Briggs Daleks – Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg Voiceover artist – John Guilor Crew Writer – Steven Mo…

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Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:21:07.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: An astonishing finale as Steven Moffat rewrites Doctor Who history, casts John Hurt as a new Doctor and sets the stage for the 50th anniversary...
encoded: Story 239 Series 7 – Episode 13 “I don’t know where I am. It’s like I’m breaking into a million pieces and there’s only one thing I remember. I have to save the Doctor” – Clara Storyline Clara has a dream-like realisation that she is “the Impossible Girl” and that she was born to save the Doctor. She has brief encounters with all his incarnations, right back to the first when he was originally leaving Gallifrey. Madame Vastra learns that the Doctor is in dire danger, so has a trance-induced “conference call” across time with Clara and River Song. They are interrupted by Dr Simeon (the Great Intelligence) and his undertaker-like Whisper Men. The Doctor must head to Trenzalore to save his friends, Vastra, Jenny and Strax – in the knowledge that this world will be his final resting place. His grave is within the ruins of the giant police box. The Intelligence intends to rewrite the Doctor’s history, undo all his successes, by stepping into his exposed timeline. Clara follows and is splintered across time. The Doctor goes to save her and in a dark cavern they uncover the Time Lord’s dark secret – an earlier, unknown incarnation whose actions were not carried out in the name of the Doctor… First UK transmission Saturday 18 May 2013 Production November to December 2012, March, April 2013. At Coal Exchange, Cardiff Bay; Beatty Avenue, Roath, Cardiff; Merthyr Mawr House, Bridgend; BBC Roath Lock Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman River Song – Alex Kingston Dr Simeon – Richard E Grant Madame Vastra – Neve McIntosh Jenny – Catrin Stewart Strax – Dan Starkey Angie – Eve De Leon Allen Artie – Kassius Carey Johnson Andro – Nasi Voutsas Fabian – David Avery Clarence – Michael Jenn Archie – Rab Affleck Messenger boy – Samuel Irvine Young Clara – Sophie Downham Whisper Man – Paul Kasey Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Saul Metzstein Producer – Denise Paul Series producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Exe…

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Doctor Who: Nightmare in Silver ★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:44.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Even Matt Smith cannot sell Neil Gaiman’s almighty Cyber flop
encoded: Story 238 Series 7 – Episode 12 “You brought us children. Hail to you, the Doctor, saviour of the Cybermen!” – Webley Storyline The Doctor takes Clara and her young charges, Angie and Artie, to Hedgewick’s World of Wonders. Once billed as the biggest amusement park in the universe, it’s now in ruins and under military occupation. In a waxworks, they befriend impresario Mr Webley and his henchman Porridge. Insect-like Cybermites reactivate some defunct Cybermen so that they can move and upgrade very fast. The Doctor develops a split personality when his enemies try to upgrade and incorporate him into the Cyberiad as a Cyber Planner. First UK transmission Saturday 11 May 2013 Production November to December 2012. At Castell Coch, Tongwynlais, Cardiff; Newbridge Memorial Hall, Newbridge; Caerphilly Castle; MOD St Athan, Barry; Uskmouth Power Station, Newport; BBC Roath Lock Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Angie – Eve De Leon Allen Artie – Kassius Carey Johnson Webley – Jason Watkins Porridge – Warwick Davis Captain – Tamzin Outhwaite Beauty – Eloise Joseph Brains – Will Merrick Ha-Ha – Calvin Dean Missy – Zahra Ahmadi Cyberman – Aidan Cook Crew Writer – Neil Gaiman Director – Stephen Woolfenden Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern There’s duff and then there’s Cyberduff. Oh dear. I really had high hopes for Nightmare in Silver – especially as I’d sat opposite Neil Gaiman, the high-profile fantasy author, at BBC Broadcasting House a few months ago, listening while he set up the story, professed his intention to make the Cybermen scary again and claimed to have given Matt Smith some juicy material. All very persuasive. Gaiman was generous with his time and the full interview on RadioTimes.com makes for interesting reading. So I feel more than a little ungracious in having to say that Nightmare in Silver is an alm…

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Doctor Who: The Crimson Horror ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:38.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Mark Gatiss pipes Victorian literature, horror movies and black comedy into Who, adding a dash of The Avengers. Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling guest-star
encoded: Story 237 Series 7 – Episode 11 “Now, Mister Sweet, now the whole world will taste your lethal kiss!” – Mrs Gillyflower Storyline In 1893, Vastra, Jenny and Strax go to Yorkshire to investigate “the crimson horror” in which corpses are turning up bright red. The focus is on the mill town Sweetville, a utopian community ruled with an iron fist by a tyrannical harridan, Mrs Gillyflower. Jenny infiltrates the compound and discovers the Doctor already on the scene, imprisoned, crimson and rigid, his life saved by Gillyflower’s blind daughter Ada. Having formed a symbiotic link with Mr Sweet, a red leech from prehistoric times, Mrs Gillyflower has built a rocket to spread her red toxin. It will obliterate all those who don’t share her extreme attitudes. First UK transmission Saturday 4 May 2013 Production July to November 2012. At Rhymney, Tredegar; Holy Trinity Church, Barry; Bullring, Llantrisant, Rhondda; Tonyrefail School, Rhondda; Llandough Castle, Vale of Glamorgan; Treowen Manor, Dingestow, Monmouth; Beatty Avenue, Roath, Cardiff; BBC Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Mrs Winifred Gillyflower – Diana Rigg Ada Gillyflower – Rachael Stirling Madame Vastra – Neve McIntosh Jenny – Catrin Stewart Strax – Dan Starkey Angie – Eve De Leon Allen Artie – Kassius Carey Johnson Edmund & Mr Thursday – Brendan Patricks Amos – Graham Turner Effie – Olivia Vinall Abigail – Michelle Tate Urchin – Jack Oliver Hudson Crew Writer – Mark Gatiss Director – Saul Metzstein Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern “A dark and queer business” is the key line at the top of The Crimson Horror – a perfect summation of what is to follow. And last week Mark Gatiss described his latest episode for RadioTimes.com thus: “A lurid, Victorian penny-dreadful with Vastra, Jenny and Strax and ’orrible murder. It’s very me!” Perhaps…

