Matt on "Top Gear" on BBCAmerica Monday for the US fans. Hope he can drive a car better than he drives the TARDIS!

Well, a mini-episode premiering on Blue Peter as this year's Script-To-Screen winning entry is screened during the show between 5:45pm - 6:20pm  on CBBC. You may remember last year's episode "Death is the Only Answer":



At this point all we know is the episode will be "Olympics themed", though presumably it won't include the 10th Doctor carrying the Olympic torch or a seed-pod sized space-ship or creepy alien possessed little girl. At least we can hope it won't...

Recently, there have been Youtube uploads showing how to get The Eternity Clock's beta for free. Evidently, this is false. LIES! Not only are these chiefly used as a money making scheme, but they also contain malware such as Trojans (though I can't really go into detail without setting up a secure machine and finding out exactly what it contains). Now personally, if you're stupid enough to fall for this, bin your computer and stay far far away from anything to do with it. You are not worthy of touching the internet.

Now there are several tell tale signs that this is fake. I'm just going to list a few of them off the top of my head in the hope that you will remember these and steer clear:

• Several videos of the same thing uploaded around the same time with the same icon

• The visit link is a short link to a ad.fy. This is a service that allows you to both create short links and generate money. Need I explain more there?
• Most of the words, but not all, contain capital letters. Ok so this is a short leash on this one but bad English,etc. Just an opportunity for an excuse. It's one of the things that is just down to my gut instinct and is hard to explain.
• The "tags" in the description are purposefully made to gain as many visits from search engines as possible. Out to make a bit of attention for a bit of money are we? Oh wait....
• An obvious one here...the instructions. According to them, they are only there to give you a key. No mention of where to get the game from. No mention of how to get around anything. No mention of anything useful that's not obvious.

Not to worry, all will soon come back out of the pot

Hi guys! Earlier today we posted about reaching the 10 million hits mark on the blog and mentioned that we would do a post on what is happening with the blog. Well this is said post.

Well first of all, Combom is bogged down by the pressure of a greatly extended work day and hence keeping his family fed, something we all agree on take the utmost priority. Skaro is currently bogged down by school work and his exams that are fast approaching. I'm also currently bogged down by exams (though mine are A-Level so if you think yours are hard Skaro...have fun when you get to these! :P) that are pretty much approached. These exams, for both levels, will happen over the next month or two. Bit of an anti-climax, eh?

That is the bad news. The good news is that as soon as our exams are over, we should be able to start posting far more often again and we will decide what to do when we are more free later on. My most important exams are later this week and so as soon as these are over, I'll be back on posting a lot more at the weekend (hopefully) or the next weekend.

However in the meantime, we have taken a look at some of the post series' that we used to run to see what we can start up again. We couldn't decide on which so we are leaving it up to you. The poll is simple, just select all the ones you'd like to see return. You can also add additional options (though please elaborate on them in the comments if they are not very clear) if you like.




I also have a "Combom To-Do list" of things to do but I am always open on things being added to that. If there's anything you'd like adding to that, feel free to email us or comment below. Yes I will start checking the emails again. Any questions can be posted in the comments.

Thanks for your patience.

At some point on Sunday, we had our 10th million hit....what a milestone! :) We didn't even need to get out Tom's dancing donkey! The pantomime horse is still coughing up blood from the last we (well...I) partied with it. We need a replacement.


Thanks to everyone who participated in us getting there. There will be a "WTF is happening with the blog?!?!?" post later on today simply because a lot of you have been asking so all shall be revealed then! (Even if I have to get Skaro, Mike and whoever else there is to get my corkscrews out to force me to do it!).

Basically....Thanks to everyone who have supported us in getting there: everyone who has ever visited, commented, emailed and even complained (albiet constructively). Special thanks go to Mentalfoto (Mike Jackson) who has managed to keep the posts going while the rest of us are...well.....you'll have to wait and see, hmm?

Thanks go out to the following people (We've added some to the start), if your not on there and want to be, let us know:




Lets have a look elsewhere:

On our Twitter page, we currently have 1600+ followers. Our Facebook page, which was a fairly recent shift from being "friended" to being liked, currently has 800+ likes. A few of us also have our own personal twitter accounts. For example, Skaro's has 210 followers while mine has 66 followers (though that may be because I refuse to do any "I'll follow me and I'll follow you" crap. I want people to follow me because they want to not feel obliged to).

My Doctor Who Media YouTube channel has had well over 4 million hits with more than 7,000 subscribers. Skaros Unreleased Doctor Who music channel has got almost 400 thousand views with just over 600 subscribers.