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Doctor Who: Journey to the Centre of the Tardis ★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:32.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: A disappointing runaround revealing a little more about the Time Lord's space/time ship
encoded: Story 236 Series 7 – Episode 10 “The Tardis is snarling at us, trying to frighten us off” – the Doctor Storyline The Tardis is badly damaged when it’s seized by a spaceship salvage team. With Clara trapped aboard, the Doctor forces the scavenging van Baalen brothers to accompany him deep into the Tardis to rescue her and prevent his ship from exploding. Their mission is compromised when they are assailed by lava-like zombies – future versions of themselves. First UK transmission Saturday 27 April 2013 Production September to November 2012. At Warehouse, CUB Site, Newport; Cardiff Castle; Argoed Isha quarry, near Llansannor; BBC Roath Lock Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Gregor van Baalen – Ashley Walters Bram van Baalen – Mark Oliver Tricky – Jahvel Hall Crew Writer – Steve Thompson Director – Mat King Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern For Doctor Who fans, it’s an indulgent treat to have a story set almost entirely inside the Tardis. But once you’ve decided on this course, you need to find a way to include all the right doses of action and peril and spectacle and monsters – and, to a large extent, writer Steve Thompson achieves this. But which aspects of the Tardis do you show? The 1960s and 80s episodes often revealed bedrooms; we once saw Leela (Louise Jameson) using the “bathroom” (a pool) and fourth Doctor Tom Baker was at his most monkish pacing about the Cloister Room. Fifth Doctor Peter Davison got off to a flying start by levitating in a pink, vaulted Zero Room. But since the 2005 reboot, we’ve seen very little of the Tardis’s inner recesses (bar a tunnel runaround in The Doctor’s Wife in 2011). This latest episode shows us a storeroom with the Doctor’s crib; a cathedral-like library (actually Cardiff Castle’s library, augmented by CGI); and glimpses of an observatory and another swimming pool. Th…

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Doctor Who: Hide ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:27.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: A ghost story set in the 1970s – about as creepy as modern Doctor Who can be
encoded: Story 235 Series 7 – Episode 9 “To you, I’m a ghost. We’re all ghosts to you” – Clara Storyline It’s 1974 and at Caliburn House, an abandoned mansion on a desolate moor, an uptight professor, Major Alec Palmer, and “empathic psychic” Emma Grayling are investigating a spectre known as the Witch of the Well. The Doctor and Clara turn up just as things begin to go bump in the night, but are they there to help or does the Time Lord have another purpose? A wooden horror is glimpsed in the passageways and the Doctor realises that the ghostly woman is a time traveller lost in a pocket universe. First UK transmission Saturday 20 April 2013 Production May to June 2012. At Plas Llanmihangel near Cowbridge; Tyntesfield House, Wraxall, Bristol; Gethin woodland area, Merthyr Tydfil; Margam Country Park, Port Talbot; Hensol Castle; BBC Roath Lock Studios. Pick-up shots in Sept, Oct, Nov 2012 at BBC Roath Lock Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Alec Palmer – Dougray Scott Emma Grayling – Jessica Raine Hila – Kemi-Bo Jacobs The crooked man – Aidan Cook Crew Writer – Neil Cross Director – Jamie Payne Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern After a minor wobble with Matt Smith a couple of weeks ago, I’m back to raving about the man. He’s simply the best thing to happen to Doctor Who in a very long time. He’s quite wonderful in Hide, virtually dancing through the action as if suddenly inhabited by the spirit of Fred Astaire. And with this being a ghost story, he gives us several levels of fear – from cartoonish tomfoolery (bolting down a staircase like a gibbering Stan Laurel) to a tangible sense of terror when marooned in a misty wood stalked by an unknown horror. His Doctor is so lovable that it’s hard to accept Emma’s warning to Clara not to trust him: “There’s a sliver of ice in his heart.” Before long Clara gets a taste of this…

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Doctor Who: Cold War ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:22.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Mark Gatiss’s Ice Warrior revival has a taut script, strong cast and tender moments among the Alien-influenced claustrophobia
encoded: Story 234 Series 7 – Episode 8 “My world is dead but now there will be a second red planet. Red with the blood of humanity!” – Skaldak Storyline The Doctor and Clara land aboard a Russian submarine, stranded in the ocean deep at the North Pole. It is 1983 and fingers are poised over nuclear buttons at the height of the Cold War. Professor Grisenko has recovered a creature frozen in a block of ice for five millennia. It’s a dormant Ice Warrior, Grand Marshal Skaldak. Once defrosted, Skaldak sees the Russians’ aggression as an act of war. He plans to launch the submarine’s missiles and trigger a nuclear war. The Doctor and Clara must persuade the warrior to show mercy. First UK transmission Saturday 13 April 2013 Production June 2012. At BBC Roath Lock Studios; Llanwern Works, Newport. September 2012: models shots at Halliford Film Studios, Shepperton. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Captain Zhukov – Liam Cunningham Professor Grisenko – David Warner Lieutenant Stepashin – Tobias Menzies Piotr – Josh O’Connor Onegin – James Norton Belevich – Charlie Anson Grand Marshal Skaldak – Spencer Wilding Voice of Skaldak – Nicholas Briggs Crew Writer – Mark Gatiss Director – Douglas Mackinnon Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern Mark Gatiss is an amiable chap. I got to know him a little in 2013 as I went on set several times for An Adventure in Space and Time, his drama about the origins of Doctor Who. He indulged me, walking me round the fabulously faithful re-creation of the 1963 Tardis control room, and I picked up on his glee and felt a kindred spirit. “We’re both Pertwee boys,” he sighed, as we realised we’re almost the same age. A few months later his new episode, Cold War, proved his deep love and understanding of Doctor Who and adeptness at creating the kind of Doctor Who I adore – adventures with a clear sense of time, p…

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Doctor Who: The Rings of Akhaten ★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:17.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Grandiose spectacle and an array of monsters cannot mitigate this feeble effort
encoded: Story 233 Series 7 – Episode 7 “They’re singing to the mummy in the Temple. They call it the Old God. Sometimes Grandfather” – the Doctor Storyline To impress Clara on her first trip into space, the Doctor takes her to the asteroid rings of Akhaten, home to a panoply of weird creatures. They attend the Festival of Offerings, a handover ceremony between choristers whose perpetual lullaby has kept “Grandfather”, a mummified Old God, asleep inside a pyramid for millions of years. They befriend a young chorister called Merry, the Queen of Years, who is to be the latest sacrificial offering. As the mummy stirs, the Time Lord realises he must take on the parasitic sun at the heart of the Akhaten system. First UK transmission Saturday 6 April 2013 Production October to November 2012. In Newport at Rupert Brooke Drive, Goldsmith Close playground and St Woolos Cemetery. BBC Roath Lock Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Dave – Michael Dixon Ellie – Nicola Sian Merry – Emilia Jones The Chorister – Chris Anderson The Mummy – Aidan Cook Dor’een – Karl Greenwood Crew Writer – Neil Cross Director – Farren Blackburn Producer – Denise Paul Series producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern “Something awesome” is what Clara requests of the Doctor for her first trip into space, but sadly that isn’t quite what we, the viewers, receive. The Time Lord certainly delivers spectacle: the Rings and Pyramid of Akhaten (“seven worlds orbiting the same star, all sharing the belief that life in the universe originated here”) are excellent visuals from The Mill (the Soho effects house). He shows her a marketplace teeming with weird and wonderful alien life – 30-odd new monsters fashioned by Neill Gorton and his team at Millennium FX, as well as a few dopey-looking extras in terrible wigs. So, The Rings of Akhaten offers a sense of place and a lot o…

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Doctor Who: The Bells of Saint John ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:12.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Beware the wi-fi – in a breezy thrill-ride across London and a hugely entertaining introduction to the Impossible Girl, Clara
encoded: Story 232 Series 7 – Episode 6 “We’re living in a wi-fi soup. Suppose something got inside it. Suppose there was something living in the wi-fi, harvesting human minds” – the Doctor Storyline The Doctor is in retreat at a monastery in Cumbria 1207, contemplating “the woman twice dead”, when his police box receives a call. In present-day London, Clara thinks she’s on a helpline to sort out her wi-fi problems. Still dressed as a monk, the Doctor turns up to help Clara, who works as a childminder for two kids, Angie and Artie. A sinister organisation run by Miss Kizlet is deploying robotic servers, swivelling Spoonheads, to upload people’s souls to the internet. After Clara is drawn into the data cloud, the Doctor storms Kizlet’s office – sending a Spoonhead version of himself on a motorbike up the side of the Shard. The Great Intelligence has returned and is feasting on the uploaded minds. The Doctor saves the day and asks Clara to join his travels but she’s reluctant to go off in his “snog box”. First UK transmission Saturday 30 March 2013 Production September to December 2012. At Beatty Avenue, Roath, Cardiff; MOD St Athan, Barry; Southerndown Beach, Dunraven Park; Welsh National Assembly Building, Cardiff; BBC Roath Lock Studios. In London at Grange St Paul’s Hotel, Westminster Bridge, Horse Guards Parade, Waterloo Bridge, Queen’s Walk and the Shard. February 2013 at BBC TV Centre in London. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Miss Kizlet – Celia Imrie Mahler – Robert Whitelock Alexei – Dan Li Nabile – Manpreet Bachu Paul – Sean Knopp The Abbott – James Greene George – Geff Francis Angie – Eve De Leon Allen Artie – Kassius Carey Johnson Barista – Fred Pearson Little girl – Danielle Eames Waitress – Jade Anouka Newsreader – Olivia Hill Child reading comic – Isabella Blake-Thomas Man with chips – Matthew Earley Pilot – Antony Edridge The Great Intelligence – Richard E Grant Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Colm McCarthy Producer – De…

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Doctor Who: The Snowmen ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:07.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Christmas 2012 brings deadly Snowmen, Clara’s skyfall, a dazzling new Tardis, and the welcome return of 1960s foe, the Great Intelligence...
encoded: Story 231 Christmas special 2012 “Snow that can remember? That’s silly” – Clara Storyline Still grieving the loss of Amy and Rory, the Doctor is living a reclusive life in Victorian England, watched over by his old allies Vastra, Jenny and Strax, and with the Tardis suspended on a cloud. At Christmas time in 1892 deadly Snowmen swirl into being on the streets. They’re the product of sinister Dr Simeon, whose institute is under the control of an ethereal Intelligence. The Doctor befriends a barmaid, Clara, who also works as a governess. She and her young charges are attacked by an Ice Governess, created by the Intelligence. Clara dies in a fall from the Tardis but not before the Doctor realises she has a connection to Oswin from the Dalek Asylum. First UK transmission Christmas Day 2012 Production August to November 2012. At The Coal Exchange, Cardiff Bay; Fields Park House, Newport; Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff; Treberfydd, Bwlch, Brecon; Insole Court, Cardiff; St Nicholas Market and Portland Square, Bristol; Llandough Castle; Treowen, Monmouth; Cardiff University; Merthyr Moor House, Bridgend; BBC Roath Lock Studios Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Clara – Jenna-Louise Coleman Dr Walter Simeon – Richard E Grant Madame Vastra – Neve McIntosh Captain Latimer – Tom Ward Jenny – Catrin Stewart Strax – Dan Starkey Alice – Liz White Digby – Joseph Darcey-Alden Francesca – Ellie Darcey-Alden Bob Chilcott – Ben Addis Uncle Josh – Jim Conway Young Walter – Cameron Strefford Walter’s mother – Annabelle Dowler Voice of the Great Intelligence – Ian McKellen Voice of the Ice Governess – Juliet Cadzow Lead workman – Daniel Hyde Clara’s friend – Sophie Miller-Sheen Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Saul Metzstein Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern The Snowmen? Baubles to that! Or at least that’s what I thought when I first heard that title. “Why can’t we have Abo…

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Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:17:02.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Steven Moffat pulls a blinder with the Weeping Angels at their creepiest and the Ponds’ distressing farewell. We review the thrill ride with Doctor Who legend Katy Manning
encoded: Story 230 Series 7 – Episode 5 “Afterword, by Amelia Williams. Hello, old friend. And here we are, you and me, on the last page. By the time you read these words, Rory and I will be long gone” – Amy Storyline It’s the end of days for the Doctor, Amy and Rory. They are relaxing in New York’s Central Park, when Rory is sent back in time to 1938 by a Weeping Angel. He meets River Song who is posing as a detective, Melody Malone. The Angels are deadlier than ever – one is the Statue of Liberty – and they’re using an apartment block as a battery farm to feed off humans. Rory and Amy bravely jump off a roof, which creates a temporal paradox that collapses the timeline. But the Angels catch up with them in a modern cemetery, and send Rory and Amy into the past beyond the Time Lord’s reach. He reads of their fate in Melody/River’s novel, but the fact that they lived happily in days gone by is of little consolation. First UK transmission Saturday 29 September 2012 Production March to April, and June 2012. At Cardiff University; Bute Street, Cardiff Bay; Bristol University. In New York at Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Station, Manhattan Bridge and Main Street, Brooklyn Heights; St Nicholas near Cardiff; Llanelli Cemetery; Upper Boat Studios and BBC Roath Lock Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill River Song – Alex Kingston Julius Grayle – Mike McShane Sam Garner – Rob David Foreman – Ozzie Yue Hood – Bentley Kalu Old Garner – Burnell Tucker Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Nick Hurran Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern and Katy Manning “I’m a mess!” gasps Katy, dabbing her eyes, as The Angels Take Manhattan draws to a close. She’s been silently sobbing from the moment the Doctor cured River Song with his regeneration energy. “Urgh, that was the first tear, goddammit! When he fixed her …