And to those people who keep emailing us asking about adverting them for money (which is about twice every week): No, we will not advertise your crappy bingo sites (or anything else). Stop asking.

WalesOnline posted some terrific images of the exhibits arriving at the new Experience site today:

The first exhibits are moved into the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff Bay

Displays will include original Doctor Who costumes, including this one, worn by Matt Smith....	...and this one worn by 1980s Fifth Doctor Peter Davison
The TARDIS which will welcome visitors arriving on the waterfront landing station.	The building in Porth Teigr is next to the new BBC Roath Lock Studios

Tickets go on sale starting June 14th.

The first exhibits were moved in today, including two original Doctor Who costumes – one from his current incarnation Matt Smith, the other from the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison – and the Van Gogh painting of the TARDIS which featured in the Series 5 episode "Vincent and the Doctor".

A TARDIS will welcome visitors arriving by boat or water bus on a newly built landing station next to the Experience building, which is next to the BBC’s new Roath Lock Studios. It will need to attract around 250,000 visitors every year for the next five (the length of the Experience’s lease) to cover that cost. Ken Poole, head of economic development for Cardiff Council, said this was a “major tourism attraction” which could be marketed nationally and internationally, attract people from around the world and benefit existing attractions in Cardiff. Project manager Pat Thompson said today that Cardiff Council had paid £2.5 million constructing the blue building which will house the experience, a cost which will be recouped through a share of the ticket sales.

New items exhibited for the first time in Cardiff include the Doctor’s cradel, seen in A Good Man Goes to War, the Silence spaceship, and Matt Smith’s sonic cane from Let’s Kill Hitler. Other items will only be revealed on July 20.

BBC Worldwide’s head of exhibitions and events Paula Al-Lach said Cardiff was the “spiritual home” of Doctor Who. “We are particularly excited to be here in Cardiff. Cardiff is the spiritual home of Doctor Who. It’s particularly great to be located in this exact spot, next to the BBC Wales Drama Studios. I live for the day when we walk one of the monsters off those sets and down the road to the experience. We wanted a create a visitor attraction that not only celebrates the iconic history of Doctor Who, but puts the fans inside Doctor Who. When we did our research, everybody wants to go in the TARDIS. We will have a replica TARDIS so people can go inside it. We want it to be fun, we want it to be an adventure, and we have got a massive history to celebrate.”

UPDATE: A few more photos from Doctor Who's Facebook page







Source : WalesOnline , Doctor Who Facebook Page

Craig is bring his show and the TARDIS to Scotland for the week on his "The Late, Late Show" airing in America on CBS starting tonight. He gave an interview to the New York Times about the trip filmed back in March and here's some excerpts:

Q.

How much preparation do you need to pull off a stunt like this?

A.

This takes a bit of planning, and we were planning it for about six months. If I didn’t stay on [at CBS], this was going to be the end. The last hurrah. Or if I did stay on, then it was going to be a week of shows in Scotland and then we do something else.

Q.

Was that ever a possibility, that you wouldn’t stay on at “Late Late Show”?

A.

Not in my mind, but show business is show business. I always expect someone to say, “Well, thanks very much but we’re moving on. We love you but we found somebody else we love more.” No one said that. They were fine – they were like, “Re-up, everything’s great.” But I don’t live in a world inside my head where everything’s going to be fine.

Q.

And now this office is yours until at least 2014.

A.

Right. But I’m sure a smart lawyer could get me out of here in half an hour. And CBS has got great lawyers. So I’m not sure. I’m grateful for it now.

Q.

How long have you wanted to bring the show to Scotland?

A.

I wanted to do it when I got the show. But it takes awhile to get your confidence. I like to think that in the years I’ve been doing this, there’s been a creeping sedition and we’ve been breaking down the genre piece by piece. Although there’s been some very notable failures. I wanted to deconstruct the idea of the sidekick by having a robot sidekick who became a great sidekick [laughs] and the guy who does it is so good. So it’s a huge failure – it completely endorses the idea of the sidekick.

But it takes awhile to get the confidence to deconstruct it sufficiently that you can go to another city. We don’t have the money on this show to go to a city and rent a theater. So we had to be brave enough to go and just set up a card table in the street. So we did that in Paris last year. And once we got to Paris and we made a bunch of mistakes there, then we thought we’ll give Scotland a crack.

Q.

What mistakes do you think you made in Paris?

A.