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Doctor Who: The Power of Three ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:16:58.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Jemma Redgrave heads Unit when strange black cubes infest the Earth. Plus writer Chris Chibnall talks to RT
encoded: Story 229 Series 7 – Episode 4 “So that was the year of the slow invasion, when the Earth got cubed, and the Doctor came to stay” – Amy Storyline The whole world is surprised when millions of little black cubes appear out of nowhere. They’re inert, impenetrable and indestructible. But what are they? Where are they from? Who created them? This is what the Doctor and his friends must find out. Their surveillance of the cubes takes almost a year so the restless Time Lord has to move in with the Ponds. He hooks up with Kate Stewart, the head of scientific research at Unit. The cubes eventually activate and begin electrocuting humans, and the Doctor finds himself aboard the spaceship of the Shakri, the alien in control. First UK transmission Saturday 22 September 2012 Production April to July 2012. At Villa Napoli restaurant, Penarth; Church Road, Penarth; Caerphilly Castle; St Nicholas, near Cardiff; Bute Esplanade, Cardiff Bay; St Cadoc’s Hospital, Caerleon; Neath Abbey; Upper Boat Studios; BBC Roath Lock Studios; The Apprentice studio; King Street, Hammersmith. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Brian Williams – Mark Williams Kate Stewart – Jemma Redgrave Shakri – Steven Berkoff Ranjit – Selva Rasalingam Laura – Alice O’Connell Arnold Underwood – Peter Cartwright Orderlies – David Beck, Daniel Beck Unit researcher – David Hartley As themselves: Brian Cox, Alan Sugar, Nick Hewer, Karren Brady, Emily Maitlis, Sophie Raworth, Matthew Amroliwala Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Douglas Mackinnon Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern “It’s Doctor Who from Amy and Rory’s point of view,” writer Chris Chibnall told me in 2012, priming RT readers for his second episode of the season (following the riotous Dinosaurs on a Spaceship). “It’s really what life is like to travel with the Doctor if you’re Amy and …

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Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy ★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:16:52.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: For all its good points, Toby Whithouse 's Wild West yarn misses the bullseye
encoded: Story 228 Series 7 – Episode 3 “We all carry our prisons with us” – Kahler-Jex Storyline Mercy, a small town in America’s Old West, is threatened by a relentless cybernetic Gunslinger, who is on a mission to kill an alien doctor. The fugitive Kahler-Jex is hiding in Mercy, when the Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive. They discover that the innocent-seeming Jex is actually a killer and creator of cyborgs. The Time Lord must brave a high noon showdown with the Gunslinger to protect the townsfolk. First UK transmission Saturday 15 September 2012 Production March 2012. At Fort Apache, Fort Bravo and ravine, Mini Hollywood, Desierto de Tabernas, Almería, Spain; Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill The Gunslinger – Andrew Brooke Kahler-Jex – Adrian Scarborough Isaac – Ben Browder Kahler-Mas – Dominic Kemp The Preacher – Byrd Wilkins Dockery – Sean Benedict Abraham – Garrick Hagon Sadie – Joanne McQuinn Walter – Rob Cavazos Narrator – Lorelei King Crew Writer – Toby Whithouse Director – Saul Metzstein Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern For all its good points – which I will get to – A Town Called Mercy doesn’t quite hit the bullseye for me. It lacks authenticity. I don’t believe in it. I don’t feel it. The town looks like a set plonked in the middle of a desert. Mercy is literally a one-horse town; they could only afford the one nag. I don’t believe the Doctor’s moral stance, either his wavering or sudden certitude in dealing with Kahler-Jex. I don’t feel anything when the marshal dies or when Jex eventually takes his own life. I adore westerns and I love Doctor Who, but the two worlds have never quite gelled. Obviously, A Town Called Mercy looks infinitely better than The Gunfighters, the desperate studio-bound William Hartnell comedy-western from 1966, but it has a similarly uneasy mix of Engl…

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Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:16:47.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Mark Williams plays Rory’s dad and David Bradley is a great villain in this fun-packed romp with dinosaurs and Nefertiti
encoded: Story 227 Series 7 – Episode 2 “This is the gang. I’ve got a gang. Yes!” – the Doctor Storyline In 2367, a vast spaceship is hurtling towards Earth, and the Indian Space Agency is preparing to target it with missiles. The Doctor assembles a motley crew – Queen Nefertiti from Ancient Egypt, Edwardian big-game hunter Riddell, Amy, Rory and his dad Brian – to investigate. They’re amazed to find dinosaurs roaming the vessel. This is an ancient ark built by the Silurians, and at its centre is the small spacecraft of a wicked old man, Solomon, who’s in need of a doctor… First UK transmission Saturday 8 September 2012 Production February to March 2012. Church Road, Penarth; Southerndown beach, Dunraven Park; Upper Boat Studios, Pontypridd Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Queen Nefertiti – Riann Steele Indira – Sunetra Sarker Riddell – Rupert Graves Brian Williams – Mark Williams Solomon – David Bradley Robot voices – David Mitchell, Robert Webb Robots – Noel Byrne, Richard Garaghty Bleytal – Richard Hope ISA worker – Rudi Dharmalingam Crew Writer – Chris Chibnall Director – Saul Metzstein Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern As a long-termer who bitterly remembers from 1974 the cringe factor of crummy puppets featured in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (an otherwise well-scripted Jon Pertwee/Elisabeth Sladen serial), it’s a delight and relief to see Doctor Who achieving them so brilliantly on screen. Of course, convincing dinosaurs are de rigueur now (after Jurassic Park, Walking with Dinosaurs, Primeval, endless docs on National Geographic…) and if this latest episode isn’t exactly wall-to-wall with prehistoric creatures, the ones we do see are flawlessly realised, via a mixture of CGI and practical effects. I needed a little help in identifying them all and have it on authority from Doctor Who producer Marcus …

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Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T10:16:40.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: An exciting launch to series seven and the surprise debut of Jenna Coleman – RT asks 1970s Dalek fighter Katy Manning (aka Jo Grant) for her verdict
encoded: Story 226 Series 7 – Episode 1 “Run, you clever boy. And remember…” – Oswin Storyline The Doctor, Amy and Rory are summoned before the Parliament of the Daleks – and the Time Lord is aghast when his old foes beg him to save them. They are terrified by a threat emerging from a planetary prison for the most insane Daleks in history. The trio descend to the Asylum, where the Doctor is aided by the voice of a mysterious, cocky young woman called Oswin. With deranged Daleks slowly reviving, and Amy and Rory’s marriage in meltdown, the Doctor discovers that Oswin was long ago converted into a Dalek. She is only dreaming that she’s human. She also has the face of his future companion, Clara. First UK transmission Saturday 1 September 2012 Production March to May 2012. At Sierra Nevada National Park, Spain; Bute Esplanade and Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay; Bristol University; Upper Boat Studios, Pontypridd; BBC Roath Lock Studios, Cardiff Bay. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Oswin Oswald – Jenna-Louise Coleman Darla von Karlsen – Anamaria Marinca Cassandra – Naomi Ryan Harvey – David Gyasi Photoshoot PA – Zac Fox Voice of the Daleks – Nicholas Briggs Daleks – Barnaby Edwards, Nicholas Pegg Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Nick Hurran Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern and Katy Manning So is this fabulous episode destined to be an all-time classic? It’s clever, fast, funny, eerie, surprising and tearjerking – all in one spectacularly polished package. And Steven Moffat steps over 49 years of Dalek baggage to make them fresh and menacing again. Asylum of the Daleks ticks all my boxes as a Doctor Who fan of more than 40 years standing. I have crystal-clear memories of Day of the Daleks – the most enthralling thing on television in 1972 – as Jon Pertwee’s Doctor and his companion Jo Grant became imm…

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Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe ★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:38:04.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and co pull a cracker for this Narnia-mining 2011 Christmas special
encoded: Story 225 Christmas Special 2011 First UK transmission Christmas Day 2011 Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Madge Arwell – Claire Skinner Reg Arwell – Alexander Armstrong Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Cyril Arwell – Maurice Cole Lily Arwell – Holly Earl Co-pilot – Sam Stockman Droxil – Bill Bailey Ven-Garr – Paul Bazely Billis – Arabella Weir Wooden King – Spencer Wilding Wooden Queen – Paul Kasey Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Farren Blackburn Producer – Marcus Wilson Music – Murray Gold Designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Caroline Skinner RT review by Patrick Mulkern When I heard Marge Arwell (Claire Skinner) saying, “This Christmas is going to be the best Christmas ever,” I got a sinking sensation. Not just because by nature I’m a bit of a Scrooge, but because I’ve had enough of being promised “the most Christmassy Doctor Who ever”. As if that were a good thing and something I’d want once in every 14 episodes. Bah! Well, I should have had more faith in Steven Moffat, Matt Smith and co, who have pulled a cracker, and almost - almost, I say - given this Ebenezer a Christmassy glow. How can anyone resist The Doctor, the Witch and the Wardrobe? People moaned about Moffat ripping off CS Lewis, but Doctor Who has always borrowed from other sources. The vast spaceship looming over Earth recalls Hitchhikers, and all the stuff with fighter pilot Reg (Alexander Armstrong) immediately made me think of David Niven in A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Actually very little is mined from Narnia. There are two “wardrobe/portals”: the Doctor’s police box safely stored in the attic, but more importantly - and irresistible to the Arwell children - a large blue gift glowing beside the Christmas tree, which leads to an enchanted, snow-settled forest. That this forest is composed of “naturally occurring Christmas trees”, which extrude their own baubles and can grow wooden people as well as a tower, is a hard swall…

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Doctor Who: The Wedding of River Song ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:37:44.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Is the hectic conclusion to the Doctor/ River/Silence saga truly satisfying or just cleverly behaving as though it is?
encoded: Story 224 Series 6 – Episode 13 “I just told you my name. Now, there you go, River Song, Melody Pond. You’re the woman who married me – and wife, I have a request” – the Doctor First UK transmission Saturday 1 October 2011 Storyline The Doctor’s appointment with death at Lake Silencio is looming, but within the astronaut suit River Song now discharges her weaponry, causing a maelstrom in time. It’s as if all of history is happening at once. The Time Lord’s friends have captured Madame Kovarian and many of the Silence and sealed them inside a pyramid at Giza. The Doctor and River seem to have a wedding, but the Time Lord has replaced himself with a Teselecta. He intends to pretend to the universe that he is indeed dead and lead a quieter life. But Dorium Maldovar warns that an even greater threat lies ahead, when the question will be asked that he’s been running from his entire life: “Doctor…who?” Production November 2010 at Lake Powell, Arizona, USA. April 2011 at Hensol Castle; Mir Steel, Newport; Cardiff City Hall; Dyffryn Garden, St Nicholas; Bute Park, Cardiff; Archer Road, Penarth; Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill River Song – Alex Kingston Madame Kovarian – Frances Barber Dorium Maldovar – Simon Fisher-Becker Emperor Winston Churchill – Ian McNeice Dr Malohkeh – Richard Hope The Silent – Marnix van den Broeke Voice of the Dalek – Nicholas Briggs Charles Dickens – Simon Callow As herself – Sian Williams As himself – Bill Turnbull Newsreader – Meredith Vieira Gideon Vandaleur – Niall Greig Fulton Barman – Sean Buckley Gantok – Rondo Haxton (Mark Gatiss) Dr Kent – Emma Campbell-Jones Nurse – Katharine Burford Carter – Richard Dillane Canton Delaware – William Morgan Sheppard Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Jeremy Webb Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern Just a…

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Doctor Who: Closing Time ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:34:06.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: James Corden returns as new dad Craig to help the Doctor tackle Cybermen in this department-store comedy
encoded: Story 223 Series 6 – Episode 12 First UK transmission Saturday 24 September 2011 Storyline The Doctor catches up with his old flatmate Craig in Colchester. With Sophie away for the weekend, Craig is struggling to cope with their new baby, Alfie (who prefers the name Stormageddon). Investigating a spate of mysterious disappearances in the area, the Doctor takes a job in the toy section of a department store. He soon uncovers an infestation of rodent-like Cybermats, and finds the store was built upon the crash site of a Cyber-ship. The awakening Cybermen aim to convert Craig into their new leader. Production March to April 2011. At House of Frazer, Cardiff; Church Road, Penarth; Hensol Castle; Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Craig Owens – James Corden Sophie – Daisy Haggard River Song – Alex Kingston Madame Kovarian – Frances Barber Shona – Seroca Davis Kelly – Holli Dempsey George – Chris Obi Val – Lynda Baron Cyberman – Paul Kasey Voice of the Cybermen – Nicholas Briggs Crew Writer – Gareth Roberts Director – Steve Hughes Producer – Denise Paul Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern “Something for the dads.” That used to mean Wendy Padbury in a catsuit, Katy Manning in mini-skirts, Louise Jameson in skimpy leathers, even Janet Fielding in a camisole. Leggy clotheshorse Karen Gillan is their modern-day successor. But now the “something for the dads” angle instigated by producer Innes Lloyd in 1960s Doctor Who has gained an entirely new meaning. I moaned about it in recent episodes – the pervading father/son dynamic that has become a sine qua non of Steven Moffat’s Who. Now Closing Time indulges it to the hilt as fumbling new dad Craig learns to connect with baby Alfie during the course of the drama. And, this time, it works just fine. There’s much comedy value in Craig tagging along with the Docto…