Well, first of all, we didn’t have the crew that we should have had. We turned up in town with, like, 50 bucks and a dream. Americans have gotten into trouble before in Paris with that attitude. So I think we had a rather romantic notion about how helpful they were going to be. The stuff that went on the air was O.K. It was hit or miss. I’m much more excited about this one because we added a couple of days shooting, we got a great production company in Scotland. Also, I had some contacts and some history there, and that helped.

Q.

Is it important that you have some personal connections to the cities where you travel?

A.

In order to make it more fun, I think there has to be an authenticity to it. I had history in Paris, I got in trouble in Paris, I had done some things in Paris. Scotland? [rolls eyes, murmurs guiltily] So the next one I’ve been pitching to them is New York City. Because I got into trouble in New York City. We’ll see where that one goes, but let’s get this one out of the way first.

Q.

What locations from your past did you visit in Scotland?

A.

We had to go to the house that I was a child in. I left when I was 5 years old, but there’s a lady who lives in it, so we went and we talked to her. It’s in a town called Cumbernauld,  outside Glasgow. We went to my old high school, which was also an odd experience. I remember it as being this horrible place where everyone was very brutal. And it was. But I went back and of course it’s changed – they don’t do that anymore. They don’t have corporal punishment anymore. They don’t beat children up. The teachers were lovely and the kids were happy. It was horrifying. [laughs]

Q.

Anything else?

A.

We went to a bar where I got my [rear] kicked. This guy who was like the local heavy came in and his girlfriend was sitting on my knee. This happened 30 years ago. So we went back to the exact same bar, exact same table, and we re-enacted it using kid actors. It happened to me when I was 19, but we used kids who were 12 and we put mustaches on them. See my finger broken there [shows broken middle finger], how it’s broken and bent like that? The weird thing is, my first-born son has that same break in his finger. He hit me so hard that my first-born son also had a broken finger.

Q.

What do you think you gained from revisiting some of these not-so-pleasant places and experiences?

A.

The inventory process and stepping back in your life can sometimes be a very dark process. But it also can be extremely funny and surprising. Scotland is a much lighter and more fun place than I thought it was. I was miserable when I was there. But it wasn’t Scotland’s fault. It was my circumstances.  I was – I hate to say the word humbled – but that’s what it felt like. I was wrong about this place. This is a great place full of very fun people.

Q.

For a lot of Americans, our vision of Scotland is formed either by “Brigadoon” or by “Trainspotting.”

A.

And my experience was “Trainspotting.” And I went back and found a lot more “Brigadoon.” I don’t know if that’s my age or I’ve developed a certain American optimism or what.

Q.

Are you regarded as a celebrity in your home country?

A.

We were shooting in Greyfriars churchyard in Edinburgh, I was standing under an umbrella and the film unit was all around, and it was a public thing. Two Scottish people walked by and somebody said [in a Scottish accent even stronger than Ferguson's], “Who is it that’s filming here?” And the other said, “Craig Ferguson.” “Who’s that?” “He’s famous, but only in America.” So it was like, you’re right. I’m not famous there.

Q.

What will you do back here in the States these episodes are being shown?

A.

We’re probably going to take the week off. That would be nice. It’s actually my 50th birthday that week. A very freaky number. There’s a story Billy Connolly told me, that on his 50th birthday, he got his nipples pierced. He went to some place in the Valley and he got his nipples pierced. He said, “I had to do something.” The great thing was, when the guy was doing it – piercing his first nipple – he said, “One less of them, one more of us.” So I have to, in some spiritual way, pierce my nipples. I would like to find a less horrendous equivalent. Maybe that was the trip to Scotland.

Source : NY Times

The Doctor Who Experience is about to get the keys to its new Cardiff home where new exhibits from the show will be displayed for the first time

The attraction, which closed in London in February to make  its move to Cardiff Bay will features sets, props and memorabilia from the show. The interactive journey takes you along in the TARDIS with the Doctor on a adventure though time and space. You help the Doctor escape from Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans and fly the TARDIS. The ride includes exclusive filming with Matt Smith and is a great experience for the kids or the kid in all of us.

The new 3,000 sq m building is at Porth Teigr, next door to the BBC's Roath Lock studios, where Doctor Who, Casualty and Pobol y Cwm are produced and is expected to attract up to 250,000 visitors a year.

"I'm thrilled to be formally accepting the keys to the building on Monday and can't wait to start moving in." said Paula Al-Lach, head of exhibitions and events at new tenants BBC Worldwide. "We've worked hard to create an outstanding visitor attraction with the Doctor Who Experience.. It's the first ever interactive Doctor Who exhibition and for our Cardiff opening we have some exciting new exhibits to be displayed in public for the very first time."