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Doctor Who: The God Complex ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:58.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Toby Whithouse creepy-hotel episode offers a Minotaur and touches of 1984 and The Shining
encoded: Story 222 Series 6 – Episode 11 “They certainly didn’t mention that in the brochure” – the Doctor First UK transmission Saturday 18 September 2011 Storyline The Doctor, Amy and Rory are trapped in labyrinthine domain that looks like a down-at-heel 1980s hotel. They befriend a small group of humans and a timid mole-like alien, Gibbis, and try to prevent them from being killed one by one. A Minotaur roams the corridors and behind each door is a room that contains the residents’ greatest fears: a gorilla, a morose clown, Weeping Angels...Failing to save the humans, the Time Lord reveals the hotel is actually an automated prison ship and that the beast is feeding off the faith of its victims. Fearing for Amy and Rory’s future, the Doctor drops them in London, where he’s bought them a new house. He travels on alone. Production February to March 2011. At Seabank Hotel, Porthcawl; Manor Park Hotel, Cardiff; Bute Esplanade, Cardiff Bay; Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Lucy Hayward – Sarah Quintrell Rita – Amara Karan Howie Spragg – Dimitri Leonidas Joe Buchanan – Daniel Pirrie Gibbis – David Walliams PE teacher – Dafydd Emyr The Creature – Spencer Wilding Rita’s father – Rashid Karapiet Amelia Pond – Caitlin Blackwood Gorilla – Roger Ennals Crew Writer – Toby Whithouse Director – Nick Hurran Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern “How scary is this week’s Doctor Who?” asked my younger sister on behalf of her kids – aged seven and ten in autumn 2011. They’d given Mark Gatiss’s Night Terrors a wide berth after its overt scare-the-kiddies stance and “Save me from the monsters!” trailers. The ads for The God Complex were similarly unnerving, and I forewarned my sis: It’s got a stalking Minotaur, a creepy clown, rooms full of ventriloquist dummies and Weeping Angels… It taps into our …

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Doctor Who: The Girl Who Waited ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:51.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Amy is marooned for 36 years in this clinically styled but emotionally challenging triumph
encoded: Story 221 Series 6 – Episode 10 “Tell Amy, your Amy, I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come” – Amy First UK transmission Saturday 10 September 2011 Storyline The Doctor takes Rory and Amy to Apalapucia, a top holiday destination, but they arrive in a clinical “kindness facility” maintained by white robots. The planet is beset by a disease deadly to two-hearted races, and while the Doctor must retreat to his Tardis, Amy is caught in a time stream running far faster than that of her friends and is stranded for an agonising 36 years before Rory can reach her. As Rory meets a much older, fiercer Amy, the Ponds’ love is tested to the limit. Production February to April 2011. At the Millennium Centre, Cardiff; Uskmouth Power Station, Newport; Dryffyn Gardens, St Nicholas; Johnsey Estates, Pontypool; Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Check-in girl – Josie Taylor Voice of the Interface – Imelda Staunton Crew Writer – Tom MacRae Director – Nick Hurran Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern What a cracking episode! Dazzling, clinical design (including deft use of the Wales Millennium Centre). Natty, surgical “Handbots”. A clever concept – our heroes separated by “time streams running parallel but at different speeds”. And, more importantly, horrible dilemmas for a much older Amy – who understandably doesn’t want to surrender her years of experience, no matter how grim they were – and for Rory: “So I have to choose – which wife do I want?” On the surface, even the casual Who-ologist should instantly draw parallels with the Patrick Troughton classic, The Mind Robber (1968). Set in a white void (or “opaque nothingness”), its first episode also featured solely the Doctor, two companions and a disembodied voice. There were White Robots, too, whose hypnotic chest prob…

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Doctor Who: Night Terrors ★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:42.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: A housing-estate lad suffers nightmarish visions of peg-dolls, but Mark Gatiss's tale doesn't add up
encoded: Story 220 Series 6 – Episode 9 “Please save me from the monsters” – George First UK transmission Saturday 3 September 2011 Storyline The Doctor responds to a message from eight-year-old George who is terrified at night by monsters. Investigating his housing estate, Amy and Rory are trapped in a doll’s-house-like domain menaced by life-sized peg dolls. The Doctor befriends George and his father, Alex, and deduces that the little boy is not all that he seems… He’s a Tenza, an alien using a perception filter to create the child that his parents longed for – and a nightmarish world now that the boy fears rejection. Production September to October 2010 at St Winefride’s Hospital; Canton, Cardiff; Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire; Waring House, Bristol; Dragon Studios, Pencoed; Upper Boat Studios. April 2011 at Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Alex – Daniel Mays George – Jamie Oram Claire – Emma Cunniffe Purcell – Andy Tiernan Mrs Rossiter – Leila Hoffman Julie – Sophie Cosson Crew Writer – Mark Gatiss Director – Richard Clark Producer – Sanne Wohlenberg Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern I’m going to stick my head above the playpen, release my inner eight-year-old and scream, “Enough kids already!” When I was a child, about the last thing I wanted to see in Doctor Who was my own kind. Child actors were diabolically wooden in 1970s TV drama and, yes, they do seem preternaturally competent these days, but must they feature in almost every Doctor Who story? And I’ve had a bellyful of these mawkish dad’n’lad pay-offs. In series five, there was drill engineer and son in the Silurian two-parter. At Christmas, Michael Gambon and self-as-boy felt pretty similar. Already in series six we’ve had Hugh Bonneville and boy; acid refinery Flesh-man and his lad; and now this tower-block twosome, Alex and George. You c…