"Doctor Who is a global brand and is something that has really helped boost the profile of Cardiff internationally." said Ken Poole, Cardiff council's head of economic development. "This attraction will bring millions of pounds into the economy and the benefits to Cardiff will be immense in terms of tourism."

Source : Doctor Who Experience Site,  BBC

The Kapow! Comic Convention organizers have revealed that next weekend's Sunday May 20th  TV Panel will include Doctor Who writer Tom MacRae ("Rise of the Cybermen"/"Age of Steel", "The Girl Who Waited", actor Russell Tovey (Midshipman Frame in "Voyage of the Damned", "The End of Time" as well as Being Human & Sherlock).

Tom MacRae

Russell Tovey

Also appearing will be Adam Garcia (Threesome, House), actress and comedy writer Lucy Brown (Primeval) and comedian Tom Allen.

KAPOW! Comic Convention Official Site

Ran across this fan-made trailer for season's 1-6 of the new series by YouTube user VG934 who has made so many nice remixes I'm beginning to think the BBC should offer VG934 a job and thought I'd share it.

Doctor Who alums Simon Pegg (The Editor "The Long Game") and Amara Karan (Rita in "The God Complex") star in an upcoming film that looks like it might be really fun. Myself, I was sad that Amara as Rita was killed off in "The God Complex" because I thought she would have made a wonderful successor companion to the Ponds. Check out the trailer:

Karen Gillan tweeted the bittersweet news on Saturday.

In case you don't know Craig after all his mentions on the blog, he's probably America's biggest booster of Doctor Who and he's returning to his homeland in a week of shows starting on Monday, May 14. No idea yet if any of the Doctor Who gang will appear, but if the TARDIS apparently does from this promo, it will be worth watching to find out.

Ed Thomas

It would seem a the rebirth of Doctor Who in Wales has had an added benefit as it's former producers are bringing big bucks to the area. Former Doctor Who series designer and Swansea-native Ed Thomas along with former producer Julie Gardner from nearby Glynneath were instrumental in bringing Hollywood to Swansea with the opening of what will be Europe's biggest indoor film studios. The 265,000 square foot former Visteon auto site site in Fabian Way, Swansea will be converted into sound-stages and could bring a massive £60 million boost to the economy.

US screenwriter and film director David S Goyer will begin shooting a new TV series next month entitled "Da Vinci's Demons". Film fans will remember that Goyer's writing credits include blockbusters Batman Begins and Blade. In addition to the new studio filming will also include other locations in Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot, including at Margam Castle which was used for 'The Rattigan Academy' for the 10th Doctor episode "The Poison Sky".

Former Visteon auto site

The series will be another joint production from American channel Starz Entertainment and BBC Worldwide Productions recounting Leonardo da Vinci's life story. 100 new jobs have been created and many more are expected to be created. Unnamed sources said it could be worth $100million (£61million) to the Swansea area.

"When you think David Goyer has the new Batman film about to be released and the new Superman — it's a huge coup. Starz, the premier cable channel, has been scouring the world for a location for Da Vinci's Demons." Thomas said.

"I worked with Julie Gardner in Hollywood on "Torchwood" and when they said they were looking to film we brought them to South Wales — after a lot of negotiating.

Julie Gardner

"They (Starz) fell in love with the 265,000 square feet of stage space in the old Visteon plant.

"It's a big series with huge ambition — with a bit of luck it will run for seasons.

"When you have David Goyer involved in the mix you will have a cult following — the production can only be beneficial for Neath Port Talbot and Swansea, financially and on all levels."

In "Da Vinci's Demons" English actor Tom Riley will star as the young Da Vinci and Laura Haddock will play Lucrezia Donati, the mistress of Lorenzo Medici and lover of Leonardo da Vinci.

Tom Riley

The story will be the untold life of Leonardo, which sounds like they will make a lot of stuff up.  "We are going to be working at Margam Castle, where we are going to be creating our own Da Vinci palace." Thomas said. So Swansea will be Italy on the cheap, sort of sounds like.

Laura Haddock

As a Who fan from back in the classic era, I'm wondering if this version of Di Vinci wil meet Captain Tancredi / Count Scarlioni / Scaroth, the last of the Jagaroth race? Somehow I get the feeling this will be more about scantly clad artist models than a visit from a Time Lord, even given the shows connections.