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Doctor Who: Let’s Kill Hitler ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:36.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: River is gunning for the Doctor as this action-packed romp leads to Nazi Berlin
encoded: Story 219 Series 6 – Episode 8 “Shut up, Hitler!” – Rory First UK transmission Saturday 27 August 2011 Storyline Amy and Rory lure the Doctor back to Leadworth by creating a crop circle. Their childhood friend Mels pulls out a gun and insists they go back in time and kill Hitler. They arrive in Berlin 1938 where a Teselecta, a shape-shifting robot manned by a miniaturised crew, is already on the scene with the same intention. In the fray, Hitler shoots Mels, Rory knocks out Hitler, and Mels regenerates into River Song. The Doctor soon learns that she’s been trained by the Silence to kill him. Amy uses the Teselecta to show River the woman she’ll become. Persuaded of the Time Lord’s goodness, she sacrifices her remaining regenerations to save his life. Production March to April 2011 at Temple of Peace, Cardiff; Brangwyn Hall, Swansea; Cyfartha Castle High School, Merthyr Tydfil; Hensol Castle; Upper Boat Studios. July 2011 at Penmark Place near Barry. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill River Song – Alex Kingston Mels – Nina Toussaint-White Amelia Pond – Caitlin Blackwood Young Mels – Maya Glace-Green Young Rory Williams – Ezekiel Wigglesworth Zimmerman – Philip Rham Carter – Richard Dillane Anita – Amy Cudden Jim – Davood Ghadami Harriet – Ella Kenion Adolf Hitler – Albert Welling German officer – Mark Killeen Professor Candy – Paul Bentley Nurse – Eva Alexander Female teacher – Tor Clark Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Richard Senior Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern “Don’t tell them that Mels is River,” Steven Moffat begged fans and press at the BFI’s preview screening in August 2011. “You all loved it, so don’t give that away. It spoils the whole thing. In fact, if you could bear not to mention her name...” Well, of course, RT duly complied. We even omitted Mels (Nina Toussaint-Wh…

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Doctor Who: A Good Man Goes to War ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:23.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Steven Moffat weaves magic as the Doctor and Rory assemble a posse to rescue Amy and her baby – and River finally discloses her identity
encoded: Story 218 Series 6 – Episode 7 “The Doctor will find your daughter, and he will care for her whatever it takes. And I know that. It’s me. I’m Melody. I’m your daughter” – River Song First UK transmission Saturday 4 June 2011 Storyline The stage is set for the Battle of Demon’s Run. Imprisoned by Madame Kovarian and her Cleric guards, Amy has given birth to a daughter, Melody, who is taken away from her. The Doctor and Rory assemble an army to storm Kovarian’s base: they include the Victorian Silurian Madame Vastra, her maid/lover Jenny, Sontaran commander Strax and fat, blue bar-owner Dorium Maldovar. The Time Lord discovers that Kovarian and the Silence plan to groom the child as a weapon to use against him. As the Doctor sets off to rescue the baby, River arrives and reveals to Amy and Rory that she is their daughter, all grown up. Production January to April 2011. At Lafarge Cement UK, Barry; Penllyn Castle; Uskmouth Power Station, Newport; Super Hangar, MOD St Athan, Barry; in Cardiff at the Park Plaza Hotel, Millennium Stadium car park, Westgate Street and the Maltings; Fillcare, Llantrisant; Upper Boat Studios Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill River Song – Alex Kingston Madame Kovarian – Frances Barber Fat One – Charlie Baker Thin One – Dan Johnston Lorna Bucket – Christina Chong Lucas – Joshua Hayes Dominicus – Damian Kell Madame Vastra – Neve McIntosh Jenny – Catrin Stewart Captain Harcourt – Richard Trinder Eleanor – Annabel Cleare Arthur – Henry Wood Commander Strax – Dan Starkey Dorium Maldovar – Simon Fisher-Becker Colonel Manton – Danny Sapani Henry Avery – Hugh Bonneville Toby Avery – Oscar Lloyd Voice of the Cybermen – Nicholas Briggs Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Peter Hoar Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern “Daddy! Amy’s baby was Flesh, but it’s all right cos Melo…

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Doctor Who: The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People ★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:18.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Flesh doppelgangers turn on their human masters in an anaemic drama with a shock ending
encoded: Story 217 Series 6 – Episodes 5 & 6 “You haven’t been here for a long, long time” – the Doctor First UK transmissions Saturday 21 May 2011 Saturday 28 May 2011 Storyline In the midst of a solar storm, the Tardis arrives on an island in the 22nd century. An old monastery is now the base for a skeleton mining crew who are pumping acid back to the mainland. This dangerous task is largely conducted by doppelgangers, or Gangers, composed from a gloopy liquid, “programmable matter” called Flesh. The Gangers gain a higher consciousness and rebel against their oppressors. A Flesh version of the Doctor is created, as the monstrous Ganger of crew member Jennifer goes on the rampage. The Time Lord tries to establish peace between the humans and Gangers. Back in the Tardis, to Rory’s horror, he reveals that Amy has been a Flesh duplicate for a long time. She dissolves and the real Amy wakes up elsewhere on the point of giving birth – and the wicked eye-patched woman urges her to “Puuush!” Production November 2010 to April 2011 at Cardiff Castle; Caerphilly Castle; Neath Abbey; Chepstow Castle; Atlantic College, Llantwit Major; Welsh National Assembly Building, Cardiff; Fillcare, Llantrisant; Upper Boat Studios Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Jimmy – Mark Bonnar Buzzer – Marshall Lancaster Jennifer – Sarah Smart Cleaves – Raquel Cassidy Dicken – Leon Vickers Eye patch lady – Frances Barber Adam – Edmond Moulton Crew Writer – Matthew Graham Director – Julian Simpson Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern OK, first up: a bonus point for getting Dusty Springfield into Doctor Who. Love it! And so eerie, too, as You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me echoes through that 13th-century monastery cum 22nd-century acid factory. I must admit, though, I approached Matthew Graham’s latest script with trepidation, willing …

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Doctor Who: The Doctor’s Wife ★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:13.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Suranne Jones embodies the spirit of the Tardis in Neil Gaiman's elegant romance
encoded: Story 216 Series 6 – Episode 4 “Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Yes, that’s it. Names are funny. It’s me. I’m the Tardis” – Idris First UK transmission Saturday 14 May 2011 Storyline A distress call from a Gallifreyan communication cube lures the Doctor, Amy and Rory to an asteroid outside the universe. The Tardis matrix is drained and transferred to the body of a young woman, Idris, allowing the Time Lord to bond even further with his beloved vessel. The asteroid is the domain of a malign force called House, which has drawn many Time Lords to their death and now plans to use the Tardis to escape into the universe. House leaves with the Tardis, threatening to kill Rory and Amy. The Doctor and Idris construct a makeshift Tardis from scraps and set off in pursuit. Production September to October 2010 at Dragon Studios, Pencoed; Cemex, Taff’s Well Quarry; Upper Boat Studios. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Idris – Suranne Jones Voice of House – Michael Sheen Nephew – Paul Kasey Uncle – Adrian Schiller Auntie – Elizabeth Berrington Crew Writer – Neil Gaiman Director – Richard Clark Producer – Sanne Wohlenberg Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern So many theories were bandied about as to the identity of the Doctor’s wife. How wonderful that the answer turns out to be the most elegant and, perhaps, most obvious. The Time Lord has been wedded to his Tardis pretty much from day one. In the earliest days of Doctor Who, the ship was depicted as an almost sentient force that could influence the lives of its occupants. It wasn’t until third Doctor Jon Pertwee’s day that she gained her femininity. In his debut story, Spearhead from Space, he told the Brigadier, “Oh, there she is. How nice of you to look after her for me.” Four years later, in The Time Warrior, he patted the police box and said, “Well done, old girl. Abso…

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Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot ★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:33:08.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: This pirate adventure guest-starring Hugh Bonneville and Lily Cole is all at sea
encoded: Story 215 Series 6 – Episode 3 “The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her” – Avery First UK transmission Saturday 7 May 2011 Storyline A 17th-century pirate ship, under the command of Captain Henry Avery, has been becalmed in a fog for eight days. Marked with a black spot, the sea dogs are being picked off one by one by an ethereal Siren and vanishing. The Tardis team struggle to gain the confidence of the anxious pirates. The Doctor realises the Siren is using reflective surfaces to cross from another dimension – and is a virtual doctor from an alien spaceship. Production January to March 2011 at Charlestown Harbour, Cornwall; Fillcare, Llantrisant; Upper Boat Studios Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Henry Avery – Hugh Bonneville Toby Avery – Oscar Lloyd The Boatswain – Lee Ross Mulligan – Michael Begley De Florres – Tony Lucken Dancer – Chris Jarman McGrath – Carl McCrystal The Siren – Lily Cole Crew Writer – Steve Thompson Director – Jeremy Webb Producer – Marcus Wilson Designer – Michael Pickwoad Music – Murray Gold Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern This was always going to be a bit of a comedown after those first two dazzlers. Still, Doctor Who has always been a sci-fi pick ’n’ mix. Let’s judge this episode on its own merits – and there are several bobbing among the ankle-deep bilge. Just think of the cast and crew labouring gamely over several chilly February nights in Charlestown. On screen you really do believe that this brigantine, the Phoenix of Dell Quay, is way out on the ocean, not safely moored in a Cornish harbour, overlooked by paparazzi and spoiler-fixated fans. The moonlight and mist – whether faked or real – make for superbly atmospheric cinematography. Playing the alien siren, model-turned-actress Lily Cole may look more stoat than fish, but is magnificent bathed in an ethereal, turquoise shimme…

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Doctor Who: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon ★★★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:32:58.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: A cracking two-parter set in the USA takes in Nixon, Nasa, the Silence, a mysterious astronaut girl and the death of the Doctor
encoded: Story 214 Series 6 – Episodes 1 & 2 “So, this little girl. It’s all about her. Who was she?” – the Doctor First UK transmissions Saturday 23 April 2011 Saturday 30 April 2011 Storyline Tardis-blue envelopes invite Amy, Rory and River to meet the Doctor, now aged 1,103, in the middle of the American West. As they enjoy a picnic at Lake Silencio, an Apollo 11 astronaut emerges from the water and blasts the Time Lord dead. Later, at a diner they meet the 909-year-old Doctor and conceal his fate from him. They travel to the White House in 1969 where President Nixon is haunted by eerie late-night phone calls from a child in trouble. Assisting the investigation of FBI agent Canton Delaware, the Doctor’s team trace her to a warehouse in Florida, five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Center. The Silence have a base here – hideous creatures that our minds forget as soon as we look away – and they’ve encased the little girl in the astronaut suit. Three months later, a bearded Doctor is incarcerated and River, Amy and Rory are on the run from the FBI. This is a smokescreen to fool the Silence. The child is now located in the derelict Graystark Hall orphanage, where the Silence ensnare Amy. As Neil Armstrong sets foot on the Moon, the Doctor cuts into the live TV broadcast and transmits footage of a Silent so that humans will at last register the insidious aliens and turn against them. Amy is rescued, but what of the little girl? In a New York alley, she starts to regenerate… Production October to November 2010. At Tredegar House, Newport; Avondale Crescent, Grangetown; Millennium Stadium, Cardiff; Coal Exchange, Cardiff Bay; Troy House, Monmouth; Johnsey Estates, Pontypool; Cardiff University; and Upper Boat Studios. November 2010 in the USA at the Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley, Utah; and Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona. January 2011 at Fillcare, Llantrisant. Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill River Song – Alex Ki…

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Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol ★★★
type: item
date: 2013-10-21T09:20:46.000Z
creator: Patrick Mulkern
subject: Doctor Who Guides
subject: News
subject: Sci-fi
subject: TV
subject: Doctor Who Story Guides
subject: Eleventh Doctor
description: Dickensian fun with Matt Smith, Michael Gambon, Katherine Jenkins – and a flying shark
encoded: Story 213 Christmas Special 2010 ‘We’re halfway out of the dark” – Kazran Sardick Storyline Honeymooners Amy and Rory are trapped on a space liner, on a collision course with the planet Ember. Much of the world below is owned by Kazran Sardick, a heartless miser who refuses to help the Doctor. The Time Lord goes back into Kazran’s boyhood to try to make him a better person. As a young man, Kazran falls for Abigail, a woman kept in cryogenic suspension. The Doctor takes him to visit her every Christmas Eve, but they are unaware that she is dying. The older Kazran is unswayed until he meets himself as a boy and is united with Abigail for her last day of life. First UK transmission Christmas Day 2010 Production July to August, October 2010. At Mir Steel, Newport; Coal Exchange, Cardiff Bay; Wrinstone House, Wenvoe; Johnsey Estates, Pontypool; Upper Boat Studios Cast The Doctor – Matt Smith Kazran/Elliot Sardick – Michael Gambon Abigail Pettigrew – Katherine Jenkins Amy Pond – Karen Gillan Rory Williams – Arthur Darvill Young Kazran – Laurence Belcher Adult Kazran – Danny Horn Pilot – Leo Bill Captain – Pooky Quesnel Co-pilot – Micah Balfour Old Benjamin – Steve North Boy & Benjamin – Bailey Pepper Servant – Tim Plester Eric – Nick Malinowski Isabella – Laura Rogers Old Isabella – Meg Wynn-Owen Crew Writer – Steven Moffat Director – Toby Haynes Producer – Sanne Wohlenberg Music – Murray Gold Production designer – Michael Pickwoad Executive producers – Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis RT review by Patrick Mulkern Well, they all stressed that it was going to be a “very Christmassy” Christmas special: Matt Smith in RT… director Toby Haynes at the season finale preview in June 2010… Arthur Darvill when I interviewed him in November 2010… even Katherine Jenkins… I’d met her earlier that summer at the wedding of my friends Richard and Mandy Marson, when she was hot-foot from the Doctor Who set. Perhaps there was still some Sardicktown stardust about her because, mirac…

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